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strike the Romans with the greatest terror; and this terror was the first enemy he had to encounter; an enemy which time alone could subdue. With this view, Marius judged it necessary to encamp on the banks of the Rhone, in a situation naturally advantageous, where he laid in all forts of provisions in great abundance, that he might not be compelled to engage before he saw a convenient opportunity. This coolness of the general was regarded by those Barbarians, as a mark of cowardice. They resolved, therefore, to divide themselves into different bodies, and so penetrate into Italy. The Cimbri and Tigurini went to meet Catulus; the Ambrones and Teutones hoping to provoke the Romans to fight, came and encamped in a plain full in their front. But nothing could induce Marius to change his resolution.
Nevertheless, these Barbarians insulted the Romans incessantly by every means they could devise: they advanced as far as the very intrenchments of their camp, to reproach and deride them; they challenged the officers and the general himself to single combat. The Roman soldiers were by degrees accustomed to look their enemies in the face, while the provocations they received every day, more and more whetted their resentment. Many of them
