Description of Greece

​Against Brennus and his army, those of the Greeks who had gathered at Delphi drew themselves up, and signs from the god were shown against the barbarians, both quickly and most clearly of all that we know. For the whole earth, as much as the army of the Gauls occupied, was violently shaken for the greater part of the day, and continuous thunder and lightning occurred.

​And these terrified the Celts and prevented them from hearing with their ears the orders given, while the things from heaven not only set on fire whomsoever they fell upon, but also set on fire those near them and their weapons alike. And then the phantoms of the heroes appeared to them: Hyperochus, Laodocus, and Pyrrhus; and some count also a fourth, Phylacus, a local hero to Delphi.

​And there died also in the action itself, of the Phocians themselves, many others in number and Aleximachus, who in this battle, more than any other of the Greeks, made full use of his prime of youth, bodily strength, and vigor of spirit for the slaughter of the barbarians; and the Phocians, having made a statue of Aleximachus, dedicated it to Apollo at Delphi.

​With such sufferings and terror were the barbarians beset throughout the whole day; but the events in the night were destined to overtake them with far more painful trials. For there was a severe frost and snow together with the cold, and great rocks slipping from Parnassus and crags breaking off had the barbarians as their target, and for them, not by ones or twos, but by thirties and even more, as they happened to be guarding or resting together in the same place, destruction came upon them in crowds from the falling of the crags.

​And at the rising of the sun, the Greeks advanced upon them from Delphi, the others taking the straight path to the army, but the Phocians, inasmuch as they had greater experience of the country, came down through the snow along the precipitous parts of Parnassus and secretly got behind the Celts, and hurled javelins at them and shot arrows with no fear of the barbarians.

​At the beginning of the battle, and especially those around Brennus—who were the tallest and bravest of the Gauls—at that time still held out through eagerness, though they were being hit from all sides and were suffering no less from the cold, especially the wounded; but when Brennus also received wounds, they carried him out of the battle after he fainted, and the barbarians, with the Greeks pressing upon them from all sides, began to retreat against their will, and they slaughtered those of their own who were unable to follow due to wounds and sickness.

​And they encamped where night overtook them as they retreated, and during the night a Panic fear fell upon them; for they say that terrors arising from no cause come from this god. The confusion fell upon the army in the late evening, and at first those who were driven out of their minds were few, and these imagined that they perceived both the noise of horses charging and the onset of enemies; and not long afterward, the delusion spread to them all.