Page:The Pharsalia of Lucan; (IA cu31924026485809).pdf/121

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Book IV
CÆSAR IN SPAIN
97
Which they had shunned in flight.
Which they had shunned in flight. Their arms regained,
Their streaming limbs they cherished till the blood
Coursed in their veins; until the shadows fell
Short on the sward, and day was at the height.
Then dashed the horsemen on, and held the foe
'Twixt flight and battle. In the plain arose
Two rocky heights: from each a loftier ridge
Of hills ranged onwards, sheltering in their midst
A hollow vale, whose deep and winding paths 180
Were safe from warfare; which, when Cæsar saw:
That if Petreius held, the war must pass
To lands remote by savage tribes possessed;
'Speed on,' he cried, 'and meet their flight in front;
'Fierce be your frown and battle in your glance:
'No coward's death be theirs; but as they flee
'Plunge in their breasts the sword.' They seize the pass
And place their camp. Short was the span between
Th' opposing sentinels; with eager eyes
Undimmed by space, they gazed on brothers, sons, 190
Or friends and fathers; and within their souls
They grasped the impious horror of the war.
Yet for a little while no voice was heard,
For fear restrained; by waving blade alone
Or gesture, spake they; but their passion grew,
And broke all discipline; and soon they leaped
The hostile rampart; every hand outstretched[1]
Embraced the hand of foeman, palm in palm;
One calls by name his neighbour, one his host,
Another with his schoolmate talks again 200

  1. ↑ Compare the passage in Tacitus, 'Hist.,' ii., 45, in which the historian describes how the troops of Otho and Vitellius wept over each other after the battle and deplored the miseries of a civil war. 'Victi victoresque in lacrumas effusi, sortem civilium armorum miserâ latitiâ detestantes.'
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