The Barbarians, who
were attacking the phalanx with fury, entered the gap; they were being
lost; Matho checked them,--and while the Carthaginian wings continued
to advance, he drew out the three inner ranks of his line; they soon
covered his flanks, and his army appeared in triple array.
But the Barbarians placed at the extremities were the weakest,
especially those on the left, who had exhausted their quivers, and the
troop of velites, which had at last come up against them, was cutting
them up greatly.
Matho made them fall back. His right comprised Campanians, who were
armed with axes; he hurled them against the Carthaginian left; the
centre attacked the enemy, and those at the other extremity, who were
out of peril, kept the velites at a distance.
Then Hamilcar divided his horsemen into squadrons, placed hoplites
between them, and sent them against the Mercenaries.
Those cone-shaped masses presented a front of horses, and their broader
sides were filled and bristling with lances. The Barbarians found it
impossible to resist; the Greek foot-soldiers alone had brazen armour,
all the rest had cutlasses on the end of poles, scythes taken from the
farms, or swords manufactured out of the fellies of wheels; the
soft blades were twisted by a blow, and while they were engaged in
straightening them under their heels, the Carthaginians massacred them
right and left at their ease.
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