7.
The following were the events of the year in the provinces: Gaius Cicereius the praetor fought a pitched battle in Corsica; seven thousand of the Corsicans were killed and more than seventeen hundred captured. During that battle the praetor had vowed a temple to Juno Moneta.
[
2]
Peace was then granted at the request of the Corsicans, and two hundred thousand pounds of wax demanded of them. Having subdued Corsica, Cicereius then crossed into Sardinia. Among the Ligurians also there was a battle near the town of Carystus in the territory of Statellae.
[
3]
Thither a great army of Ligurians had assembled.
[
4]
At first, at the approach of Marcus Popilius the consul, they kept within their ramparts; later, when they saw that the Roman was about to assault the town, they moved out and formed in line of battle in front of the gates.
[
5]
Nor did the consul, since he had sought just this by threatening an assault, delay the engagement. The battle raged for more than three hours in such a way that hope inclined to neither side.
[
6]
Then, when the consul saw that the Ligurian masses were nowhere shaken, he ordered the cavalry to mount their horses and to charge the enemy at three points at the same time and with all
[p. 313]possible uproar. A large part of the cavalry
1 penetrated the centre of the line and pushed their way through to the rear of the fighters.
[
7]
As a result, the Ligurians were thrown into a panic; they scattered in flight in all directions, very few returning to the town because there more than anywhere else the cavalry had thrown themselves in the way.
[
8]
Not only had a fight so stubborn destroyed many of the Ligurians, but others also were cut down in their random flight.
[
9]
It is said that ten thousand men were killed, and more than seven hundred captured, and that eighty-two military standards were brought back.
[
10]
Nor was the victory bloodless: more than three thousand Roman soldiers were lost, since the front ranks on both sides were slain when neither army gave way.