And the
wounded caused a great difficulty; for they would be an obstacle to
the quickness of their flight if they attempted to carry them off:
and, if they should leave them, their shouts would betray the attempt
to escape unobserved. Though they considered Crassus to be the cause
of all their sufferings, the soldiers still wished to see him and hear
his voice. But Crassus, wrapping himself up in his cloak, lay
concealed in the dark, an example to the many of fortune's reverses,
and to the wise of want of judgment and of ambition, which made him
dissatisfied unless he was the first and greatest among so many
thousands, and think that he lacked everything because he was judged
to be inferior to two men only. However, Octavius the legate, and
Cassius, endeavoured to rouse and comfort him; but, finding that he
had entirely given himself up to despair, they called together the
centurions and tribunes, and, after deliberating, they resolved not to
stay on the ground, and they made an attempt at first to put the army
in motion without the sound of the trumpet, and in silence. But when
the soldiers who were disabled, perceived that they were going to be
deserted, terrible disorder and confusion, mingled with groans and
shouts, filled the camp; and this was followed by disorder and panic
as they began to advance, for they thought that the enemy was coming
upon them. After frequently turning from their route, and frequently
putting themselves in order of battle, and taking up the wounded who
followed, and then laying them down again, they lost much time on the
march, with the exception of three hundred horsemen, with Ignatius[82]
at their head, who reached Carrhae about midnight.
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