Iug. 45.1Sed in eā difficultāte Metellum nōn minus quam in rēbus hostīlibus magnum et sapientem virum fuisse comperior: tantā temperantiā inter ambitiōnem saevitiamque moderātum.But in this difficulty I find that Metellus was a man no less great and wise than in his dealings with the enemy: so great was the self-control with which he steered a course between currying favour and cruelty. Iug. 45.2Namque ēdictō prīmum adiūmenta ignāviae sustulisse: nē quisquam in castrīs pānem aut alium cibum coctum vēnderet, nē lixae exercitum sequerentur, nē mīles hastātus aut gregārius in castrīs nēve in agmine servom aut iūmentum habēret;For first, by an edict, he removed the aids to idleness: no one was to sell bread or any other cooked food in the camp, camp followers were not to accompany the army, no soldier, whether of the line or of the ranks, was to have a slave or a pack animal in camp or on the march; Iug. 45.2cēterīs arte modum statuisse.for everything else he set strict limits. Iug. 45.2Praetereā trānsvorsīs itineribus cottīdiē castra movēre, iūxtā ac sī hostēs adessent vallō atque fossā mūnīre, vigiliās crēbrās pōnere et eās ipse cum lēgātīs circumīre;Besides this, he moved camp every day by cross-country routes, fortified it with rampart and ditch just as if the enemy were at hand, posted frequent watches and went round them himself with his officers; Iug. 45.2item in agmine in prīmīs modo, modo in postrēmīs, saepe in mediō adesse, nē quispiam ōrdine ēgrederētur, ut cum signīs frequentēs incēderent, mīles cibum et arma portāret.likewise on the march he was present now among the foremost, now among the hindmost, often in the middle, so that no one should leave the ranks, that they should advance in close order with the standards, and that the soldier should carry his own food and arms.
Iug. 45.3Ita prohibendō ā dēlictīs magis quam vindicandō exercitum brevī cōnfirmāvit.So, by preventing offences rather than punishing them, he soon put the army in good heart.