1But at the same time as Thala was taken, envoys had come to Metellus from the town of Leptis, begging him to send a garrison and a commander there: a certain Hamilcar, a man of noble birth and a partisan, was plotting revolution, and against him neither the orders of the magistrates nor the laws had any force; 1unless he made haste in this, their own safety, and the Romans' allies, would be in the utmost danger. 2For the people of Leptis, right from the beginning of the Jugurthine war, had sent to the consul Bestia and afterwards to Rome to ask for friendship and alliance. 3Then, once that had been granted, they always remained loyal and faithful and had diligently carried out all the orders of Bestia, Albinus and Metellus.
4And so they readily obtained from the commander what they asked. 4Four cohorts of Ligurians were sent there, and Gaius Annius as commander.