§31.36.1uno deinde intermisso die, cum omnibus copiis equitum levisque armaturae pugnaturus rex esset, nocte caetratos, quos peltastas vocant, loco §31.36.2opportuno inter bina castra in insidiis abdiderat praeceperatque Athenagorae et equitibus, ut, si aperto proelio procederet res, uterentur fortuna, si minus, cedendo sensim ad insidiarum locum hostem pertraherent.
Then, after an interval of one day, when the king was about to fight with all his forces of cavalry and light-armed troops, during the night he had concealed the caetrati, whom they call peltasts, in a suitable place in ambush between the two camps, and had instructed Athenagoras and the cavalry that, if the business should go well in open battle, they should employ their fortune, but if not, they should draw the enemy on to the place of ambush by retreating gradually.
§31.36.3et equitatus quidem cessit, duces caetratae cohortis non satis expectato signo ante tempus excitatis suis occasionem bene gerendae rei amisere.
And the cavalry indeed retreated, but the commanders of the caetrate cohort, not having waited sufficiently for the signal, roused their men before the proper time and lost the opportunity of performing a successful action.
Romanus et aperto proelio victor et tutus a fraude insidiarum in castra sese recepit.
The Roman, both victorious in the open battle and safe from the deception of the ambush, withdrew into his camp.
§31.36.4postero die consul omnibus copiis in aciem descendit ante prima signa locatis elephantis, quo auxilio tum primum Romani, quia captos aliquot bello Punico habebant, usi sunt.
On the following day the consul descended into battle line with all his forces, having stationed the elephants before the front standards, an aid which the Romans then used for the first time, because they had some captured in the Punic War.
§31.36.5ubi latentem intra vallum hostem vidit, in tumulos quoque ac sub ipsum vallum exprobrans metum successit.
When he saw the enemy keeping himself hidden within his rampart, he advanced even onto the hills and up to the rampart itself, reproaching them with their fear.
postquam ne tum quidem potestas pugnandi dabatur, quia ex tam propinquis stativis parum tuta frumentatio erat, dispersos milites per agros equitibus extemplo invasuris, §31.36.6octo fere inde milia, intervallo tutiorem frumentationem habiturus, castra ad)ttolobum — id est loco nomen — movit.
After that, when not even then was an opportunity of fighting given, because foraging was not safe enough from a stationary camp so near, with the dispersed soldiers in the fields being about to be attacked immediately by the cavalry, he moved his camp about eight miles from there to)ttolobum — that is the name of the place — intending to have safer foraging due to the distance.
§31.36.7cum in propinquo agro frumentarentur Romani, primo rex intra vallum suos tenuit, ut cresceret socordia simul et neglegentia cum audacia hosti.
When the Romans were foraging in the neighboring field, at first the king kept his men within the rampart, so that carelessness and negligence along with boldness might increase in the enemy.
§31.36.8ubi effusos vidit, cum omni equitatu et Cretensium auxiliaribus, quantum equitem velocissimi pedites cursu aequare poterant, citato profectus agmine inter castra Romana et frumentatores constituit signa.
When he saw them dispersed, he set out with a rapid march with all his cavalry and the Cretan auxiliaries — as many of them as the swiftest infantrymen could equal in speed by running with the horsemen — and established his standards between the Roman camp and the foragers.
§31.36.9inde copiis divisis partem ad consectandos vagos frumentatores emisit dato signo, ne quem vivum relinquerent, cum parte ipse substitit itineraque, quibus ad castra recursuri videbantur hostes, obsedit.
Then, having divided his forces, he sent out a part to pursue the scattered foragers, having given the signal that they should leave no one alive, and he himself halted with the other part and blocked the paths by which the enemy seemed likely to run back to the camp.
§31.36.10iam passim caedes ac fuga erat, necdum quisquam in castra Romana nuntius cladis pervenerat, §31.36.11quia refugientes in regiam stationem incidebant, et plures ab obsidentibus vias quam ab emissis ad caedem interficiebantur.
Already slaughter and flight were everywhere, and not yet had any messenger of the disaster reached the Roman camp, because those who fled fell in with the royal guard, and more were killed by those blocking the roads than by those sent out for the slaughter.
tandem inter medias hostium stationes elapsi quidam trepidi tumultum magis quam certum nuntium intulerunt castris.
At length, some terrified men having slipped through the midst of the enemy's posts brought alarm rather than a certain report to the camp.