[72]
The battle continued from morning till night, many falling on both sides, and it seemed that Masinissa had the advantage. As he was returning from the field Scipio presented himself, and Masinissa greeted him with the greatest attention, having been a friend of his grandfather. When the Carthaginians learned of Scipio's arrival they besought him to make terms for them with Masinissa. He brought them to a conference, and the Carthaginians made proposals that they would surrender to Masinissa the territory belonging to the town of Emporium and give him 200 talents of silver now and 800 talents later. When he asked for the deserters they would not give them up. So they separated without coming to an agreement. Then Scipio returned to Spain with his elephants. Masinissa drew a line of circumvallation around the hill where the enemy were encamped and prevented them from bringing in any food. Nor could any be found in the neighborhood, for it was with the greatest difficulty that he could procure a scant supply for himself from a long distance. Now Hasdrubal thought that he should be able to break through the enemy's line with his army, which was still strong and unharmed. Having more supplies than Masinissa, he thought it would be a good plan to provoke him to battle and he delayed because he had just learned that envoys were on their way from Rome to settle the difficulty. By and by they came. They had been instructed if Masinissa were beaten to put an end to the strife, but if he were successful, to spur him on. And they carried out their orders.
Appian. The Foreign Wars. Horace White. New York. THE MACMILLAN COMPANY. 1899.
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