Great Britain -- History -- Anglo-Saxon period, 449-1066; Middle Ages -- Sources
Quintus Milvius, a senator. These four companies were placed in the
front of the army. In the rear of these were four others, whereof one
was commanded by Serses, king of the Itureans; another by Pandrasus,
king of Egypt; a third by Polytetes, duke of Bithynia; a fourth by
Teucer, duke of Phrygia. And again behind all these four others,
whereof the commanders were Quintus Carucius, a senator, Lælius
Ostiensis, Sulpitius Subuculus, and Mauricius Sylvanus. As for the
general himself, he was sometimes in one place, sometimes another, to
encourage and direct as there should be occasion. For a standard he
ordered a golden eagle to be firmly set up in the centre, for his men to
repair to whenever they should happen to be separated from their
company.
CHAP. IX.--_A battle between Arthur and Lucius Tiberius._
And now the Britons and Romans stood presenting their arms at one
another; when forthwith at the sound of the trumpets, the company that
was headed by the king of Spain and Lucius Catellus, boldly rushed
forward against that which the king of Scotland and duke of Cornwall
led, but were not able to make the least breach in their firm ranks. So
that while these stood their ground, up came Guerinus and Boso with a
body of horse upon their full speed, broke through the party that began
the assault, and met with another which the king of the Parthians was
leading up against Aschillius, king of Dacia. After this first onset,
there followed a general engagement of both armies with great violence,
and several breaches were made on each side. The shouts, the slaughter,
the quantity of blood spilled, and the agonies of the dying, made a
dreadful scene of horror. At first, the Britons sustained a great loss,
by having Bedver the butler killed, and Caius the sewer mortally
wounded. For, as Bedver met Boccus, king of the Medes, he fell dead by a
stab of his lance amidst the enemies' troops. And Caius, in endeavouring
to revenge his death, was surrounded by the Median troops, and there
received a mortal wound, yet as a brave soldier he opened himself a way
with the wing which he led, killed and dispersed the Medes, and would
have made a safe retreat with all his men, had he not met the king of
Libya with the forces under him, who put his whole company into
disorder; yet not so great, but that he was still able to get off with a
few, and flee with Bedver's corps to the golden dragon. The Neustrians
grievously lamented at the sight of their leader's mangled body; and so
did the Andegavians, when they beheld their consul wounded. But there
was now no room for complaints, for the furious and bloody shocks of
both armies made it necessary to provide for their own defence.
Therefore Hirelgas, the nephew of Bedver, being extremely enraged at his
death, called up to him three hundred men, and like a wild boar amongst
a pack of dogs, broke through the enemies' ranks with his horse, making
towards the place where he had seen the standard of the king of the
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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