him.  He did not wait for him to invade his home country of Numidia but assailed him with something less than his entire force at the siege of Utica, for fear that the Roman, being previously informed, might retire; and he was rather more anxious to take vengeance on him than to repulse him.  Accordingly, Juba sent forward a few men who reported that the king had departed in some other direction and to a distance:  he himself followed after these and did not miss the results he had hoped for. [-42-] Before this Curio with the idea that his enemy was approaching had transferred his men to the camp near the sea and had framed an intention, in case he were hard pushed, of embarking on the ships and leaving Africa altogether.  But when he ascertained that only a few men were arriving and these without Juba, he took courage and started out that very night as if to a victory waiting for him, and fearing only that they should escape him.  In his advance he destroyed some of the van who were sleeping on the road and became much emboldened.  Next, about dawn, he encountered the rest who had started out ahead from the camp; and without any delay, in spite of the fact that his soldiers were exhausted both by the march and by loss of sleep, he at once joined battle with them.  At this juncture, while matters were at a standstill and they were fighting rather evenly, Juba suddenly appeared upon the scene and by his unexpected coming as well as by his numbers overwhelmed him.  Curio and most of the others he killed on the spot by means of this surprise, and the rest he pursued as far as the ditch, after which he confined them to their ships and in the midst of the confusion got possession of large amounts of money and destroyed many men.  Numbers of them perished when they seemed to have escaped, some being knocked down in the melee while boarding the boats, and others drowned while in the ships themselves by the overloading of the vessels.  During these occurrences some being afraid they might suffer the same fate went over to Varus expecting that their lives would be spared, but received no benefit from it.  For Juba asserted that it was he who had conquered them and so slaughtered them all except a few.  Thus Curio died after rendering most valuable assistance to Caesar upon whom he had founded many hopes.  Juba found honors at the hands of Pompey and the senators who were in Macedonia and was saluted as king:  but on the part of Caesar and those in the city he was censured and declared an enemy, while Bocchus and Bogud were named kings because they were hostile to him.

[B.C. 48 (a.u. 706)]