1Metellus remained four days in the same camp, carefully restored the wounded, rewarded those who had served well in the battles according to military custom, praised them all in an assembly and thanked them, and urged them to keep an equal spirit for what remained, which was easy: enough fighting had been done for victory; the remaining labours would be for plunder. 2Nevertheless, meanwhile he sent deserters and other suitable men to find out where in the world Jugurtha was or what he was doing, whether he was with a few men or had an army, and how he was behaving in defeat. 3But he had withdrawn into wooded country fortified by nature and was there gathering an army larger in number of men, but sluggish and weak, more used to farming and herding than to war.
4This came about for this reason, that apart from the royal cavalry not one of the Numidians follows his king after a rout. 4Wherever each man's inclination takes him, there they go, and this is not considered a military disgrace: such are their customs. 5So Metellus, when he saw that the king's spirit was still defiant, that the war was being renewed, which could only be waged at that man's pleasure, and moreover that the contest with the enemy was unequal for him, since they lost less in being beaten than his men did in winning, decided that the war must be waged not with battles nor in the line, but in another way.
6So he marched into the richest parts of Numidia, laid waste the fields, captured and burned many forts and towns that were carelessly fortified or without a garrison, killed the grown men, and ordered everything else to be the soldiers' plunder. 6Through this terror many people surrendered to the Romans; 6hostages, grain and other things which would be of use were furnished in abundance; 6wherever the situation required, a garrison was installed. 7These measures frightened the king far more than the battle his men had fought badly; 7for he whose every hope lay in flight was forced to follow, and he who had been unable to defend his own territory was forced to wage war in that of others.
9Nevertheless, out of the possibilities he adopted the plan which seemed best: he ordered the army for the most part to wait in the same area, while he himself followed Metellus with picked cavalry, and by night marches and pathless routes, unobserved, suddenly attacked the Romans as they straggled. 9Most of them fell unarmed, many were captured, not one of them got away untouched, and the Numidians, before help could come from the camp, withdrew to the nearest hills, as they had been ordered.