happened in the midst of a violent wind. Then Crassus, who had the rest of equal length cut down, so as to be shorter and consequently steadier to carry, only increased the prodigies. In the very passage of the river so great a mist enshrouded the soldiers that they fell over one another and could see nothing of the enemy's country until they set foot upon it: and the sacrifices both for crossing and for landing proved very unfavorable. Meantime a great wind burst upon them, bolts of lightning fell, and the bridge, before they had all passed over, was destroyed. The occurrences were such that any one, even if extremely ignorant and uninstructed, would interpret them to mean that they would fare badly and not return. Hence there was great fear and dejection in the army. [-19-] Crassus, trying to encourage them, said: "Be not alarmed, fellow soldiers, that the bridge has been destroyed nor think because of this that any disaster is portended. For I declare to you upon oath that I have decided to make my return march through Armenia." By this he would have emboldened them, had he not at the end added in a loud voice the words: "Be of good cheer: for none of you shall come back _this_ way." When they heard this, the soldiers deemed that it, no less than the rest, had been a portent for them, and fell into greater discouragement; and so it was that they paid no heed to the remainder of his exhortation, in which he belittled the barbarian and glorified the Roman State, offered them money and announced prizes for valor. Still, even so, they followed and no one said a word or committed an act to oppose him, partly by reason of the law, but further because they were terrified and could neither plan nor carry out any measures of safety. In all other respects, too, as if predestined to ruin by some Divinity, they deteriorated both in mind and body.