C. Julius Caesar, Commentaries on the Civil War
William Duncan, Ed.

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and advancing still farther, though his army was already very much fatigued, halted at last to give the men breath. That moment Sabura sounded the charge, led on his men in order of battle, and went from rank to rank to animate the troops; but he suffered only the cavalry to come to blows, keeping the infantry at a distance within sight. Curio was not wanting on his side, but exhorted his men to place all their hopes in their valour. And indeed neither the infantry, though fatigued with their march, nor the cavalry, though few in number, and spent with toil, showed any want of valour, or backwardness to fight; though the last in particular did not exceed two hundred, the rest having stopped by the way. These, wherever they attacked the enemy, obliged them to give ground, but they could neither pursue far, nor drive their horses on with impetuosity, On the other hand, the Numidian cavalry began to surround our men, and charge them in the rear. When the cohorts advanced against them, they fell back, and by the quickness of their retreat, eluded the charge, but immediately returning, they got behind our men, and cut them off from the rest of the army. Thus it was equally dangerous for them to maintain their ranks, or advance to battle. The enemy's forces increased continually, by the reinforcements sent from the king; ours, on the contrary, were disabled by fatigue. Neither could our wounded men retire, or be sent to any place of safety, the whole army being invested by the enemy's horse. These despairing of safety, as is usual for men in the last moments of life, either lamented their own fate, or recommended their relations to their fellow-soldiers, if any should be so fortunate as to escape that danger. The whole army was filled with consternation and grief.