Iug. 21.1Adherbal ubi intellegit eō prōcessum, utī regnum aut relinquendum esset aut armīs retinendum, necessāriō cōpiās parat et Iugurthae obvius prōcēdit.When Adherbal realised that things had come to the point where the kingdom must either be abandoned or held by arms, he raised forces out of necessity and advanced to meet Jugurtha. Iug. 21.2Interim haud longē ā marī prope Cirtam oppidum utrīusque exercitus cōnsēdit et, quia diēī extrēmum erat, proelium nōn inceptum.Meanwhile the two armies encamped not far from the sea near the town of Cirta, and, because it was the end of the day, battle was not begun. Iug. 21.2Sed ubi plērumque noctis prōcessit, obscūrō etiam tum lūmine mīlitēs Iugurthīnī signō datō castra hostium invādunt, sēmisomnōs partim, aliōs arma sūmentīs fugant funduntque.But when most of the night had passed, while the light was still dim, Jugurtha's soldiers at a given signal attacked the enemy's camp, and routed and scattered them, some half-asleep, others taking up their arms. Iug. 21.2Adherbal cum paucīs equitibus Cirtam profūgit, et nī multitūdō togātōrum fuisset, quae Numidās īnsequentīs moenibus prohibuit, ūnō diē inter duōs rēgēs coeptum atque patrātum bellum foret.Adherbal fled to Cirta with a few horsemen, and if there had not been a crowd of men in togas, which kept the pursuing Numidians from the walls, the war between the two kings would have been begun and finished in a single day.
Iug. 21.3Igitur Iugurtha oppidum circumsēdit, vīneīs turribusque et māchinīs omnium generum expugnāre aggreditur, māxumē festīnāns tempus lēgātōrum antecapere, quōs ante proelium factum ab Adherbale Rōmam missōs audīverat.So Jugurtha besieged the town and set about storming it with mantlets, towers and engines of every kind, hurrying above all to forestall the arrival of the envoys who, he had heard, had been sent to Rome by Adherbal before the battle was fought. Iug. 21.4Sed postquam senātus dē bellō eōrum accēpit, trēs adulēscentēs in Āfricam lēgantur, quī ambōs rēgēs adeant, senātus populīque Rōmānī verbīs nūntient velle et cēnsēre eōs ab armīs discēdere, dē contrōvorsiīs suīs iūre potius quam bellō disceptāre: ita sēque illīsque dignum esse.But after the senate heard of their war, three young men were sent as envoys to Africa, to go to both kings and announce, in the words of the senate and the Roman people, that it was their wish and resolve that the kings should lay down their arms and settle their disputes by law rather than by war: this was worthy both of the Romans and of themselves.