Kitap 38
40
The general was with the first division and the broken and difficult ground made him anxious. As long as the armed troops were passing through, the Thracians did not stir, but when they saw that the vanguard had cleared the narrowest part of the pass and those behind were nowhere near, they attacked the baggage and the pack animals, and killing the escort began to loot the wagons, while others led off the horses with their packs. The cries and shouts were first heard by those behind who had already entered the pass; then they reached the leading division. From both directions a rush was made to the centre, and irregular fighting began at several points. The booty itself exposed the Thracians to slaughter, hampered as they were by the loads they were carrying, and most of them without arms that they might have their hands free for pillage. The unfavourable ground on the other hand exposed the Romans to the barbarians, who ran up through paths they were familiar with or concealed themselves in the recesses of the rocks. Even the packs and wagons obstructed the combatants and interfered with the movements of one side or the other just as it chanced. Here a plunderer fell; there, one trying to recover the plunder. The fortunes of the battle changed as first one side and then the other was on favourable or unfavourable ground; as the courage of each rose or fell; as the numbers preponderated on either side, some engaged with larger, others with smaller bodies than their own. Many fell on both sides and night was already coming on when the Thracians drew off from the fight, not to escape wounds and death, but because they had as much plunder as they wanted.
