1So on that hill, which we have described as extending across the line of march, Jugurtha took up his position with his battle line drawn out thin. 1He put Bomilcar in command of the elephants and part of the infantry forces and instructed him what to do. 1He himself placed his men nearer the mountain, with all the cavalry and picked infantry. 2Then, going round the individual squadrons and companies, he urged and implored them to remember their former valour and victory and to defend themselves and their kingdom from the greed of the Romans: they would be contending with men whom they had previously defeated and sent under the yoke; 2those men had changed their leader, not their spirit; 2everything that a commander ought to provide had been provided for his men: the higher ground, so that they would join battle as the skilled against the unskilled, not fewer against more or raw recruits against better soldiers.
3Let them therefore be ready and alert to fall upon the Romans when the signal was given: that day would either confirm all their labours and victories or be the beginning of the greatest miseries. 4Besides this, man by man, whenever he had raised anyone with money or honour for some military exploit, he reminded him of his favour and pointed him out to the others, and finally, according to each man's character, by promising, threatening and imploring he roused one in one way and another in another, when meanwhile Metellus, unaware of the enemy, coming down the mountain with his army, caught sight of them. 5At first he was uncertain what the strange sight meant — for the Numidians and their horses had taken up position among the brushwood, and though they were not completely hidden because of the lowness of the trees, it was nevertheless uncertain what they were, since both they themselves and their military standards were concealed partly by the nature of the ground and partly by stratagem —, then, quickly recognising the ambush, he halted the column for a little while.
6There, after changing the order of his ranks, on the right flank, which was nearest the enemy, he drew up his battle line with three lines of reserves, distributed the slingers and archers among the companies, placed all the cavalry on the wings, and after encouraging the soldiers with a few words, as the time allowed, he led the line down into the plain, just as he had drawn it up, with its front facing sideways.