Liv. 22.15.1Fabius in suōs haud minus quam hostīs intentus prius ab illīs invictum animum praestat.Fabius, watching his own men no less than the enemy, first proves to them that his spirit cannot be conquered by them. Liv. 22.15.1Quamquam probē scit nōn in castrīs modo suīs sed iam etiam Rōmae īnfāmem suam cūnctātiōnem esse, obstinātus tamen tenōre eōdem cōnsiliōrum aestātis reliquum extrāxit, ut Hannibal dēstitūtus ab spē summā ope petītī certāminis iam hībernīs locum circumspectāret, quia ea regiō praesentis erat cōpiae, nōn perpetuae, arbusta vīneaeque et cōnsita omnia magis amoenīs quam necessāriīs frūctibus.Although he knew perfectly well that his delaying was a byword not only in his own camp but now even at Rome, he nevertheless kept stubbornly to the same course of policy and dragged out the rest of the summer, so that Hannibal, cheated of his hope of the battle he had sought with all his might, was now looking round for a place for winter quarters, because that region offered supplies for the moment, not lasting ones, being all orchards and vineyards, everything planted with fruits pleasant rather than necessary.
Liv. 22.15.2Haec per explōrātōrēs relāta Fabiō.This was reported to Fabius by scouts. Liv. 22.15.3Cum satis scīret per eāsdem angustiās, quibus intrāverat Falernum agrum, reditūrum, Calliculam montem et Casilīnum occupat modicīs praesidiīs, quae urbs Vulturnō flūmine dirēmpta Falernum ā Campānō agrō dīvidit;Since he knew well that Hannibal would return through the same narrows by which he had entered the Falernian district, he occupies Mount Callicula and Casilinum with moderate garrisons; this city, cut in two by the river Volturnus, divides the Falernian from the Campanian district; Liv. 22.15.4ipse iugīs īsdem exercitum redūcit missō explōrātum cum quadringentīs equitibus sociōrum L. Hostīliō Mancīnō.he himself leads the army back along the same ridges, having sent Lucius Hostilius Mancinus with four hundred allied cavalry to reconnoitre. Liv. 22.15.5Quī ex turbā iuvenum audientium saepe ferōciter cōntiōnantem magistrum equitum prōgressus prīmō explōrātōris modō, ut ex tūtō speculārētur hostem, ubi vagōs passim per vīcōs Numidās prōspexit ac per occāsiōnem etiam paucōs occīdit, extemplō occupātus certāmine est animus excidēruntque praecepta dictātōris, quī, quantum tūtō posset, prōgressum prius recipere sēsē iusserat, quam in cōnspectum hostium venīret.This man, one of the crowd of young men who often listened to the master of the horse haranguing fiercely, went forward at first in the manner of a scout, to watch the enemy from safety; but when he saw Numidians straggling everywhere through the villages, and even killed a few when the chance arose, at once his mind was seized by the fight, and the instructions of the dictator slipped from it, who had ordered him to go forward as far as he safely could and to withdraw before he came into the enemy's sight.
Liv. 22.15.7Numidae aliī atque aliī occursantēs refugientēsque ad castra prope ipsa eum cum fatīgātiōne equōrum atque hominum pertrāxēre.The Numidians, one band after another charging and falling back, drew him almost to their very camp, to the exhaustion of horses and men. Liv. 22.15.8Inde Carthalō penes quem summa equestris imperiī erat, concitātīs equīs invectus cum prius, quam ad coniectum tēlī venīret, āvertisset hostīs, quīnque ferme mīlia continentī cursū secūtus est fugientīs.Then Carthalo, who held the supreme command of the cavalry, charging at full gallop, after he had turned the enemy before coming within a spear's throw, pursued them as they fled for almost five miles in an unbroken run. Liv. 22.15.9Mancīnus, postquam nec hostem dēsistere sequī nec spem vīdit effugiendī esse, cohortātus suōs in proelium rediit omnī parte vīrium inpār.Mancinus, when he saw that the enemy was not ceasing to pursue and that there was no hope of escape, encouraged his men and turned back into battle, outmatched in every part of his strength. Liv. 22.15.10Itaque ipse et dēlēctī equitum circumventī occīduntur;So he himself and the pick of the horsemen are surrounded and killed; Liv. 22.15.10cēterī effūsō cursū Calēs prīmum, inde prope inviīs callibus ad dictātōrem perfūgērunt.the rest in headlong flight escaped first to Cales, then by almost pathless tracks to the dictator.
Liv. 22.15.11Eō forte diē Minucius sē coniūnxerat Fabiō missus ad firmandum praesidiō saltum, quī super Tarracīnam in artās coāctus faucēs imminet maria, nē ab Sinuessā Poenus Appiae līmite pervenīre in agrum Rōmānum posset.On that day, as it happened, Minucius had joined Fabius, having been sent to secure with a garrison the pass which, above Tarracina, narrowing into a tight gorge, overhangs the sea, so that the Carthaginian could not get from Sinuessa into Roman territory along the line of the Appian Way. Liv. 22.15.12Coniūnctīs exercitibus dictātor ac magister equitum castra in viam dēferunt, quā Hannibal ductūrus erat.With their armies joined, the dictator and the master of the horse move their camp down onto the road by which Hannibal was going to lead his army. Liv. 22.15.12Duo inde mīlia hostēs aberant.The enemy were two miles away from there.