Plutarch wrote that the Gauls encamped near the confluence of the Allia with the Tiber, some 18 km (11 mi) from Rome, and attacked the Romans suddenly. There was a "disorderly and shameful battle." The Roman left wing was pushed into the river and destroyed while the right wing withdrew before the Gauls' attack from the plain to the hills and most of them fled to Rome. The rest of the survivors escaped to Veii at night. "They thought that Rome was lost and all her people slain."