Plate 9: The Romans Defeated by the Dutch Troops at Bonna by Antonio Tempesta & Otto van Veen 1611

"When the Batavi were approaching the camp at Bonn, they sent a messenger ahead to set forth to Herennius Gallus the demands of the cohorts. This messenger said that they were not making war on the Romans on whose behalf they had often fought, but that they were weary of their long and profitless service and longed for their home and a life of peace. If no one opposed them they would pass without doing any harm; but if armed resistance were offered, they would find a path with the sword. When Gallus hesitated, the soldiers urged him to try the issue of battle. Three thousand legionaries and some cohorts of Belgians, which had been hastily raised, as well as a band of peasants and foragers, unwarlike but bold before they met actual danger, burst out of all the gates at once to surround the Batavi, who were inferior in numbers. But they, being veterans in service, gathered in solid columns, with their ranks closed on every side, secure on front and flanks and rear; so they broke through our thin line. When the Belgians gave way, the legion was driven back and in terror rushed for the rampart and gates of the camp. At these points there were the greatest losses: the ditches were heaped high with bodies and our men died not only by the sword and from wounds, but also from the crush and very many by their own weapons. The victors avoided Cologne and made no other hostile attempt during the rest of their march; they excused the battle at Bonn on the ground that they had asked for peace, and when this was refused, had consulted their own interests."

-Tacitus, The Histories: Book 4, Chapter 20

Plate 9: The Romans Defeated by the Dutch Troops at Bonna by Antonio Tempesta & Otto van Veen 1611, from The War of the Romans Against the Batavians (Romanorvm et Batavorvm societas). 6 3/8 × 8 3/16 in. (16.2 × 20.8 cm). Current location: MET Museum. Antonio Tempesta in collaboration with Otto van Veen published in 1612 in Antwerp a series of thirty-six etchings on the Batavians and the Romans in a book entitled Batavorum cum Romanis bellum.

Source:

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/401511


Quote:

https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Tacitus/Histories/4A*.html