§27.48.1Nero primum cum omni equitatu advenit, Porcius deinde adsecutus cum levi armatura.
Nero arrived first with all the cavalry, then Porcius, having followed, caught up with the light-armed troops.
§27.48.2qui cum fessum agmen carperent ab omni parte incursarentque, et iam omisso itinere, quod fugae simile erat, castra metari Poenus in tumulo super fluminis ripam vellet, §27.48.3advenit Livius peditum omnibus copiis non itineris modo, sed ad conserendum extemplo proelium instructis armatisque.
When they were harassing the exhausted column from every side and attacking it, and when the Carthaginian, having already abandoned the march which was like a flight, wished to measure out a camp on a hill above the river bank, Livius arrived with all the forces of infantry, equipped and armed not merely for a march, but for joining battle immediately.
§27.48.4sed ubi omnes copias coniunxerunt, derectaque acies est, Claudius dextro in cornu, Livius ab sinistro pugnam instruit, media acies praetori tuenda data.
But when they united all their forces and the battle line was drawn up, Claudius drew up the battle on the right wing, Livius on the left, and the center of the line was given to the praetor to defend.
§27.48.5Hasdrubal omissa munitione castrorum postquam pugnandum vidit, in prima acie ante signa elephantos locat, circa eos laevo in cornu adversus Claudium Gallos opponit, haud tantum iis fidens, quantum ab hoste timeri eos credebat; §27.48.6ipse dextrum cornu adversus M. Livium sibi atque Hispanis — et ibi maxime in vetere milite spem habebat — sumpsit; §27.48.7Ligures in medio post elephantos positi.
Hasdrubal, having abandoned the fortification of the camp when he saw that he must fight, placed the elephants in the front line before the standards, and around them on the left wing, opposite Claudius, he opposed the Gauls, not trusting them so much as believing they were feared by the enemy; he himself took the right wing, opposite Marcus Livius, for himself and the Spaniards—and there, in the veteran soldier, he had his greatest hope; the Ligurians were placed in the center behind the elephants.
sed longior quam latior acies erat; Gallos prominent collis tegebat.
But the line was longer than it was wide; a projecting hill protected the Gauls.
§27.48.8ea frons, quam Hispani tenebant, cum sinistro Romanorum cornu concurrit; dextra omnis acies extra proelium eminens cessabat; §27.48.9collis oppositus arcebat, ne aut a fronte aut ab latere adgrederentur.
That front which the Spaniards held clashed with the left wing of the Romans; the entire right wing, standing out beyond the battle, remained inactive; the hill opposite prevented them from attacking either from the front or from the flank.
inter Livium Hasdrubalemque ingens contractum certamen erat, atroxque caedes utrimque edebatur.
Between Livius and Hasdrubal a huge contest was joined, and a terrible slaughter was dealt out on both sides.
§27.48.10ibi duces ambo, ibi pars maior peditum equitumque Romanorum, ibi Hispani, vetus miles peritusque Romanae pugnae, et Ligures, durum in armis genus.
There were both generals, there the greater part of the Roman infantry and cavalry, there the Spaniards, veteran soldiers experienced in Roman warfare, and the Ligurians, a race hardy in arms.
eodem versi elephanti, qui primo impetu turbaverant antesignanos et iam signa moverant loco; §27.48.11deinde crescente certamine et clamore inpotentius iam regi et inter duas acies versari, velut incerti, quorum essent, haud dissimiliter navibus sine gubernaculo vagis.
To the same place were turned the elephants, which at the first onset had thrown the vanguard into confusion and had already moved the standards from their place; then, as the contest and the shouting grew, they could no longer be controlled and moved between the two lines, as if uncertain to whom they belonged, not unlike ships wandering without a rudder.
§27.48.12Claudius “quid ergo praecipiti cursu tam longum iter emensi sumus?” clamitans militibus, cum in adversum collem frustra signa erigere conatus esset, §27.48.13postquam ea regione penetrari ad hostem non videbat posse, cohortes aliquot subductas e dextro cornu, ubi stationem magis segnem quam pugnam futuram cernebat, §27.48.14post aciem circumducit et non hostibus modo sed etiam suis inopinantibus in dextrum hostium latus incurrit; tantaque celeritas fuit, ut, cum ostendissent se ab latere, mox in terga iam pugnarent.
Claudius, shouting to his soldiers, "Why then have we traversed so long a march with headlong speed?" when he had tried in vain to advance the standards against the opposite hill, after he saw that it was impossible to penetrate to the enemy in that quarter, having withdrawn some cohorts from the right wing, where he saw there would be an inactive post rather than a battle, led them around behind the line, and fell upon the right flank of the enemy, unexpected not only by the enemy but also by his own men; and such was their speed that, having shown themselves on the flank, they were soon fighting in the rear.
§27.48.15ita ex omnibus partibus, ab fronte, ab latere, ab tergo, trucidantur Hispani Liguresque, et ad Gallos iam caedes pervenerat.
Thus from all sides, from the front, from the flank, from the rear, the Spaniards and Ligurians were slaughtered, and the carnage had already reached the Gauls.
ibi minimum certaminis fuit: §27.48.16nam et pars magna ab signis aberant, nocte dilapsi stratique somno passim per agros, et qui aderant, itinere ac vigiliis fessi, intolerantissima laboris corpora, vix arma umeris gestabant; §27.48.17et iam diei medium erat, sitisque et calor hiantes caedendos capiendosque adfatim praebebat.
There was the least amount of fighting there: for both a great part were away from their standards, having slipped away during the night and stretched themselves in sleep everywhere through the fields, and those who were present, exhausted by the march and lack of sleep, with bodies most unable to endure labor, could scarcely carry their arms on their shoulders; and now it was midday, and thirst and heat offered them, gasping, in abundance to be slaughtered and captured.