Original sentence: "Herminius and Larcius, their defensive arms being now rendered useless by the continual blows they received, began to retreat gradually
Edited sentence: " Livy gives no clue as to what such men were doing on the field in the first place and, though finding Cocles' feats incredible, apparently sees no contradiction between the rank, experience and character of the generals and their supposed behavior on the field.Apparently Rome had placed its defense in the hands of an entire army of cowards, which not only could not hold one hill but after drawing up a line of battle could not stand even the first charge of the enemy.Cocles, in this view, was the only man in the entire army with the courage to stand up, motivating two veteran generals through a sense of shame to assist him momentarily: "Two men were kept by a sense of shame from deserting him - Sp.Dionysius goes on to say, "Herminius and Larcius, their defensive arms being now rendered useless by the continual blows they received, began to retreat gradually.Herminius - both of them men of high birth and renowned courage.In the abbreviated (one section) and skeptical version of Livy, no battle took place, but "his own men, a panic-struck mob, were deserting their posts and throwing away their arms.Lartius and T