line as if he wanted to intimidate with the number, leaving the task to attack his cavalry.
Curione did not fail in his duties as commander and exhorted his men to value every hope of salvation; even the soldiers did not fail in their duty: though tired, the knights, though few remained, did not fail in zeal. And there were a total of 200 of them left, because the others had marched on because they were tired... These very knights went everywhere to attack, forcing their enemies to retreat, but they did not have the strength to chase them, nor could they ask their horses for any more enthusiasm. But the cavalry already managed to surround our ranks on both sides and attack us from behind. Whenever the cohorts attempted a counterattack and disengaged from the ranks, they were isolated, because the Numidians, fresher, immediately avoided contact; when ours tried to return, they were prevented from doing so by their enemies. For this reason there was no security in maintaining position or deployment, nor in trying their luck with an attack. In addition, the enemy ranks continued to increase thanks to the constant contingents sent by King Juba, while our troops were becoming less and less tired, and the wounded could not even leave the line or take refuge in a safe place, since the whole army was now surrounded and held in a vice by the enemy cavalry. Ours desperate to be saved and everyone (as the dying usually do) recommended themselves to their dead relatives, praying that some of them could escape from that danger; fear and panic were everywhere.
42.
Curione understood that his men no longer listened to his exhortations, not even when he begged them to do so, because they were all gripped by terror; given the disastrous situation, he confided that there was only one way of salvation: he ordered all his men to occupy the nearby hills and bring the insignia, but the way was closed to them by the cavalry sent by Saburra, who had occupied them before ours. At this point our people reached the maximum degree of despair; some of them, seeking escape, were killed by the enemy cavalry, others fell to the ground exhausted even though they were not wounded. Gnaeus Domitius, the commander of Curione's cavalry, taking sides around him with a few men, urged him to seek escape and return to the camp, promising not to abandon him. But Curione declared that he would never return to Caesar after he had lost the army he had confidently entrusted to him, and so he chose to die fighting. Only a very few knights were saved from battle, but the others who had stopped in the rearguard to rest, noticing what was happening and the escape of the whole army, managed to return unharmed to the camp, while the infantrymen, from the first to the last man, were all killed.
43.
Having become aware of these facts, Quaestor Marcio Ruffo - who had been left by Curione at Camp Cornelius - urged the soldiers not to lose heart, but they continued to beg him to take them back to Sicily with their ships. Marcio Ruffo promised to do so and gave orders to the commanders of the ships to keep, at the end of the evening, the spears anchored at the lido. The terror of all was so great that everyone spread unfounded things: there were those who said that King Juba's troops were now close by, others claimed that Azzio Varo's legions were already on them and even saw the dust (and yet nothing was happening at all), still others believed that the enemy fleet was coming fast. So, because they were all shaken by fear, it was every man for himself: those on the warships speeded up their departure, and the flight of the warships instigated the commanders of the cargo ships, so that only a few, small boats gathered to perform the task assigned to them. On the shore, there was a crowd to gain a place on the boats; so many sank because they were overweight, while others struggled to approach the shore for fear of following their fate.
44.
For these reasons, only a few soldiers - mostly family fathers - who proved to be influential by authority or pity on the part of others were able to embark; others were able to swim to the ships and thus reach Sicily safely.
The other troops chose to send centurions to Publio Azzio Varo as ambassadors at night and surrendered themselves to him, but the next day King Juba, arriving with his troops and seeing those cohorts in front of the city, publicly declared that he considered them his prey of war and ordered that many of them be killed immediately; the others, those personally chosen by Juba, were sent to his kingdom. Although Azzio Varo complained that this act offended his loyalty, he dared not oppose the will of the Numida king. Juba himself, who entered the city on horseback, followed by several senators - including Servio Sulpicio and Licino Damasippo - in a few days established and ordered what he wanted done in Utica, and after a few days, with all his soldiers, returned to his kingdom.
DE BELLO AFRICO
On the ear in Africa
Gaius Jiulius Caesar
Latin text
MAPS
year 52 BC
Year 50 BC
Year 48 BC
Year 47 BC
Year 46 BC
Year 45 BC
Battle of Tapso
NOTES
DBG = De Bello Gallico
DBC = De Bello Civili
DBC AL = De Bello Alexandrino
DBC AF = De Bello Africo
DBC HI = De Bello Hispanico
Characters
A
Achilla - Achillan (Egyptian)
- DBC L3 Chapters 104, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112,
- DBC AL Chap. 4, 26,
- Egyptian General of the first century BC, said by Caesar to be capable and in command of a well-prepared army. Before the outbreak of the war Alexandria, the general was engaged in Pelusio against Cleopatra's militia, after the killing of Pompey and the arrival of Caesar in Egypt will move all troops to Alexandria putting the Roman general in considerable difficulty.
- https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Achilla
M. Acilio - M. Acilio (Cesarian)
- DBC L3 Cap 15
- Cesarian Officer
- Not found
-
