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approached the Roman camp with a small party of horse, to challenge Marius, and to agree with him on a day and place of action. Marius answered, that although it was not the custom of the Romans to consult their enemies on this subject, he would notwithstanding for once oblige them, and therefore appointed the next day but one, and the plain of Verceil for their meeting. At the time appointed, the two armies marched thither; the Romans ranged themselves in two wings: Catulus commanded a body of twenty thousand men, and Sylla was in the number of his officers. The Cimbri formed with their infantry an immense square batallion: their cavalry, consisting of fifteen thousand men, was magnificently mounted; each soldier bore upon his helmet the head of some savage beast, with its mouth gaping wide; an iron cuirass covered his body, and he carried a long halberd in his hand. The extreme heat of the weather was very favourable to the Romans. They had been careful to get the sun on their backs; while the Cimbri little accustomed to its violence, had it in their faces. Besides this, the dust hid from the eyes of the Romans the astonishing multitude of their enemies, so that they fought with the more confidence, and of course more courage. The
