§25.21.1circa Herdoneam Romanae legiones et praetor Fulvius erat.
Around Herdonea were the Roman legions and the praetor Fulvius.
quo ubi allatum est hostis adventare, prope est factum, ut iniussu praetoris signis convulsis in aciem exirent.
When word was brought there that the enemy was approaching, they came very near to plucking up the standards and marching out into line of battle without the praetor's order.
nec res magis ulla tenuit quam spes haud dubia suo id arbitrio, ubi vellent, facturos.
Nor did any other thing hold them back more than the sure hope that they would do so at their own discretion whenever they wished.
§25.21.2nocte insequenti Hannibal, cum tumultuatum in castris et plerosque ferociter, signum ut daret, institisse duci ad arma vocantis sciret, haud dubius prosperae pugnae occasionem dari, §25.21.3tria milia expeditorum militum in villis circa vepribusque et silvis disponit, §25.21.4qui signo dato simul omnes e latebris existerent, et Magonem ac duo ferme milia equitum, qua fugam inclinaturam credebat, omnia itinera insidere iubet.
On the following night, Hannibal, since he knew that there had been a tumult in the camp and that most of them, calling to arms, had fiercely pressed their leader to give the signal, and being in no doubt that an opportunity for a successful battle was being offered, stationed three thousand light-armed soldiers in the villas, bushes, and woods around, who, upon the signal being given, were all to emerge together from their hiding places, and he ordered Mago and about two thousand cavalry to occupy all the roads where he believed the flight would tend.
his nocte praeparatis prima luce in aciem copias educit.
Having prepared these things by night, at dawn he led his forces out into line of battle.
§25.21.5nec Fulvius est cunctatus, non tam sua ulla spe quam militum impetu fortuito tractus.
Nor did Fulvius hesitate, drawn not so much by any hope of his own as by the accidental impulse of his soldiers.
itaque eadem teneritate, qua processum in aciem est, instruitur ipsa acies ad libidinem militum forte procurrentium consistentiumque, quo loco ipsorum tulisset animus, deinde per libidinem aut metum deserentium locum.
And so, with the same carelessness with which they had marched out into line, the battle line itself was drawn up according to the whim of the soldiers who happened to rush forward or stand still in whatever place their own inclination had carried them, and then, through whim or fear, abandoned their ground.
§25.21.6prima legio et sinistra ala in primo instructae, et in longitudinem porrecta acies.
The first legion and the left wing were drawn up in the front, and the line of battle was extended in length.
§25.21.7clamantibus tribunis nihil introrsus roboris ac virium esse et, quacumque impetum fecissent hostis, perrupturos, nihil, quod salutare esset, non modo ad animum sed ne ad aures quidem admittebat.
Though the tribunes shouted that there was no strength or force within, and that wherever the enemy made an attack they would break through, he would admit nothing that was salutary, not only to his mind, but not even to his ears.
§25.21.8et Hannibal haudquaquam similis dux neque simili exercitu neque ita instructo aderat.
And Hannibal was present, a general by no means similar, with an army by no means similar, and not so drawn up.
ergo ne clamorem quidem atque impetum primum eorum Romani sustinuere.
Therefore the Romans did not withstand even their first shout and onset.
§25.21.9dux, stultitia et temeritate Centenio par, animo haudquaquam comparandus, ubi rem inclinatam ac trepidantis suos videt, equo arrepto cum ducentis ferme equitibus effugit; §25.21.10cetera a fronte pulsa, inde a tergo atque alis circumventa acies eo usque est caesa, ut ex duodeviginti milibus hominum duo milia haud amplius evaserint.
The general, equal to Centenius in folly and rashness, but by no means to be compared in courage, when he saw the line wavering and his men in panic, seized a horse and fled with about two hundred horsemen; the rest of the line, beaten in front, and then surrounded on the rear and flanks, was slaughtered to such an extent that out of eighteen thousand men, no more than two thousand escaped.
castris hostes potiti sunt.
The enemy gained possession of the camp.