27.41
Hannibal assembled the whole of his
force, those in winter quarters and those on garrison duty in Bruttium, and
marched to Grumentum in Lucania, with the intention of recovering the
towns whose inhabitants had been led by their fears to go over to Rome. The
Roman consul marched to the same place from Venusia, making careful
reconnaissances as he advanced, and fixed his camp about a mile and a half
from the enemy. The rampart of the Carthaginian camp seemed to be almost
touching the walls of Grumentum; there was really half a mile between them.
Between the two hostile camps the ground was level; on the Carthaginian
left and the Roman right stretched a line of bare hills which did not arouse
any suspicion on either side, as they were quite devoid of vegetation and
afforded no hollows where an ambuscade could be concealed. In the plain
between the camps small skirmishes took place between the advanced posts,
the one object of the Roman evidently being to prevent the retirement of the
enemy; Hannibal, who was anxious to get away, marched on to the field with
his whole force marshalled for battle. The consul, adopting his enemy's
tactics with all the more chance of success since there could be no fears of an
ambuscade on such open ground, told off five cohorts strengthened with five
maniples of Roman troops to mount the hill by night and take their station in
the dip on the other side. He placed T. Claudius Asellus a military tribune
and P. Claudius a prefect of allies in command of the party, and gave them
instructions as to the moment when they were to rise from ambush and
attack the enemy. At dawn of the following day he led out the whole of his
force, horse and foot, to battle. Soon after Hannibal, too, gave the signal for
action, and his camp rang with the shouts of his men as they ran to arms.
Scrambling through the gates of the camp, mounted and unmounted men
each trying to be first they raced over the plain in scattered groups towards
the enemy. When the consul saw them in this disorder he ordered C.
Aurunculeius, military tribune of the third legion, to send the cavalry
attached to his legion at full gallop against the enemy, for, as he said, they
were scattered over the plain like a flock of sheep and could be ridden down
and trampled under foot before they could close their ranks.