They, therefore, with their king at their head, instantly charged upon him, as if they would trample hum under their horse’s feet, threatening all kinds of cruelties. Marcellus, because his men were few, that they might not be encompassed and charged on all sides by the enemy, extended his wings of horse, and, riding about, drew out his wings of foot in length, till he came near to the enemy.
Just as he was in the act of turning round to face the enemy, it so happened that his horse, startled with their fierce look and their cries, gave back, and carried him forcibly aside. Fearing lest this accident, if converted into an omen, might discourage his soldiers, he quickly brought his horse round to confront the enemy, and made a gesture of adoration to the sun, as if he had wheeled about not by chance, but for a purpose of devotion. For it was customary to the Romans, when they offered worship to the gods, to turn round, and in this moment of meeting the enemy, he is said to have vowed the best of the arms to Jupiter Feretrius.
Source:
Plutarch, John Dryden, and Arthur Hugh Clough. "Marcellus." Plutarch's Lives. New York: Modern Library, 2001. 411-12. Print.
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