§27.47.1iam hostes ante castra instructi stabant.
Already the enemy stood drawn up before their camp.
moram pugnae attulit, quod Hasdrubal, provectus ante signa cum paucis equitibus, scuta vetera hostium notavit, quae ante non viderat, et strigosiores equos; multitudo quoque maior solita visa est.
What brought delay to the battle was that Hasdrubal, having advanced before the standards with a few horsemen, noticed the old shields of the enemy, which he had not seen before, and their horses which were leaner; the number also seemed larger than usual.
§27.47.2suspicatus enim id, quod erat, receptui propere cecinit ac misit ad fiumen, unde aquabantur, ubi et excipi aliqui possent et notari oculis, si qui forte adustioris coloris at ex recenti via essent; §27.47.3simul circumvehi procul castra iubet specularique, num auctum aliqua parte sit vallum, et ut attendant, semel bisne signum canat in castris.
For, suspecting that which was indeed the case, he immediately sounded the retreat and sent men to the river where they were watering, where some of the enemy might be captured and observed by eye, in case there were any who perchance had a more sunburnt color and showed signs of a recent march; at the same time he ordered them to ride around the camp from a distance and reconnoitre whether the rampart had been enlarged in any part, and to observe whether the signal sounded once or twice in the camp.
§27.47.4ea cum ordine omnia relata essent, castra nihil aucta errorem faciebant: bina erant, sicut ante adventum consulis alterius fuerant, una M. Livii, altera L. Porci, neutris quicquam, quo latius tenderetur, ad munimenta adiectum.
When all these things had been reported in order, the fact that the camp was not at all enlarged caused perplexity: there were two camps, just as they had been before the arrival of the other consul, one of Marcus Livius, the other of Lucius Porcius, with nothing added to the fortifications of either to allow a wider encampment.
§27.47.5illud veterem ducem adsuetumque Romano hosti movit, quod semel in praetoriis castris signum, bis in consularibus referebant cecinisse.
But what moved the veteran general, accustomed as he was to the Roman enemy, was that they reported the signal had sounded once in the praetor's camp, and twice in that of the consuls.
duos profecto consules esse, et quonam modo alter ab Hannibale abscessisset, cura angebat.
That there were indeed two consuls, and in what way the other had departed from Hannibal, harassed his mind with anxiety.
§27.47.6minime id, quod erat, suspicari poterat, tantae rei frustratione Hannibalem elusum, ut, ubi dux, ubi exercitus esset, cum quo castra conlata haberet, ignoraret; §27.47.7profecto haud mediocri clade absterritum insequi non ausum; magno opere vereri, ne perditis rebus serum ipse auxilium venisset Romanisque eadem iam fortuna in Italia quae in Hispania esset. §27.47.8interdum litteras suas ad eum non pervenisse credere, interceptisque iis consulem ad sese opprimendum adcelerasse.
He could least of all suspect that which was the truth—that Hannibal had been so eluded by the deception in so great a matter that he was ignorant of where the general and where the army were with whom he had his camp pitched opposite; surely, deterred by no moderate disaster, he had not dared to follow; he feared greatly lest, with affairs ruined, he himself had come as a late assistance, and lest the Romans now had the same fortune in Italy as they had in Spain.
his anxius curis extinctis ignibus vigilia prima dato signo, ut taciti vasa colligerent, signa ferri iussit.
Anxious with these cares, having extinguished the fires, at the first watch, when the signal was given to pack up their baggage in silence, he ordered the standards to be advanced.
§27.47.9in trepidatione et nocturno tumultu duces parum intente adservati alter in destinatis iam ante animo latebris subsedit, alter per vada nota Metaurum flumen tranavit.
In the confusion and nocturnal bustle, the guides, being too carelessly guarded, one slipped away into a hiding place already predetermined in his mind, the other swam across the River Metaurus through a known ford.
ita desertum ab ducibus agmen primo per agros palatur, fessique aliquot itinere ac vigiliis sternunt somno corpora passim atque infrequentia relinquunt signa.
Thus, the column, deserted by its guides, at first wandered through the fields; and some, exhausted by the march and lack of sleep, stretched their bodies in sleep everywhere, and left the standards thinly attended.
§27.47.10Hasdrubal dum lux viam ostenderet, ripa fluminis signa ferri iubet, et per tortuosi amnis sinus flexusque cum iter errore revolvens baud multum processisset, ubi prima lux transitum opportunum ostendisset, transiturus erat.
Hasdrubal, until the light should show the way, ordered the standards to be carried along the bank of the river; and since he did not advance far, retracing his path in error along the bends and windings of the twisting river, he intended to cross as soon as the first light should show a convenient passage.
§27.47.11sed cum quantum a mari abscedebat, tanto altioribus coercentibus amnem ripis non inveniret vada, diem terendo spatium dedit ad insequendum sese hosti.
But since, the further he departed from the sea, the higher were the banks confining the river, and he could find no fords, by wasting the day he gave time to the enemy to pursue him.