How does Clive Cussler use imagery in Treasure?

Imagery:

"The soldiers still on the bluff countered everything that was thrown at them. The barbarians dodge and chanted defiance while probing for a weak spot in the Roman defenses. Four times they grouped in mass formation and charged and rou times they were hurled back, but not before whittling down a few more of the exhausted legionaries. The square became a small knot as the few survivors closed ranks and fought shoulder to shoulder. Bloody heaps of dead and dying carpeted the summit, their blood flowing down the slopes. And still the Romans resisted."

"He was reminded of a deflated balloon. That was the only way he could describe it. An incision had been made from the back of the head down to the ankles, and the skin peeled away from the body like a pelt from an animal. There was a long vertical slit in the chest that had been crudely sewn. The eyes were missing, but the entire dermis was there, including both shriveled hands and feet."