Ammianus Marcellinus, Res Gestae, John C. Rolfe (Translator), 17.13.9

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[9] The furious madness of this onset so angered our army that it could not brook it, and as the savages hotly menaced the emperor (as was said), they took the form of a wedge (an order which the soldier’s naive parlance calls the pig’s head,)¹ and scattered them with a hot charge; then on the right our infantry slaughtered the bands of their infantry, while on the left our cavalry poured into the nimble squadrons of their cavalry.

Res Gestae. Ammianus Marcellinus. John C. Rolfe (Translator). Cambridge, MA. 1935-1940.

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Current edition Perseus

History (English) (Ammianus Marcellinus. Ammianus Marcellinus, with an English translation, Vols. I-III. Rolfe, John C., translator. Cambridge, MA; London: Harvard University Press; W. Heinemann, 1935-1940 (printing).)

Editions (1)

Res Gestae Perseus (Ammianus Marcellinus. Ammianus Marcellinus, with an English translation, Vols. I-III. Rolfe, John C., editor. Cambridge, MA; London: Harvard University Press; W. Heinemann, 1935-1940 (printing).) — 17.13.9 focus

[9] Cuius furoris amentiam exercitus ira ferre ferse non potuit, eosque imperatori (ut dictum est) acriter imminentes, desinente in angustum fronte (quem habitum caput porci simplicitas militaris appellat,) impetu disiecit ardenti, et dextra pedites catervas peditum obtruncabant, equites laeva equitum se turmis agilibus infuderunt.

Notes on the current edition

History

1. Vegetius, iii. 19, says that the soldiers gave the name caput porcinum to the cuneus, a V-shaped formation, with the apex towards the enemy. It was the opposite of the forceps, or forfex (xvi. 11, 3).

Ammianus Marcellinus Res Gestae 17.13.9

John C. Rolfe (Translator)

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