§5.33.1Tum demum Titurius, qui nihil ante providisset, trepidare et concursare cohortesque disponere, haec tamen ipsa timide atque ut eum omnia deficere viderentur; quod plerumque eis accidere consuevit, qui in ipso negotio consilium capere coguntur.
Then at last Titurius, who had foreseen nothing beforehand, began to tremble, run about, and draw up the cohorts, yet he did these very things timidly and in such a way that all resources seemed to fail him; which is what usually happens to those who are compelled to form a plan in the midst of action itself.
§5.33.2At Cotta, qui cogitasset haec posse in itinere accidere atque ob eam causam profectionis auctor non fuisset, nulla in re communi saluti deerat et in appellandis cohortandisque militibus imperatoris et in pugna militis officia praestabat.
But Cotta, who had thought that these things might happen on the march, and for that reason had not been a promoter of the departure, was in no respect wanting to the common safety, and was performing the duties of a general in addressing and encouraging the soldiers, and those of a soldier in battle.
§5.33.3Cum propter longitudinem agminis minus facile omnia per se obire et, quid quoque loco faciendum esset, providere possent, iusserunt pronuntiare, ut impedimenta relinquerent atque in orbem consisterent.
Since, owing to the length of the column, they could not easily attend to everything in person and foresee what had to be done in each place, they ordered the command to be passed to abandon the baggage and form a circle.
§5.33.4Quod consilium etsi in eiusmodi casu reprehendendum non est, tamen incommode accidit: §5.33.5nam et nostris militibus spem minuit et hostes ad pugnam alacriores effecit, quod non sine summo timore et desperatione id factum videbatur.
Which plan, although in an emergency of that kind it is not to be censured, nevertheless turned out disadvantageously; for it both diminished hope in our soldiers and made the enemy more eager for battle, because it seemed that this was done not without the greatest fear and despair.
Praeterea accidit, quod fieri necesse erat, ut vulgo milites ab signis discederent, quae quisque eorum carissima haberet, ab impedimentis petere atque arripere properaret, clamore et fletu omnia complerentur.
Besides, it happened, as was bound to happen, that the soldiers generally departed from their standards, and each of them hastened to seek and snatch from the baggage what he held most dear, and everything was filled with shouting and weeping.