Minucius first sent out his light troops, then his cavalry, and finally,
seeing that Hannibal was reinforcing the troops on the hill, he came
down with his entire force. He fought stoutly, and held his own against
the soldiers on the hill, who shot their missiles at him; when Hannibal,
seeing him thoroughly deceived, and offering an unprotected flank to the
troops in the ambush, gave them the signal to charge. Upon this they
attacked the Romans from all sides, rushing upon them with loud shouts,
cutting off the rearmost men, and throwing the whole army into confusion
and panic. Minucius himself lost heart and kept glancing first at one
and then at another of his officers, none of whom ventured to stand
their ground, but betook themselves in a confused mass to running away,
a proceeding which brought them no safety, for the Numidian horsemen, as
the day was now theirs, scoured the plain, encompassing the fugitives,
and cut off all stragglers.
XII. Fabius had carefully watched the Romans, and saw in what danger
they were. Conscious, it would seem, of what was going to happen, he had
kept his troops under arms, and gained his information of what was going
on, not from the reports of scouts, but from his own eyesight, from a
convenient height outside of his camp. As soon as he saw the army
surrounded and panic-stricken, and heard the cries of the Romans, who no
longer fought, but were overcome by terror, and betaking themselves to
flight, he smote his thigh and with a deep sigh, said to his friends,
"By Hercules, now Minucius has ruined himself, quicker than I expected,
and yet slower than his manoeuvres warranted.
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