the left wing to the King of the Adiabeni, and
the right to the Mede, on which wing also were the greater part of
the soldiers, clad in mail, occupying the first ranks. As Lucullus was
going to cross the river, some of the officers bade him beware of the
day, which was one of the unlucky days which the Romans call black
days; for on that day Caepio[402] and his army were destroyed in a
battle with the Cimbri. Lucullus replied in these memorable words:
"Well, I will make it a lucky day for the Romans." The day was the
sixth of October.

XXVIII. Saying this, and bidding his men be of good cheer, Lucullus
began to cross the river, and advanced against the enemy, at the head
of his soldiers, with a breastplate of glittering scaly steel, and a
cloak with a fringed border, and he just let it be seen that his sword
was already bare, thereby indicating that they must forthwith come to
close quarters with the enemy, who fought with missiles, and by the
rapidity of the attack cut off the intervening space, within which the
barbarians could use their bows. Observing that the mailed cavalry,
which had a great reputation, were stationed under an eminence,
crowned by a broad level space, and that the approach to it was only a
distance of four stadia, and neither difficult nor rough, he ordered
the Thracian cavalry and the Gauls who were in the army, to fall on
them in the flank, and to beat aside their long spears with their
swords. Now the mailed horsemen rely solely on their long spears, and
they can do nothing else, either in their own defence or against the
enemy, owing to the weight and rigidity of their armour, and they look
like men who are walled up in it. Lucullus himself, with two cohorts,
pushed on vigorously to the hill, followed by his men, who were
encouraged by seeing him in his armour, enduring all the fatigue on
foot, and pressing forwards. On reaching the summit, Lucullus stood on
a conspicuous spot, and called out aloud: "We have got the victory!
Fellow soldiers, we have got the victory!" With these words he led his
men against the mailed horsemen, and ordered them not to use their
javelins yet, but every man to hold them in both hands, and to thrust
against the enemy's legs and thighs, which are the only parts of these
mailed men that are bare. However, there was no occasion for this mode
of fighting; for the enemy did not stand the attack of the Romans,
but, setting up a shout and flying most disgracefully, they