But the most remarkable part of the whole relief is a scene which plainly corresponds to the account given by Dion Cassius of the sudden, and, as it seemed, supernatural relief afforded by a thunderstorm to the Roman army when hard pressed by the Quadi, who had surrounded them and succeeded in preventing all their efforts to escape. “The Roman army,” says Dion, “were in the greatest distress from fatigue, many of them were wounded, and they were hemmed in by the enemy, without water, under a burning sun. They could neither fight nor retreat, and would have been compelled to stand in their ranks and die under the scorching heat, had not some thick clouds suddenly gathered, and a heavy rain fallen, which refreshed them, and afforded them drink. This did not happen without the intervention of the gods (οὐκ ἀθεεί), for it was said that one Arnuphis, an Egyptian magician, was with Marcus Aurelius, and that he, by invoking the aid of Hermes, the god of the air, and some other deities by means of incantations, drew down the rain.” Xiphilinus, however, from whose abridgement of Dion we have the above account, declares that “Dion has purposely falsified the circumstances, for he must have known that the ‘legio fulminata’ obtained its name from this incident, the true history of which was as follows. There was a legion in the army of Marcus Aurelius, consisting entirely of Christians. The emperor being told that their prayers in such an emergency never remained unanswered, requested them to pray for help to their God. When they had prayed, God immediately smote the enemy with lightning, but refreshed the Roman army by a copious rain, upon which Marcus published a decree, in which he complimented the Christian legion and bestowed the name fulminate upon it.” History however, does not bear out this wonderful tale of Xiphilinus, for the name fulminate is known, from inscriptions, to have been given to the twelfth legion as early as the reign of Augustus.[98] Upon the pillar the scene is represented by the figure of Jupiter Pluvius dripping with rain, which the soldiers are eagerly catching in their shields. The drought is followed by an inundation, in which many of the Germans are drowned. A grand battle takes place, followed by the burning of the enemy’s huts and the seizure of numerous captives. The figure of Marcus Aurelius on horseback, accompanying a long train of spoil taken from the German tribes, and a long series of battles, conflagrations of villages and towns, conferences with the enemy’s generals follow, and the first campaign ends at a point near the centre of the column, with a procession of trophies and spoils of war, in the midst of which a figure of Victory inscribes the triumph on a shield.