Iug. 56.1Rōmānus imperātor ubi sē dolīs fatīgārī videt neque ab hoste cōpiam pugnandī fierī, urbem magnam et in eā parte, quā sita erat, arcem regnī nōmine Zamam statuit oppugnāre, ratus, id quod negōtium poscēbat, Iugurtham labōrantibus suīs auxiliō ventūrum ibique proelium fore.When the Roman general saw that he was being worn out by tricks and that the enemy gave him no opportunity of fighting, he decided to besiege a large city called Zama, the citadel of the kingdom in the part where it lay, thinking, as the situation demanded, that Jugurtha would come to the help of his hard-pressed people and that there would be a battle there. Iug. 56.2At ille, quae parābantur ā perfugīs ēdoctus, magnīs itineribus Metellum antevēnit.But Jugurtha, informed by deserters of what was being prepared, got ahead of Metellus by forced marches. Iug. 56.2Oppidānōs hortātur, moenia dēfendant, additīs auxiliō perfugīs, quod genus ex cōpiīs rēgis, quia fallere nequībat, firmissumum erat;He urged the townspeople to defend their walls, adding the deserters to help them, the class of men who were the most reliable among the king's forces, because they could not play false; Iug. 56.2praetereā pollicētur in tempore sēmet cum exercitū adfore.besides this he promised that he himself would be there with his army in good time.
Iug. 56.3Ita conpositīs rēbus in loca quam māxumē occulta discēdit, ac post paulō cognōscit Marium ex itinere frūmentātum cum paucīs cohortibus Siccam missum, quod oppidum prīmum omnium post malam pugnam ab rēge dēfēcerat.Having arranged matters thus, he withdrew to the most hidden places possible, and shortly afterwards learned that Marius had been sent from the march with a few cohorts to Sicca to get grain, the town which had first of all deserted the king after the defeat. Iug. 56.4Eō cum dēlēctīs equitibus noctū pergit et iam ēgredientibus Rōmānīs in portā pugnam facit, simul magnā vōce Siccēnsīs hortātur, utī cohortīs ab tergō circumveniant: fortūnam illīs praeclārī facinoris cāsum dare;He went there by night with picked cavalry, and as the Romans were already coming out he joined battle at the gate, at the same time loudly urging the people of Sicca to surround the cohorts from the rear: fortune was giving them the chance of a glorious deed; Iug. 56.4sī id fēcerint, posteā sēsē in regnō, illōs in lībertāte sine metū aetātem āctūrōs.if they did it, he would thereafter spend his life on his throne, and they in freedom, without fear.
Iug. 56.5Ac nī Marius signa īnferre atque ēvādere oppidō properāvisset, profectō cūnctī aut magna pars Siccēnsium fidem mūtāvissent: tantā mōbilitāte sēsē Numidae gerunt.And if Marius had not made haste to advance and get out of the town, surely all or a large part of the people of Sicca would have changed their allegiance: with such fickleness do the Numidians behave. Iug. 56.6Sed mīlitēs Iugurthīnī, paulisper ab rēge sustentātī, postquam maiōre vī hostēs urgent, paucīs āmissīs profugī discēdunt.But Jugurtha's soldiers, kept going for a little while by the king, when the enemy pressed them with greater force, lost a few men and went off in flight.