Bellum Iugurthinum 76

Iug. 76.1Sed rēx, nihil iam īnfectum Metellō crēdēns, quippe quī omnia, arma tēla, locōs tempora, dēnique nātūram ipsam cēterīs imperitantem industriā vīcerat, cum līberīs et magnā parte pecūniae ex oppidō noctū profūgit.But the king, believing that nothing was now beyond Metellus' power, since by his energy he had overcome everything — arms, weapons, places, seasons, and finally nature herself, which rules over all else — fled from the town by night with his children and a great part of his money. Iug. 76.1Neque posteā in ūllō locō amplius ūnō diē aut ūnā nocte morātus, simulābat sēsē negōtī grātiā properāre, cēterum prōditiōnem timēbat, quam vītāre posse celeritāte putābat: nam tālia cōnsilia per ōtium et ex opportūnitāte capī.And thereafter, staying in no place for more than one day or one night, he pretended he was hurrying on business, but in fact he feared treachery, which he thought he could avoid by speed: for such plans are formed at leisure and when opportunity offers. Iug. 76.2At Metellus, ubi oppidānōs proeliō intentōs, simul oppidum et operibus et locō mūnītum videt, vallō fossāque moenia circumvēnit.But Metellus, when he saw that the townspeople were intent on battle and at the same time that the town was protected both by works and by its position, surrounded the walls with a rampart and a ditch.

Iug. 76.3Dein duōbus locīs ex cōpiā māxumē idōneīs vīneās agere, aggerem iacere et super aggerem inpositīs turribus opus et administrōs tūtārī;Then at two of the most suitable places available he pushed forward sheds, threw up a mound, and on the mound set towers to protect the works and the workers; Iug. 76.3contrā haec oppidānī festīnāre, parāre;against these the townspeople made haste and made preparations; Iug. 76.4prōrsus ab utrīsque nihil reliquom fierī.in short, nothing was left undone by either side. Iug. 76.5Dēnique Rōmānī, multō ante labōre proeliīsque fatīgātī, post diēs quadrāgintā quam eō ventum erat, oppidō modo potītī;At last the Romans, worn out by much toil and fighting beforehand, forty days after they had arrived there, gained possession of the town, but of the town only; Iug. 76.5praeda omnis ab perfugīs corrupta.all the plunder had been destroyed by the deserters. Iug. 76.6Iī postquam mūrum arietibus ferīrī rēsque suās adflīctās vident, aurum atque argentum et alia, quae prīma dūcuntur, domum rēgiam conportant.When they saw the wall being struck by battering rams and their own situation ruined, they carried the gold and silver and the other things counted most valuable to the royal palace.

Iug. 76.6Ibi vīnō et epulīs onerātī illaque et domum et sēmet ignī corrumpunt, et, quās victī ab hostibus poenās metuerant, eās ipsī volentēs pependēre.There, heavy with wine and feasting, they destroyed these things, the palace and themselves by fire, and the punishment they had feared from the enemy if defeated, they paid of their own free will.