§37.38.1consul circa Thyatiram esse regem ratus, continuis itineribus quinto die ad Hyrcanum campum descendit.
The consul, thinking that the king was around Thyatira, by continuous marches descended on the fifth day to the Hyrcanian plain.
§37.38.2inde cum profectum audisset, secutus vestigia citra Phrygium amnem, quattuor milia ab hoste posuit castra.
When he heard there that the king had departed, he followed his tracks and pitched his camp on this side of the river Phrygius, four miles from the enemy.
§37.38.3eo mille ferme equites — maxima pars Gallograeci erant, et Dahae quidam aliarumque gentium sagittarii equites intermixti — tumultuose amni traiecto in stationes impetum fecerunt.
There, about a thousand cavalry—the greater part of whom were Gallograeci, with some Dahae and mounted archers of other nations intermixed—crossed the river in disorder and made an attack on the outposts.
§37.38.4primo turbaverunt incompositos; dein, cum longius certamen fieret et Romanorum ex propinquis castris facili subsidio cresceret numerus, regii fessi iam et pluris non sustinentes recipere se conati circa ripam amnis, priusquam flumen ingrederentur, ab instantibus tergo aliquot interfecti sunt.
At first they threw the disordered Romans into confusion; then, as the conflict became more prolonged and the number of Romans increased through easy reinforcement from the nearby camp, the king's men, already exhausted and unable to withstand the superior numbers, attempted to retreat around the bank of the river; before they could enter the stream, several were killed by those pressing on their rear.
§37.38.5biduum deinde silentium fuit neutris transgredientibus amnem; tertio post die Romani simul omnes transgressi sunt et duo milia fere et quingentos passus ab hoste posuerunt castra.
For the next two days there was silence, with neither side crossing the river; on the third day the Romans all crossed together and pitched their camp about two thousand five hundred paces from the enemy.
§37.38.6metantibus et muniendo occupatis tria milia delecta equitum peditumque regiorum magno terrore ac tumultu advenere;
While they were measuring out and occupied in fortifying the camp, three thousand select cavalry and infantry of the king's forces arrived, causing great terror and confusion.
§37.38.7aliquanto pauciores in statione erant; hi tamen per se, nullo a munimento castrorum milite avocato, et primo aequum proelium sustinuerunt, et crescente certamine pepulerunt hostis centum ex iis occisis, centum ferme captis.
Those on guard were considerably fewer; nevertheless, by themselves, without a single soldier being recalled from the fortification of the camp, they at first maintained an equal combat, and as the fight grew hotter, they repulsed the enemy, killing a hundred of them and capturing about a hundred.
§37.38.8per quadriduum insequens instructae utrimque acies pro vallo stetere;
For the following four days, the lines of battle, drawn up on both sides, stood in front of their ramparts.
§37.38.9quinto die Romani processere in medium campi; Antiochus nihil promovit signa, ita ut extremi minus mille pedes a vallo abessent.
On the fifth day the Romans advanced into the middle of the plain; Antiochus did not move his standards forward at all, so that his rear-most men were less than a thousand feet from his rampart.