§36.18.1ab hac contione dimissi milites, priusquam corpora curarent, arma telaque parent.
Dismissed from this assembly, the soldiers, before taking care of their bodies, prepare their arms and weapons.
luce prima signo pugnae proposito instruit aciem consul, §36.18.2arta fronte, ad naturam et angustias loci.
At dawn, when the signal for battle was displayed, the consul draws up his line of battle, with a narrow front, according to the nature and narrowness of the place.
rex, postquam signa hostium conspexit, et ipse copias educit.
The king, after he beheld the standards of the enemy, also leads out his forces.
levis armaturae partem ante vallum in primo locavit, tum Macedonum robur, quos sarisophorus appellabant, velut firmamentum circa ipsas munitiones constituit.
He stationed a part of the light-armed troops in front of the rampart in the vanguard, then he established the strength of the Macedonians, whom they called sarisophori, as a support, as it were, around the fortifications themselves.
§36.18.3his ab sinistro cornu iaculatorum sagittariorumque et funditorum manum sub ipsis radicibus montis posuit, ut ex altiore loco nuda latera hostium incesserent.
On their left wing, right under the very roots of the mountain, he placed a band of javelin-throwers, archers, and slingers, so that from the higher ground they might attack the exposed flanks of the enemy.
§36.18.4ab dextro Macedonibus ad ipsum munimentorum finem, qua loca usque ad mare invia palustri limo et voraginibus claudunt, elephantos cum adsueto praesidio posuit, post eos equites, tum modico intervallo relicto ceteras copias in secunda acie.
On the right wing of the Macedonians, up to the very end of the fortifications, where the ground, impassable all the way to the sea, is closed by marshy mud and quicksands, he placed the elephants with their accustomed guard, behind them the cavalry, and then, leaving a moderate interval, the rest of the forces in the second line of battle.
§36.18.5Macedones pro vallo locati primo facile sustinebant Romanos, temptantis ab omni parte aditus, multum adiuvantibus, qui ex loco superiore fundis velut nimbum glandis et sagittas simul ac iacula ingerebant; §36.18.6deinde, ut maior nec iam toleranda vis hostium inferebat se, pulsi loco intra munimenta subductis ordinibus concesserunt; inde ex vallo prope alterum vallum hastis prae se obiectis fecerunt.
The Macedonians stationed in front of the rampart at first easily held off the Romans, who were trying the approaches from every side, while those who from the higher ground were showering with sling-shots a cloud of leaden bullets, as it were, and arrows along with javelins, gave great assistance; then, as the greater and no longer tolerable force of the enemy pressed forward, being driven from their position, they retreated inside the fortifications after withdrawing their ranks; from there, they made almost another rampart in front of themselves by presenting their spears from the rampart.
§36.18.7et ita modica altitudo valli erat, ut et locum superiorem suis ad pugnandum praeberet, et propter longitudinem hastarum subiectum haberet hostem.
And the height of the rampart was so moderate that it both provided a higher position for its own men to fight from, and because of the length of the spears, held the enemy under its reach.
§36.18.8multi temere subeuntes vallum transfixi sunt; et aut incepto irrito recessissent aut plures cecidissent, ni M. Porcius ab iugo Callidromi deiectis inde Aetolis et magna ex parte caesis — incautos enim et plerosque sopitos oppresserat — super imminentem castris collem apparuisset.
Many who rashly approached the rampart were transfixed; and they would have either retreated with their attempt frustrated or more would have fallen, had not Marcus Porcius, after driving the Aetolians from the ridge of Callidromon and slaughtering a great part of them—for he had surprised them off their guard and mostly asleep—appeared on the hill overlooking the camp.