[* * _Bridging_.--By the Romans the streams and rivers are bridged with the greatest ease, since the soldiers are always practicing at it, and it is carried on like any other warlike exercise on the Ister and the Rhine and the Euphrates. The manner of doing it (which I think not everybody knows) is as follows. The boats, by means of which the river is bridged, are flat. They are anchored up stream a little above the spot where the bridge is to be constructed. When the signal is given, they first let one ship drift down stream close to the bank that they are holding. When it has come opposite the spot to be bridged, they throw into the water a basket filled with stones and fastened with a cord, which serves as an anchor. Made fast in this way the ship is joined to the bank by planks and bridgework, which the vessel carries in large quantities, and immediately a floor is laid to the farther edge. Then they release another ship at a little distance from this one and another one after that until they run the bridge to the opposite bank. The boat which is near the hostile side carries also towers upon it and a gate and archers and catapults. As many weapons were hurled at the men engaged in bridging, Cassius ordered weapons and catapults to be discharged. And when the front rank of the barbarians fell, the rest gave way.] [Sidenote: A.D. 172 (a.u. 925)] [Sidenote:--3--] Cassius, however, was bidden by Marcus to have the superintendence of all Asia. The emperor himself fought for a long time, in fact almost his whole life, one might say, with the barbarians in the Ister region, the Iazyges and the Marcomani, first one and then the other, and he used Pannonia as his starting point. The Langobardi and the Obii [Footnote: Or perhaps _Osi_.] to the number of six thousand crossed the Ister, but the cavalry under Vindex [Footnote: _M. Macrinius Avitus Catonius Vindex_.] marched out and the infantry commanded by Candidus got the start of them, so that an utter rout of the barbarians was instituted. The barbarians, thrown into consternation by such an outcome of their very first undertaking, despatched as envoys to the headquarters of Iallius Bassus [Footnote: _M. Iallius Bassus_.] (administrator of Pannonia) Bellomarius [Footnote: Or perhaps _Badomarius_.], king of the Marcomani, and ten more, for they selected one man per nation. The envoys took oaths to cement the peace and departed homewards. Many of the Celtae, too, across the Rhine, advanced to the confines of Italy and inflicted much serious harm upon the Romans. They, in turn, were followed up by Marcus, who opposed to them the lieutenants Pompeianus and Pertinax. Pertinax, who later became emperor, greatly distinguished himself. Among the corpses of the barbarians were found also the bodies of women in armor.