§27.26.1Hannibal quia cum Marcello bis priore anno congressus vicerat victusque erat, ut, cum eodem si dimicandum foret, nec spem nec metum ex vano haberet, ita duobus consulibus haudquaquam sese parem futurum credebat.
Hannibal, because he had engaged with Marcellus twice in the previous year and had won and been defeated, so that if he had to fight with the same man he would have neither hope nor fear without reason, so believed that he would be by no means a match for the two consuls.
§27.26.2itaque totus in suas artes versus insidiis locum quaerebat.
Therefore, turning himself entirely to his own arts, he sought a place for an ambush.
§27.26.3levia tamen proelia inter bina castra vario eventu fiebant; quibus cum extrahi aestatem posse consules crederent, nihilo minus oppugnari Locros posse rati, L. Cincio, ut ex Sicilia Locros cum classe traiceret, scribunt.
However, light skirmishes were taking place between the two camps with varying success; since the consuls believed that the summer could be dragged out by these, but nevertheless judged that Locri could be besieged, they wrote to Lucius Cincius to cross over from Sicily to Locri with his fleet.
§27.26.4et ut ab terra quoque oppugnari moenia possent, ab Tarento partem exercitus, §27.26.5qui in praesidio erat, duci eo iusserunt.
And so that the walls could also be attacked from the land, from Tarentum a part of the army, which was in garrison, they ordered to be led there.
ea ita futura per quosdam Thurinos conperta Hannibali cum essent, mittit ad insidendam ab Tarento viam.
When Hannibal found out through certain Thurians that these things would be so, he sent forces to blockade the road from Tarentum.
ibi sub tumulo Peteliae tria milia equitum, duo peditum in occulto locata; §27.26.6in quae inexplorato euntes Romani cum incidissent, ad duo milia armatorum caesa, mille et quingenti ferme vivi capti, alii dissupati fuga per agros saltusque Tarentum rediere.
There, below the hill of Petelia, three thousand cavalry and two thousand infantry were placed in concealment; and when the Romans, marching without reconnaissance, fell into them, about two thousand armed men were slain, nearly fifteen hundred captured alive, and others, scattered in flight through the fields and woods, returned to Tarentum.
tumulus erat silvestris inter Punica §27.26.7et Romana castra, ab neutris primo occupatus, quia Romani, qualis pars eius, quae vergeret ad hostium castra, esset, ignorabant, Hannibal insidiis quam castris aptiorem eum crediderat.
There was a wooded hill between the Carthaginian and the Roman camps, which was at first occupied by neither side, because the Romans did not know what the part of it which sloped toward the enemy's camp was like, and Hannibal had believed it to be more suitable for an ambush than for a camp.
§27.26.8itaque nocte ad id missas aliquot Numidarum turmas medio in saltu condiderat, quorum interdiu nemo ab statione movebatur, ne aut arma aut ipsi procul conspicerentur.
Therefore, he had hidden in the middle of the woods some squadrons of Numidians sent for this purpose by night, none of whom moved from their post during the day, lest either their arms or themselves should be seen from afar.
§27.26.9fremebant vulgo in castris Romanis occupandum eum tumulum esse et castello firmandum, ne, si occupatus ab Hannibale foret, velut in cervicibus haberent hostem.
There was a general murmur in the Roman camp that that hill ought to be occupied and strengthened with a fort, lest, if it should be occupied by Hannibal, they should have the enemy, as it were, at their throats.
§27.26.10movit ea res Marcellum et conlegae “quin imus” inquit “ipsi cum equitibus paucis exploratum? subiecta res oculis nostris certius dabit consilium. ”
This matter moved Marcellus, and he said to his colleague: 'Why do we not go ourselves with a few horsemen to reconnoitre?
§27.26.11adsentienti Crispino cum equitibus ducentis viginti, ex quibus quadraginta Fregellani, ceteri Etrusci erant, proficiscuntur; §27.26.12secuti tribuni militum, M. Marcellus consulis filius et A. Manlius, simul et duo praefecti socium L. Arrenius et M’. Aulius.
The thing presented to our own eyes will give us a more certain plan.' Upon Crispinus agreeing, they set out with two hundred and twenty horsemen, of whom forty were Fregellans, the rest Etruscans; followed by the military tribunes, Marcus Marcellus, the consul's son, and Aulus Manlius, and at the same time two prefects of the allies, Lucius Arrenius and Manius Aulius.
§27.26.13immolasse eo die quidam prodidere memoriae consulem Marcellum, et prima hostia caesa iocur sine capite inventum, in secunda omnia conparuisse, quae adsolent, auctum etiam visum in capite; nec id sane haruspici placuisse, §27.26.14quod secundum trunca et turpia exta nimis laeta apparuissent.
Some have recorded that on that day the consul Marcellus offered sacrifice, and when the first victim was slain, the liver was found without a head; in the second, all the usual parts appeared, and there also seemed to be an enlargement in the head; nor indeed did this please the haruspex, because, after the mutilated and deformed entrails, overly favorable ones had appeared.