Artorius said, “That’s the way, my boys, drink, and think of the host of Cerdic as you drink! It will be long before some of them set a wine-skin to their lips as you are doing.”
The men laughed again at this grim jest. Of that twelve, only three survived the battle, however. It was their last drink, too, though they did not know that then. So they relished the wine.
Then Artorius sent a strong company behind the hill, so as to cut off any possible escape of the Saxons, and having done that he gave orders that wave after wave of horsemen were to pretend to mount the hill until darkness fell. This would keep the Saxons on their feet and cause many of them to run down the hill in pursuit when the horsemen turned, as seemed to be their undisciplined habit.
So, as an ancient writer put it,
