noon
There was a small green space by the wayside , covered with short mossy turf , and overshadowed by the spreading branches of a single chesnut , beneath which Paullus drew up the mules of Hortensia 's carriage , directing the old charioteer , who seemed hard set to manage his high-bred and fiery steeds , to wheel completely off the road , and hold them well in hand on the green behind him . By this time the procession had drawn nigh , and two mounted troopers , glittering in casques of highly polished bronze , with waving crests of horsehair , corslets of burnished brass , and cassocks of bright scarlet cloth , dashed by as hard as their fiery Gallic steeds could trot , their harness clashing merrily from the rate at which they rode . Before these men were out of sight , a troop of horse rode past in serried order , five abreast , with a square crimson banner , bearing in characters of gold the well-known initials , S. P. Q. R. , and surmounted by a gilded eagle . Nothing could be more beautifully accurate than the ordered march and exact discipline of this little band , their horses stepping proudly out , as if by one common impulse , in perfect time to the occasional notes of the _ lituus _ , or cavalry trumpet , by which all their manœuvres were directed ; and the men , hardy and fine-looking figures , in the prime of life , bestriding with an air of perfect mastery their fiery chargers , and bearing the weight of their heavy panoply beneath the burning sunshine of the Italian noon , as though a march of thirty miles were the merest child 's play . About half a mile in the rear of this escort , so as to avoid the dust which hung heavily , and was a long time subsiding in the breathless atmosphere , came the train of the ambassadors from the Gaulish Highlands , and on these men were the eyes of the Roman ladies fixed with undisguised wonder , not unmixed with admiration . For their giant stature , strong limbs , and wild barbaric dresses , were as different from those of the well-ordered legionaries , as were their long light tresses , their blue eyes , keen and flashing as a falcon 's , and their fair ruddy skins , from the clear brown complexions , dark locks , and black eyes of the Italian race . The first of these wild people was a young warrior above six feet in height , mounted on a superb grey charger , which bore his massive bulk as if it were unconscious of his burthen .