§28.36.1Magoni desperatis in Hispania rebus, in quarum spem seditio primum militaris, deinde defectio Indibilis animos eius sustulerant, paranti traicere in Africam nuntiatum ab Carthagine est iubere senatum, ut classem, quam Gadibus haberet, in Italiam traiceret; §28.36.2conducta ibi Gallorum ac Ligurum quanta maxima posset iuventute coniungeret se Hannibali neu senescere bellum maximo impetu, maiore fortuna coeptum sineret.
When Mago, despairing of the situation in Spain (in hope of which first a military mutiny, and then the defection of Indibilis had raised his spirits), was preparing to cross over into Africa, a message was brought from Carthage that the senate ordered him to take the fleet which he had at Gades over to Italy; and that, having enlisted there as large a number of Gallic and Ligurian youth as possible, he should join Hannibal, and not suffer the war, begun with the greatest impetus and greater fortune, to languish.
§28.36.3ad eam rem et a Carthagine pecunia Magoni advecta est, et ipse quantam potuit a Gaditanis exegit, non aerario modo eorum sed etiam templis spoliatis, et privatim omnibus coactis aurum argentumque in publicum conferre.
For this purpose money was brought to Mago from Carthage, and he himself exacted as much as he could from the citizens of Gades, having plundered not only their treasury but also their temples, and having compelled all private individuals to bring their gold and silver into the public treasury.
§28.36.4cum praeterveheretur Hispaniae oram, haud procul Carthagine Nova expositis in terram militibus proximos depopulatus agros, inde ad urbem classem adpulit.
As he sailed along the coast of Spain, having landed his soldiers not far from New Carthage, he ravaged the neighboring lands, and from there brought his fleet to the city.
§28.36.5ibi cum interdiu milites in navibus tenuisset, nocte in litus expositos ad partem eam muri, qua capta Carthago ab Romanis fuerat, ducit, nec praesidio satis valido urbem teneri ratus et aliquos oppidanorum ad spem novandi res aliquid moturos.
There, having kept his soldiers on board the ships during the day, he led them at night, landed on the shore, to that part of the wall where Carthage had been captured by the Romans, thinking that the city was not held by a sufficiently strong garrison, and that some of the townspeople, in hope of revolution, would make some movement.
§28.36.6ceterum nuntii ex agris trepidi simul populationem agrestiumque fugam et hostium adventum adtulerant, §28.36.7et visa interdiu classis erat, nec sine causa electam ante urbem stationem apparebat.
But terrified messengers from the country had brought at once the news of the ravaging, the flight of the country people, and the approach of the enemy, and the fleet had been seen during the day, and it was apparent that a station before the city had not been chosen without a reason.
itaque instructi armatique intra portam ad stagnum ac mare versam continebantur.
Therefore, drawn up and armed, the Romans were kept within the gate facing the lagoon and the sea.
§28.36.8ubi effusi hostes, mixta inter milites navalis turba, ad muros tumultu maiore quam vi subierunt, patefacta repente porta Romani cum clamore erumpunt turbatosque hostes §28.36.9et ad primum incursum coniectumque telorum aversos usque ad litus cum multa caede persequuntur; §28.36.10nec, nisi naves litori adpulsae trepidos accepissent, superfuisset fugae aut pugnae quisquam.
When the scattered enemy, a naval crowd mixed among the soldiers, came up to the walls with greater noise than force, the gate was suddenly opened, and the Romans sallied forth with a shout, and the confused enemy, who turned their backs at the first onset and shower of missiles, they pursued with great slaughter all the way to the shore; nor, unless the ships brought to the shore had received the terrified men, would anyone have survived for flight or for fight.
§28.36.11in ipsis quoque trepidatum navibus est, dum, ne hostes cum suis simul inrumperent, trahunt scalas, orasque et ancoras, ne in moliendo mora esset, praecidunt; §28.36.12multique adnantes navibus, incerto prae tenebris, quid aut peterent aut vitarent, foede interierunt.
In the ships themselves also there was panic, while, lest the enemy should break in together with their own men, they drew up the ladders, and cut the cables and anchors, lest there should be delay in getting under way; and many swimming to the ships, uncertain through the darkness what to seek or what to avoid, perished miserably.
§28.36.13postero die cum classis inde retro ad Oceanum, unde venerat, fugisset, ad octingentos homines caesi inter murum litusque et ad duo milia armorum inventa.
The next day, when the fleet had fled from there back to the Ocean from where it had come, about eight hundred men were found slain between the wall and the shore, and about two thousand suits of armor were found.