Appian, The Spanish Wars 10

Although only Appian's books on the Roman Civil Wars survive in their entirety, large parts of the other books, devoted to Rome's foreign wars, have also come down to us. The parts on the Third Punic War, the wars in Iberia, the Illyrian Wars, and the Mithridatic Wars are very important historical sources.

Because these texts have to be reconstructed from several medieval manuscripts, not all editions of Appian's account of Rome's foreign wars are numbered in the same way. On these pages, the separate units of a book are counted strictly chronologically.

The translation was made by Horace White; notes by Jona Lendering.

The Second Celtiberian War (cont'd)

[46] The Arevaci convened immediately,^note[153 BCE.] even in the night, at Numantia, which was a very strong city, and chose Ambo and Leuco as their generals. Three days later Nobilior^note[Praetor Quintus Fulvius Nobilior.] advanced and pitched his camp at some four kilometers from the place.

Here he was joined by 300 horse and ten elephants sent to him by Massinissa. When he moved against the enemy he placed these animals in the rear where they could not be seen. Then when battle was joined the army divided and brought the elephants into view. The Celtiberians and their horses, who had never seen elephants before, were thunderstruck and fled to the city.

Nobilior advanced at once against the city walls, where the battle raged fiercely, until one of the elephants was struck on the head with a large falling stone, when he became savage, uttered a loud cry, turned upon his friends, and began to destroy everything that came in his way, making no distinction between friend and foe. The other elephants, excited by his cries, all began to do the same, trampling the Romans under foot, scattering and hurling them this way and that. (This is always the way with elephants when they are enraged. Then they take everybody for foes; wherefore some people call them the common enemy, on account of their fickleness.)

The Romans took to disorderly flight. When the Numantines perceived this they sallied out and pursued them, killing about 4,000 men and three elephants. They also captured many arms and standards. The loss of the Celtiberians was about 2,000.

[47] Nobilior, recovering a little from this disaster, made an attack upon the stores which the enemy had collected at the town of Axinium, but he accomplished nothing, and having lost many of his men there, he returned by night to his camp. Thence he sent Biesius, his master of horse, to secure the alliance of a neighboring tribe and to ask for assistance in the way of cavalry. They gave him some, and as he was returning with them the Celtiberians laid an ambush for him. The ambush was discovered and the allies escaped, but Biesius, who engaged the enemy, was killed and many of his soldiers with him.

Under the influence of such a succession of disasters to the Romans, the town of Ocilis, where their provisions and money were stored, revolted to the Celtiberians. Then Nobilior in despair went into winter quarters in his camp, sheltering himself as well as he could. He suffered much from scantiness of supplies, having only what was inside the camp, and from heavy snowstorms and severe frost, so that many of his men perished while outside gathering wood, and others inside fell victims to confinement and cold.

[48] The following year^note[152 BCE.] Claudius Marcellus^note