and made our prisoners of war.  And not only is this so, but it is now possible to see also that we boast great superiority over them in numbers.  And, furthermore, the struggle for us involves the very greatest things, either to be masters of all Libya or to be slaves to these braggarts.  It is therefore necessary for us to be in the highest degree brave men at the present time.  For it is not expedient that those whose all is at stake should be other than exceedingly courageous.  And it behoves us to despise the equipment of arms which the enemy have.  For if they come on foot against us, they will not be able to move rapidly, but will be worsted by the agility of the Moors, and their cavalry will be terrified both by the sight of the camels, and by the noise they make, which, rising above the general tumult of battle, will, in all likelihood, throw them into disorder.  And if anyone by taking into consideration the victory of the Romans over the Vandals thinks them not to be withstood, he is mistaken in his judgment.  For the scales of war are, in the nature of the case, turned by the valour of the commander or by fortune; and Belisarius, who was responsible for their gaining the mastery over the Vandals, has now, thanks to Heaven, been removed out of our way.  And, besides, we too have many times conquered the Vandals and stripped them of their power, and have thus made the victory over them a more feasible and an easier task for the Romans.  And now we have reason to hope to conquer this enemy also if you shew yourselves brave men in the struggle.”

After the officers of the Moors had delivered this exhortation, they began the engagement.  And at first there arose great disorder in the Roman army.  For their horses were offended by the noise made by the camels and by the sight of them, and reared up and threw off their riders and the most of them fled in complete disorder.  And in the meantime the Moors were making sallies and hurling all the small spears which they had in their hands, thus causing the Roman army to be filled with tumult, and they were hitting them with their missiles while they were unable either to defend themselves or to remain in position.  But after this, Solomon, observing what was happening, leaped down from his horse himself first and caused all the others to do the same.  And when they had dismounted, he commanded the others to stand still, and, holding their shields before them and receiving the missiles sent by the enemy, to remain in their position; but he himself, leading forward not less than five hundred men, made an attack upon the other portion of the circle.[39] These men he commanded to draw their swords and kill the camels which stood at that point.  Then the Moors who were stationed there beat a hasty retreat, and the men under Solomon killed about two hundred camels, and straightway, when the camels fell, the circle became accessible to the Romans.  And they advanced on the run into the middle of the circle where the women