eing his rival
Jovinus convert those difficulties into a decisive advantage over the
scattered forces of the Barbarians. At the head of a well-disciplined
army of cavalry, infantry, and light troops, Jovinus advanced, with
cautious and rapid steps, to Scarponna, [90] [90a] in the territory of
Metz, where he surprised a large division of the Alemanni, before
they had time to run to their arms; and flushed his soldiers with the
confidence of an easy and bloodless victory. Another division, or
rather army, of the enemy, after the cruel and wanton devastation of the
adjacent country, reposed themselves on the shady banks of the Moselle.
Jovinus, who had viewed the ground with the eye of a general, made a
silent approach through a deep and woody vale, till he could distinctly
perceive the indolent security of the Germans. Some were bathing their
huge limbs in the river; others were combing their long and flaxen hair;
others again were swallowing large draughts of rich and delicious wine.
On a sudden they heard the sound of the Roman trumpet; they saw the
enemy in their camp. Astonishment produced disorder; disorder was
followed by flight and dismay; and the confused multitude of the bravest
warriors was pierced by the swords and javelins of the legionaries and
auxiliaries. The fugitives escaped to the third, and most considerable,
camp, in the Catalonian plains, near Chalons in Champagne: the
straggling detachments were hastily recalled to their standard; and
the Barbarian chiefs, alarmed and admonished by the fate of their
companions, prepared to encounter, in a decisive battle, the victorious
forces of the lieutenant of Valentinian. The bloody and obstinate
conflict lasted a whole summer's day, with equal valor, and with
alternate success. The Romans at length prevailed, with the loss of
about twelve hundred men. Six thousand of the Alemanni were slain, four
thousand were wounded; and the brave Jovinus, after chasing the flying
remnant of their host as far as the banks of the Rhine, returned to
Paris, to receive the applause of his sovereign, and the ensigns of
the consulship for the ensuing year. [91] The triumph of the Romans was
indeed sullied by their treatment of the captive king, whom they hung
on a gibbet, without the knowledge of their indignant general. This
disgraceful act of cruelty, which might be imputed to the fury of the
troops, was followed by the deliberate murder of Withicab, the son of
Vadomair; a German