Chapter 51

After this action fought by the cavalry Caesar fortified a camp on the hill of which he had gained possession, assigning each legion its share of the work. He then began to carry two fortified lines from his own principal camp across the centre of the plain in the direction of the town of Uzitta—-which town was situated on flat ground between his camp and Scipio’s and was occupied by the latter—-their direction being such as to make them converge upon the tight and left corners of the town. His purpose in constructing this field-work was as follows: when he advanced his forces closer to the town and proceeded to attack it, he should have his flanks covered by these fortifications of his and not he enveloped by the swarms of enemy cavalry and so be deterred from attacking; moreover, it should make it easier to hold conversations with the enemy, and if any of the latter wanted to desert—this had often occurred in the past, but at great risk to the deserters—it should now prove easy and devoid of risk. He was also anxious to discover, when he approached closer to the enemy, whether they intended to fight. Over and above these reasons was the additional fact that this was a low-lying tract, and quite a few wells could be sunk in it: water in fact was in short supply and had to be earned a long distance. While the legionaries were engaged in this work of fortification which I have mentioned above, a detachment of them took post in front of the work in battle formation close to the enemy: for the latter’s foreign cavalry and part of his light-armed force kept skirmishing at close quarters.