35.3
In Italy,
too, the Ligurian war was growing more serious. Pisae was now surrounded
by 40,000 men, and their numbers were being swelled daily by crowds who
were attracted by the love of fighting and the hope of plunder. Minucius
arrived in Arretium on the day which he had appointed for the assembling of
his soldiers. From there he marched in close order to Pisae, and though the
enemy had moved their camp across the river to a position not more than a
mile distant from the place, he succeeded in entering the city, which his
arrival undoubtedly saved. The day following he, too, crossed the river and
fixed his camp about half a mile distant from that of the enemy. From this
position he sent out skirmishers, and so protected the land of the friendly
tribes from depredation. As his troops were new levies, drawn from various
classes and not yet sufficiently acquainted with each other to feel mutual
confidence, he did not venture to challenge a regular engagement. The
Ligurians, relying on their numbers, marched out and offered battle,
prepared for a decisive conflict, and even detached bodies to go in all
directions beyond their frontiers to secure plunder. When they had collected
a vast quantity of cattle and other booty an armed escort was ready to take it
to their forts and villages.