or villages; but there is a large lofty hill, which contains caves and
hollows in the rocks, looking to the north. The whole of the country
at the foot of the hill consists of a clayey mud and of light earth,
easily broken in pieces, which is not strong enough to bear a man's
tread; and if it is only slightly touched will spread all about, like
unslaked lime or ashes. Whenever the barbarians through fear of war
hid themselves in their caves, and, collecting all their plunder there
kept quiet, they could not be taken by any force; and now, seeing
that Sertorius had retired before Metellus, and had encamped near the
hill, they despised him as being beaten, on which Sertorius, whether
in passion or not wishing to appear to be flying from the enemy, at
daybreak rode up to the place and examined it. But he found the
mountain unassailable on all sides; and while he was perplexing
himself to no purpose and uttering idle threats, he saw a great
quantity of dust from this light earth carried by the wind against the
barbarians; for the caves are turned, as I have said, to the north,
and the wind which blows from that quarter (some call it "caecias")
prevails most, and is the strongest of all the winds in those parts,
being generated in wet plains and snow-covered mountains; and at that
time particularly, it being the height of summer, it was strong, and
maintained by the melting of the ice in the sub-arctic regions, and it
blew most pleasantly both on the barbarians and their flocks, and
refreshed them. Now, Sertorius, thinking on all these things, and also
getting information from the country people, ordered his soldiers to
take up some of the light ashy earth, and bringing it right opposite
to the hill to make a heap of it there; which the barbarians thought
to be intended as a mound for the purpose of getting at them, and they
mocked him. Sertorius kept his soldiers thus employed till nightfall,
when he led them away. At daybreak a gentle breeze at first began to
blow, which stirred up the lightest part of the earth that had been