44.41
. . . led
them into battle. His men were deeply impressed by reverence for his
authority, the reputation he had acquired, and, above all, his age, for though
more than sixty years old, he took upon himself to a large extent the duties
and dangers which are usually the lot of younger men. The interval between
the "caetrati" and the divisions of the phalanx was filled up by the legion, and
thus the enemy's line was interrupted. The "caetrati" were in their rear; the
legion were fronting the shieldmen of the phalanx, who were known as the
"chalcaspides." L. Albinus, an ex-consul, was ordered to lead the second
legion against the phalanx of "leucaspides"; these formed the centre of the
enemy's line. On the Roman right, where the battle had begun, close to the
river, he brought up the elephants and the cohorts of allied troops. It was
here that the Macedonians first gave ground. For just as most new devices
amongst men seem valuable as far as words go, but when they are put to a
practical test and have to be acted upon they fail to produce results, so it was
with the elephants; those of the Macedonians were of no use whatever. The
contingents of the Latin allies followed up the charge of the elephants and
repulsed the left wing. The second legion which had been sent against the
centre broke up the phalanx. The most probable explanation of the victory is
that several separate engagements were going on all over the field, which
first shook the phalanx out of its formation and then broke it up. As long as
it was compact, its front bristling with levelled spears, its strength was
irresistible. If by attacking them at various points you compel them to bring
round their spears, which owing to their length and weight are cumbersome
and unwieldy, they become a confused and involved mass, but if any sudden
and tumultuous attack is made on their flank or rear, they go to pieces like a
falling house. In this way they were forced to meet the repeated charges of
small bodies of Roman troops with their front dislocated in many places, and
wherever there were gaps the Romans worked their way amongst their
ranks. If the whole line had made a general charge against the phalanx while
still unbroken, as the Paeligni did at the beginning of the action against the
"caetrati," they would have spitted themselves upon their spears and have
been powerless against their massed attack.
