§26.44.1* armaverat.
[Mago] had armed [them].
cum terra marique instrui oppugnationem videret, et ipse copias ita disponit: oppidanorum duo milia ab ea parte, §26.44.2qua castra Romana erant, opponit, quingentis militibus arcem insidit, quingentos tumulo urbis in orientem verso inponit; multitudinem aliam, quo clamor, quo subita vocasset res, intentam ad omnia occurrere iubet.
When he saw that the siege was being prepared by land and sea, he himself also disposed his forces as follows: two thousand of the townsmen on that side where the Roman camp was, he posted; five hundred soldiers he stationed in the citadel, and five hundred he placed on the hill of the city turned toward the east; the rest of the multitude he ordered to run to assist at any point where a shout or a sudden emergency should call them, keeping alert to everything.
§26.44.3patefacta deinde porta eos, quos in via ferente ad castra hostium instruxerat, emittit.
Then, opening the gate, he sent out those whom he had drawn up in the street leading to the enemy's camp.
Romani duce ipso praecipiente parumper cessere, ut propiores subsidiis in certamine ipso summittendis essent.
The Romans, at the command of their leader himself, fell back for a short time, so that they might be closer to the reserves to be sent forward in the battle itself.
§26.44.4et primo haud impares stetere acies; subsidia deinde identidem summissa e castris non averterunt solum in fugam hostis, sed adeo effusis institerunt, ut nisi receptui cecinisset, permixti fugientibus inrupturi fuisse in urbem viderentur.
And at first the battle lines stood not unequal; then the reserves, repeatedly sent forward from the camp, not only turned the enemy to flight, but pressed upon them as they fled so in disorder that, if the signal for retreat had not been sounded, they seemed likely to have burst into the city along with the fugitives.
§26.44.5trepidatio vero non in proelio maior quam tota urbe fuit.
Indeed, the panic was no greater in the battle than throughout the whole city.
multae stationes pavore atque fuga desertae sunt, relictique muri, cum, qua cuique erat proximum, desiluissent.
Many guard posts were abandoned out of fear and flight, and the walls were left unguarded, since they had leaped down wherever was closest for each.
§26.44.6quod ubi egressus Scipio in tumulum, quem Mercuri vocant, animadvertit, multis partibus nudata defensoribus moenia esse, omnis e castris excitos ire ad oppugnandam urbem et ferre scalas iubet.
When Scipio, having gone up onto the hill which they call the Hill of Mercury, noticed this—that the walls were stripped of defenders in many parts—he ordered everyone summoned from the camp to go to assault the city and to carry ladders.
§26.44.7ipse trium prae se iuvenum validorum scutis oppositis — ingens enim iam vis omnis generis telorum e muris volabat — ad urbem succedit, hortatur, imperat quae in rem sunt, §26.44.8quodque plurimum ad accendendos militum animos intererat, testis spectatorque virtutis atque ignaviae cuiusque adest.
He himself, with the shields of three strong young men held before him—for already a huge force of all kinds of missiles was flying from the walls—advanced to the city, encouraged them, and gave such orders as the situation required; and, what was of the greatest importance for kindling the spirits of the soldiers, he was present as a witness and spectator of the courage and cowardice of each.
§26.44.9itaque in vulnera ac tela ruunt, neque illos muri neque superstantes armati arcere queunt, quin certatim ascendant.
And so they rushed into wounds and missiles, nor could either the walls or the armed men standing above keep them from climbing up in rivalry.
§26.44.10et ab navibus eodem tempore ea, quae mari adluitur, pars urbis oppugnari coepta est.
At the same time, the part of the city washed by the sea began to be attacked from the ships.
ceterum tumultus inde maior quam vis adhibere poterat.
However, the confusion there was greater than the force they could apply.
§26.44.11dum adplicant, dum raptim exponunt scalas militesque, dum, qua cuique proximum est, in terram evadere properant, ipsa festinatione et certamine alii alios inpediunt.
While they were bringing the ships to land, while they were hurriedly landing the ladders and the soldiers, and while they were hastening to escape onto the land where it was closest for each, by their very haste and rivalry they hindered one another.