Cumque membris incurvatis starent metu debiles et praestricti, docere iussi quae ferebant, usitatas illas causationum species iurandi fidem addendo firmabant; nihil ex communi mente procerum gentis delictum asseverantes in nostros, sed per extimos quosdam latrones, amnique confines evenisse, quae inciviliter gesta sunt, etiam id quoque addendo, ut sufficiens ad facta purganda firmantes, quod munimentum extrui coeptum nec iuste nec opportune ad ferociam animos agrestes accendit.
And as they stood there with bended limbs weak and stricken by fear, on being bidden to tell their mission, they gave the usual series of excuses and supported them by adding the pledge of an oath. They declared that there had been no common consent of the chiefs of their race in any wrong that had been done us, but that the hostile acts had been committed by bands of foreign brigands dwelling near the river; and they added, and maintained that it was a valid excuse for their conduct, that the building of a barrier, which was begun both unjustly and without due occasion, roused their rude spirits to anger.
final_alignments\Ammianus_Marcellinus_Book30.json