§37.39.1consul postquam detractari certamen vidit, postero die in consilium advocavit, quid sibi faciendum esset, si Antiochus pugnandi copiam non faceret?
When the consul saw that a battle was being declined, on the following day he called a council to deliberate on what he ought to do if Antiochus did not offer an opportunity for fighting.
§37.39.2instare hiemem; aut sub pellibus habendos milites fore, aut, si concedere in hiberna vellet, differendum esse in aestatem bellum.
Winter was at hand; they would either have to keep the soldiers under tents, or, if he wished to retire into winter quarters, the war would have to be deferred until summer.
§37.39.3nullum umquam hostem Romani aeque contempserunt.
Never did the Romans hold any enemy in such contempt.
conclamatum undique est, duceret extemplo et uteretur ardore militum, §37.39.4qui, tamquam non pugnandum cum tot milibus hostium, sed par numerus pecorum trucidandus esset, per fossas, per vallum castra invadere parati erant, §37.39.5si in proelium hostis non exiret.
A general shout arose from all sides that he should lead them on immediately and make use of the ardor of the soldiers, who, as if they had not to fight with so many thousands of enemies but to slaughter an equal number of cattle, were prepared to invade the camp through the ditches and over the rampart, if the enemy did not come out to battle.
Cn. Domitius ad explorandum iter, et qua parte adiri hostium vallum posset, missus, postquam omnia certa rettulit, postero die propius admoveri castra placuit; tertio signa in medium campi prolata et instrui acies coepta est.
Gnaeus Domitius, having been sent to reconnoiter the route and to see on which side the enemy's rampart could be approached, after he brought back reliable information on all points, it was decided on the following day that the camp should be moved closer; on the third day the standards were advanced into the middle of the plain, and they began to form the line of battle.
§37.39.6nec Antiochus ultra tergiversandum ratus, ne et suorum animos minueret detractando certamen et hostium spem augeret, et ipse copias eduxit, tantum progressus a castris, ut dimicaturum appareret.
Nor did Antiochus think he should delay any longer, lest he should both lower the spirits of his own men by declining battle and increase the hopes of the enemy; he too led out his forces, advancing so far from his camp that it was clear he would fight.
§37.39.7Romana acies unius prope formae fuit et hominum et armorum genere.
The Roman line of battle was of almost uniform appearance, both in the class of men and the kind of arms.
duae legiones Romanae, duae socium ac Latini nominis erant; quina milia et quadringenos singulae habebant.
There were two Roman legions and two of the allies and the Latin name; each of them contained five thousand four hundred men.
§37.39.8Romani mediam aciem, cornua Latini tenuerunt; hastatorum prima signa, dein principum erant, triarii postremos claudebant.
The Romans held the center of the line, the Latins the wings; the first standards were those of the hastati, next those of the principes, and the triarii closed the rear.
§37.39.9extra hanc velut iustam aciem a parte dextra consul Achaeorum caetratis immixtos auxiliares Eumenis, tria milia ferme peditum, aequata fronte instruxit; ultra eos equitum minus tria milia opposuit, ex quibus Eumenis octingenti, reliquus omnis Romanus equitatus erat; §37.39.10extremos Trallis et Cretensis — quingentorum utrique numerum explebant — statuit.
Outside this regular line, as it were, on the right side, the consul drew up Eumenes' auxiliaries mixed with the light-armed caetrati of the Achaeans, about three thousand infantry in an even front; beyond them he opposed less than three thousand cavalry, of whom eight hundred belonged to Eumenes, and all the rest was Roman cavalry; at the very extremity he stationed the Trallians and Cretans, each completing the number of five hundred.
§37.39.11laevum cornu non egere videbatur obiectis talibus auxiliis, quia flumen ab ea parte ripaeque deruptae claudebant; §37.39.12quattuor tamen inde turmae equitum oppositae.
The left wing did not seem to need such auxiliary forces to be opposed, because the river and its steep banks closed it in; nevertheless, four squadrons of cavalry were posted there.
haec summa copiarum erat Romanis, et duo milia mixtorum Macedonum Thracumque, qui voluntate secuti erant; hi praesidio castris relicti sunt.
This was the total of the forces for the Romans, and two thousand of a mixed body of Macedonians and Thracians, who had followed of their own free will; these were left to guard the camp.
§37.39.13XVI elephantos post triarios in subsidio locaverunt; nam praeterquam quod multitudinem regiorum elephantorum — erant autem quattuor et quinquaginta — sustinere non videbantur posse, ne pari quidem numero Indicis Africi resistunt, sive quia magnitudine — longe enim illi praestant — sive robore animorum vincuntur.
They stationed sixteen elephants behind the triarii in reserve; for besides the fact that they did not seem able to withstand the great number of the king's elephants—there were, moreover, fifty-four—African elephants do not resist Indian ones even in equal numbers, whether they are surpassed in size—for the latter are far superior—or in strength of spirit.