behind these--veteran Roman soldiers, upon whose steadiness he could rely if there should come repulse and panic. The rampart at Meikleour was in the rear of the reserve force--to serve as a last defence if the worst happened. Agricola himself went to the front with the colours. As usual, the battle began with a discharge of missiles from a distance. The darts and stones flew thick, and all the while the Caledonians were edging away to right and left in the hope of surrounding the Romans. Agricola strained his thin line almost to breaking point, but his opponents had the advantage of numbers, and still pressed him. The danger of a gaping centre grew imminent. The crisis of the conflict came. Three Batavian and two Tungrian cohorts charged sword in hand. The issue was not long in doubt. The small shields and long swords of the Caledonians were ill-fitted to encounter the straight home-thrust of the finely-tempered blade, 19 inches in length, with which the Roman soldiers were armed. They wavered, and then the end came quickly. The whole line of the auxiliaries charged uphill and carried everything before them, and although the war chariots, armed with scythe-blades, were brought into action, they did more harm than good. The ground was rough, and unsuitable for the effective use of these murderous weapons of warfare. Their own men, now in hopeless confusion, were the chief sufferers from them. And although the Caledonian reserve succeeded in getting behind the Roman first line, they were promptly checked by a cavalry attack. It was never necessary to bring the Roman reserves of legionary soldiers into action. The fight was over, and the Caledonians sought safety in headlong flight among the morasses which stretched westward in the direction of the Grampian range.