[167] With the front changed into a flank--_Transversis principiis._ He made the whole army wheel to the left, so that what was their front line, or _principia,_ as they faced the enemy on the hill, became their flank as they marched from the mountain toward the river. [168] L. Behind the front line--_Post principia._ The _principia_ are the same as those mentioned in the preceding note, that is, the front line when the army faced that of Jugurtha on the hill, but which presented its flank to the enemy when the army was on its march. So that Marius commanded in the center ("in medio agmine," says Dietsch), while Metellus took the lead with the cavalry of the left wing. See the following note. [169] Cavalry on the left wing--which, on the march, had become the van--_Sinistrae ulae equitibus--qui in agmine principes facti erant._ When Metellus halted (c. 49, fin.), and drew up his troops fronting the hill on which Jugurtha was posted, he placed all his cavalry in the wings; consequently, when the army wheeled to the left, and marched forward, the cavalry of the left wing became the van. [170] LI. Of the whole struggle--_Totius negotii._ That is, on the side of the Romans. [171] LII. The enemy's ignorance of the country--_Regio hostibus ignara. Ignara_ for _ignota;_ a country unknown to the enemy. [172] LIII. Fatigued and exhausted--_Fessi lassique._ I am once more obliged to desert Cortius, who reads _laetique_. The sense, as Kritzius and Dietsch observe, shows that _laeti_ can not be the reading, for there must evidently be a complete antithesis between the two parts of the sentence; an antithesis which would be destroyed by the introduction of _laeti_. Gerlach, though he retains _laeti_ in his text, condemns it in his notes. [173] LIV. Which could only be conducted, etc.--_Quod, nisi ex illius lubidine, geri non posset._ Cortius omits the _non_ before _posset_, but almost every other editor, except Allen, has retained it, from a conviction of necessity. [174] Under these circumstances, however--_Ex copiâ tamen._ With _copiâ_ we must understand _consiliorum_ or _rerum,_ as at the end of c. 39. All the manuscripts, except two, have _inopiâ_, which editors have justly rejected as inconsistent with the sense. [175] LV. A thanksgiving--_Supplicia._ The same as _supplicatio,_ on which the reader may consult Adam's Rom. Ant., or Dr. Smith's Dictionary. [176] LVI. Dared not be guilty of treachery--_Fallere nequibant._ "Through dread of the severest punishments if they should fall into the hands of the Romans. Valerius Maximus, ii. 7, speaks of deserters having been deprived of their hands by Quintus Fabius Maximus; of others who were crucified or beheaded by the elder Africanus; of others who were thrown to wild beasts by Africanus the younger; and of others who were sentenced by Paulus Aemilius to be trampled to death by elephants. Hence it appears that the punishment of deserters was left to the pleasure of the general." _Burnouf_.