Liv. 22.48.1Iam et sinistrō cornū Rōmānō, ubi sociōrum equitēs adversus Numidās steterant, cōnsertum proelium erat, segne prīmō et ā Pūnicā coeptum fraude.By now on the Roman left wing as well, where the allied cavalry had stood facing the Numidians, battle had been joined, sluggish at first and begun with a Carthaginian trick. Liv. 22.48.2Quīngentī ferme Numidae praeter solita arma tēlaque gladiōs occultōs sub lōrīcīs habentēs, speciē trānsfugārum cum ab suīs parmās post terga habentēs adequitāssent, repente ex equīs dēsiliunt, parmīsque et iaculīs ante pedēs hostium prōiectīs in mediam aciem acceptī ductīque ad ultimōs cōnsīdere ab tergō iubentur.About five hundred Numidians, who had swords hidden under their breastplates besides their usual arms and missiles, having ridden up from their own side in the guise of deserters with their shields behind their backs, suddenly leap down from their horses, and, throwing their shields and javelins at the feet of the enemy, are received into the middle of the line, led to the rear and ordered to sit down behind. Liv. 22.48.3Ac dum proelium ab omnī parte cōnseritur, quiētī mānsērunt;And while battle was being joined on every side, they stayed quiet; Liv. 22.48.4postquam omnium animōs oculōsque occupāverat certāmen, tum arreptīs scūtīs, quae passim inter acervōs caesōrum corporum strāta erant, āversam adoriuntur Rōmānam aciem, tergaque ferientēs ac poplitēs caedentēs strāgem ingentem ac maiōrem aliquantō pavōrem ac tumultum fēcērunt.but after the struggle had taken up everyone's minds and eyes, then, snatching up shields which lay strewn everywhere among the heaps of slain bodies, they attack the Roman line from behind, and striking at backs and hamstringing men they caused enormous slaughter and still greater panic and confusion.
Liv. 22.48.5Cum alibī terror ac fuga, alibī pertināx in malā iam spē proelium esset, Hasdrubal, quī eā parte praeerat, subductōs ex mediā aciē Numidās, quia segnis eōrum cum adversīs pugna erat, ad persequendōs passim fugientīs mittit, Hispānōs et Gallōs equitēs Āfrīs prope iam fessīs caede magis quam pugnā adiungit.While in one place there was terror and flight, in another a stubborn battle despite hope now failing, Hasdrubal, who commanded in that quarter, sends the Numidians, withdrawn from the centre because their fight with those facing them was sluggish, to pursue the fugitives everywhere, and joins the Spanish and Gallic cavalry to the Africans, who were by now almost exhausted, more by slaughter than by fighting.