Bellum Africum 59

B. Afr. 59.1Nōn arbitror esse praetermittendum, quemadmodum exercitūs utrīusque fuerint in aciem īnstrūctī.

I do not think I should leave out how each army was drawn up in battle line.

Note. nōn arbitror esse praetermittendum: an impersonal gerundive of obligation, 'I do not think it should be passed over'. fuerint … īnstrūctī: perfect subjunctive in an indirect question.

B. Afr. 59.2Scīpiō hōc modō aciem dērēxit.

Scipio drew up his line in this way.

Note. dērēxit: perfect of dērigō (dīrigō), 'drew up in line'.

B. Afr. 59.2Conlocārat in fronte suās et Iubae legiōnēs, post eās autem Numidās in subsidiāriā aciē ita extenuātōs et in longitūdinem dērēctōs, ut procul simplex esse aciēs media ab legiōnāriīs mīlitibus vidērētur.

He had placed his own and Juba's legions in front, and behind them the Numidians in a reserve line, so thinned out and drawn out in length that from a distance the centre looked like a single line of legionary soldiers.

Note. conlocārat = conlocāverat. in subsidiāriā aciē: 'in a reserve line'. ut … simplex esse aciēs media … vidērētur: result clause; from a distance the thin Numidian line behind looked like part of a single legionary line.

B. Afr. 59.3Elephantōs dextrō sinistrōque cornū conlocāverat aequālibus inter eōs intervallīs interiectīs, post autem elephantōs armātūrās levēs Numidāsque auxiliārēs substituerat.

He had placed the elephants on the right and left wings with equal intervals set between them, and behind the elephants he had put the light-armed troops and the Numidian auxiliaries in support.

Note. aequālibus … intervallīs interiectīs: ablative absolute. armātūrās levēs: 'light-armed troops', armātūra used of a type of soldier.

B. Afr. 59.4Equitātum frēnātum ūniversum in suō dextrō cornū disposuerat: sinistrum enim cornū oppidō Uzitā claudēbātur, neque erat spatium equitātūs explicandī.

He had stationed all his bridled cavalry on his right wing: for the left wing was closed in by the town of Uzita, and there was no room to deploy cavalry.

Note. equitātum frēnātum: 'bridled cavalry', i.e. regular cavalry, as opposed to the Numidians who rode without bridles. spatium equitātūs explicandī: gerundive in the genitive, 'room for deploying cavalry'.

B. Afr. 59.5Praetereā Numidās levisque armātūrae īnfīnītam multitūdinem ad dextram partem suae aciēī opposuerat ferē interiectō nōn minus mīlle passuum spatiō et ad collis rādīcēs magis adpulerat longiusque ab adversāriōrum suīsque cōpiīs prōmovēbat, id hōc cōnsiliō, ut, cum aciēs duae inter sē concurrissent, initiō certāminis paulō longius eius equitātūs circumvectus ex imprōvīsō clauderet multitūdine suā exercitum Caesaris atque perturbātum iaculīs cōnfīgeret.

Besides, he had set the Numidians and a countless mass of light-armed troops facing the right-hand part of his line, with a space of no less than a mile set between, and had brought them further towards the foot of the hills, and moved them further away from his opponents' forces and his own, with this plan: that, when the two lines had clashed, at the start of the fight his cavalry would ride round a little further, unexpectedly close in Caesar's army with its numbers, and throw it into confusion and pierce it with javelins.

Note. mīlle passuum: 'a mile', literally 'a thousand of paces'. adpulerat: from appellō (third conjugation), 'had moved up to'. id hōc cōnsiliō, ut …: 'this (he did) with this plan, that …'. circumvectus: 'riding round'. iaculīs cōnfīgeret: 'transfix with javelins'.

B. Afr. 59.5Haec fuit ratiō Scīpiōnis eō diē proeliandī.

This was Scipio's plan of battle on that day.

Note. ratiō … proeliandī: 'plan of fighting', a gerund in the genitive.