Rome by Jon E. Lewis

Author:Jon E. Lewis
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
ISBN: 9781780337548
Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group
Published: 2016-11-23T05:00:00+00:00

AGRICOLA IN ACTION AT MONS GRAUPIUS, BRITAIN, AD 84

Tacitus

Agricola was appointed governor of Britain in AD 77, where he conquered Anglesey and consolidated the Forth-Clyde line. An excursion to the Moray Firth in AD 84 saw his crushing defeat of the Caledonians at Mons Graupius.

Even while Agricola was still speaking the troops showed intense eagerness, and the end of his speech was greeted with a wild burst of enthusiasm. Without delay they went off to arm themselves. The men were so thrilled that they were ready to rush straight into action; but Agricola marshalled them with care. The auxiliary infantry, 8,000 in number, formed a strong centre, while 3,000 cavalry were distributed on the flanks. The legions were stationed in front of the camp rampart: victory would be vastly more glorious if it cost no Roman blood, while if the auxiliaries should be repulsed the legions could come to their rescue. The British army was posted on higher ground in a manner calculated to impress and intimidate its enemy. Their front line was on the plain, but the other ranks seemed to mount up the sloping hillside in close-packed tiers. The flat space between the two armies was taken up by the noisy manoeuvring of the charioteers. Agricola now saw that he was greatly outnumbered, and fearing that the enemy might fall simultaneously on his front and flanks, he opened out his ranks. The line now looked like being dangerously thin, and many urged him to bring up the legions. But he was always an optimist and resolute in the face of difficulties. He sent away his horse and took up his position on foot in front of the colours.

The fighting began with exchanges of missiles, and the Britons showed both steadiness and skill in parrying our spears with their huge swords or catching them on their little shields, while they themselves rained volleys on us. At last Agricola called upon four cohorts of Batavians and two of Tungrians to close and fight it out at the sword’s point. These old soldiers had been well drilled in sword-fighting, while the enemy were awkward at it, with their small shields and unwieldy swords, especially as the latter, having no points, were quite unsuitable for a cut-and-thrust struggle at close quarters. The Batavians, raining blow after blow, striking them with the bosses of their shields, and stabbing them in the face, felled the Britons posted on the plain and pushed on up the hillsides. This provoked the other cohorts to attack with vigour and kill the nearest of the enemy. Many Britons were left behind half dead or even unwounded, owing to the very speed of our victory. Our cavalry squadrons, meanwhile, had routed the war chariots, and now plunged into the infantry battle. Their first onslaught was terrifying, but the solid ranks of the enemy and the roughness of the ground soon brought them to a standstill and made the battle quite unlike a cavalry action. Our infantry had only a

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