Liv. 22.16.1Posterō diē Poenī, quod viae inter bīna castra erat, agmine conplēvēre.The next day the Carthaginians filled with their column the stretch of road that lay between the two camps. Liv. 22.16.2Cum Rōmānī sub ipsō cōnstitissent vallō haud dubiē aequiōre locō, successit tamen Poenus cum expedītīs equitibusque ad lacessendum hostem.Although the Romans had taken their stand right under their rampart, on ground undoubtedly more favourable, the Carthaginian nevertheless came up with his light troops and cavalry to provoke the enemy. Liv. 22.16.2Carptim Poenī et prōcursandō recipiendōque sēsē pugnāvēre;The Carthaginians fought piecemeal, by dashing forward and falling back; Liv. 22.16.2restitit suō locō Rōmāna aciēs.the Roman line held its ground. Liv. 22.16.3Lenta pugna et ex dictātōris magis quam Hannibalis fuit voluntāte, ducentī ab Rōmānīs, octingentī hostium cecidēre.The fighting was slow, and more to the dictator's liking than to Hannibal's; two hundred fell on the Roman side, eight hundred of the enemy. Liv. 22.16.4Inclūsus inde vidērī Hannibal viā ad Casilīnum obsessā, cum Capuā et Samnium et tantum ab tergō dīvitum sociōrum Rōmānīs commeātūs subveheret, Poenus inter Formiāna saxa ac Līternī arēnās stagnaque et per horridās silvās hībernātūrus esset.Hannibal now seemed to be shut in, with the road to Casilinum blocked, since, while Capua and Samnium and so many wealthy allies at their rear were bringing up supplies to the Romans, the Carthaginian would have to winter among the rocks of Formiae and the sands and marshes of Liternum, amid bristling forests.
Liv. 22.16.5Nec Hannibalem fefellit suīs sē artibus petī.Nor did it escape Hannibal that he was being attacked with his own arts. Liv. 22.16.5Itaque cum per Casilīnum ēuādere nōn posset petendīque montēs et iugum Calliculae superandum esset, nēcubi Rōmānus inclūsum vallibus agmen adgrederētur, lūdibrium oculōrum speciē terribile ad frūstrandum hostem commentus prīncipiō noctis fūrtim succēdere ad montēs statuit.Therefore, since he could not get out by way of Casilinum, and had to make for the mountains and cross the ridge of Callicula, so that the Roman might nowhere attack his column while it was hemmed in by the valleys, he devised a trick for the eyes, terrifying in appearance, to baffle the enemy, and decided to steal up to the mountains at nightfall. Liv. 22.16.6Fallācis cōnsiliī tālis apparātus fuit: facēs undique ex agrīs collēctae fascēsque virgārum atque āridī sarmentī praeligantur cornibus boum , quōs domitōs indomitōsque multōs inter cēteram agrestem praedam agēbat;The preparation of the deceitful plan was as follows: torches gathered from the fields all round, and bundles of rods and dry brushwood, are tied to the horns of oxen, many of which, broken and unbroken, he was driving along among the rest of the plunder from the countryside; Liv. 22.16.8ad duo mīlia ferme boum effecta;about two thousand oxen were made ready; Liv. 22.16.8Hasdrubalīque negōtium datum, ut nocte id armentum accēnsīs cornibus ad montīs ageret, maximē, sī posset, super saltūs ab hoste īnsessōs.and Hasdrubal was given the task of driving that herd at night towards the mountains with their horns set alight, above all, if he could, over the passes held by the enemy.