Kitap 24
7.8
Yet the emperor and the soldiers were troubled for this reason—that since the ships had been rashly destroyed, there was no means of making a bridge; and the movements of the advancing enemy could not be halted, whose approach was shown by the bright gleam of their armour, which skilfully fitted every limb. And there was also another great evil, in that the reinforcements that were awaited under Arsaces and our other generals did not appear, being hindered by the reasons already mentioned.In the lacuna at the end of § 2; cf. xxiii. 2 and 3. The Roman troops that had remained behind on the other bank of the Tigris made no move, partly from fear and partly because of discord among their generals.
8.1
Under these conditions, in order to reassure the anxious soldiers, the emperor gave orders that some of the prisoners, who were naturally slender, as almost all the Persians are, besides being now thin from exhaustion, should be placed before them; then, looking towards our men, he said: Behold those whom your heroic hearts think to be men, mere ugly she-goats disfigured with filth, who, as abundant experience has shown, throw away their arms and take to flight before they come to grips.Agesilaus used a similar artifice against the Persians; cf. Xenophon, Ages., i. 28 (p. 73, L.C.L.); and Plut. Ages., 9, 5.
