These men, however, owing to the depth and density of their array, and the unnatural courage with which they held their ground, were only slowly repulsed by the Roman men-at-arms; but at last the fiery bolts and the javelins which the Romans in the rear ranks plied unsparingly, threw them into confusion and drove them back. Archelaüs now extended his right wing to envelop Sulla’s line, whereupon Hortensius See chapter xvii. 7. sent his cohorts against him on a quick run, intending to attack his flank. But Archelaüs wheeled swiftly against him his two thousand horsemen, and Hortensius, forced aside by superior numbers, was keeping close to the hills, separating himself little by little from the main line, and getting surrounded by the enemy.