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[5] As soon as Saturninus heard of this—for he had already arrived and was arranging a line of outposts and field pickets 1 —he gradually gathered his forces together and prepared to retreat; his plan was not a foolish one-namely that suddenly the mass of barbarians, like a river that has burst its barriers and rushes forth with an awful drive of waters, might not with slight difficulty whirl to destruction one and all while keenly watching the points of [p. 439] danger.

1 Cf. xiv. 3, 2.

Ammianus Marcellinus. With An English Translation. John C. Rolfe, Ph.D., Litt.D. Cambridge. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1935-1940.

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