§28.16.1Scipio, ut prima luce qui in stationibus erant rettulerunt profectos hostes, praemisso equitatu signa ferri iubet; §28.16.2adeoque citato agmine ducti sunt, ut, si via recta vestigia sequentes issent, haud dubie adsecuturi fuerint; ducibus est creditum brevius aliud esse iter ad Baetim fluvium, ut transeuntes adgrederentur.
Scipio, as soon as those who were on guard reported at dawn that the enemy had departed, sent the cavalry ahead and ordered the standards to be advanced; and they were led with such rapid march that, if they had gone by the straight road following their tracks, they would undoubtedly have overtaken them; but belief was given to the guides that there was another shorter road to the river Baetis, so that they might attack them as they crossed.
§28.16.3Hasdrubal clauso transitu fluminis ad Oceanum flectit, et iam inde fugientium modo effusi abibant.
Hasdrubal, finding the crossing of the river closed, turned toward the Ocean, and from that moment they began to depart, scattered like fugitives.
itaque ab legionibus Romanis aliquantum intervalli fecit, §28.16.4eques levisque armatura nunc ab tergo nunc ab lateribus occurrendo fatigabat morabaturque; sed cum ad crebros tumultus signa consisterent §28.16.5et nunc equestria nunc cum velitibus auxiliisque peditum proelia consererent, supervenerunt legiones.
Thus he gained a considerable distance from the Roman legions, although the cavalry and light-armed troops harassed and delayed them by attacking now from the rear, now from the flanks; but when, in response to frequent skirmishes, they halted their standards and joined battle now in cavalry skirmishes, now with the velites and auxiliary infantry, the legions came up.
§28.16.6inde non iam pugna sed trucidatio velut pecorum fieri, donec ipse dux fugae auctor in proximos colles cum sex milibus ferme semermium evasit; ceteri caesi captique.
From that point it was no longer a battle but a slaughter as of cattle, until the general himself, the instigator of the flight, escaped into the nearest hills with about six thousand almost unarmed men; the rest were slain or captured.
§28.16.7castra tumultuaria raptim Poeni tumulo editissimo communiverunt atque inde, cum hostis nequiquam subire iniquo ascensu conatus esset, haud difficulter sese tutati sunt.
The Carthaginians hastily fortified a makeshift camp on a very high hill, and from there, when the enemy had attempted in vain to advance up the disadvantageous slope, they defended themselves without difficulty.
§28.16.8sed obsidio in loco nudo atque inopi vix in paucos dies tolerabilis erat; itaque transitiones ad hostem fiebant.
But a siege in a bare and destitute place was scarcely tolerable even for a few days; and so desertions to the enemy took place.
postremo dux ipse navibus accitis — nec procul inde aberat mare — nocte relicto exercitu Gades perfugit.
Finally, the general himself, having summoned ships—for the sea was not far from there—abandoned his army by night and escaped to Gades.
§28.16.9Scipio fuga ducis hostium audita decem milia peditum mille equites relinquit Silano ad castrorum obsidionem; §28.16.10ipse cum ceteris copiis septuagensimis castris protinus causis regulorum civitatiumque cognoscendis, ut praemia ad veram meritorum aestimationem tribui possent, Tarraconem rediit.
Scipio, on hearing of the flight of the enemy's general, left ten thousand infantry and a thousand cavalry to Silanus for the siege of the camp; he himself with the rest of the forces returned immediately to Tarraco in seventy days' march, in order to investigate the cases of the petty kings and states so that rewards might be distributed according to a true estimation of their merits.
§28.16.11post profectionem eius Masinissa cum Silano clam congressus, ut ad nova consilia gentem quoque suam oboedientem haberet, cum paucis popularibus in Africam traiecit, §28.16.12non tam evidenti eo tempore subitae mutationis causa, quam documento post id tempus constantissimae ad ultimam senectam fidei, ne tum quidem eum sine probabili causa fecisse.
After his departure, Masinissa, having secretly met with Silanus, crossed over into Africa with a few of his countrymen, in order to have his own nation also obedient to his new designs, the reason for his sudden change of allegiance not being so obvious at that time, as it was proved by his extremely constant loyalty up to extreme old age after that time, showing that even then he had not acted without a plausible reason.
§28.16.13Mago inde remissis ab Hasdrubale navibus Gades petit; ceteri deserti ab ducibus, pars transitione, pars fuga dissupati per proximas civitates sunt, nulla numero aut viribus manus insignis.
Mago then, with the ships sent back by Hasdrubal, made for Gades; the rest, abandoned by their leaders, were dispersed through the neighboring states, partly by desertion, partly by flight, no band being noteworthy for its number or strength.
§28.16.14hoc maxime modo ductu atque auspicio P. Scipionis pulsi Hispania Carthaginienses sunt, quarto decimo anno post bellum initum, quinto quam P. Scipio provinciam et exercitum accepit.
In this manner chiefly, under the leadership and auspices of P. Scipio, the Carthaginians were driven from Spain, in the fourteenth year after the beginning of the war, and the fifth after P. Scipio received the province and the army.
§28.16.15haud multo post Silanus debellatum referens Tarraconem ad Scipionem rediit.
Not long afterward, Silanus returned to Scipio at Tarraco, reporting that the war was brought to an end.