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Sicca was already his, for it had been the first of the towns to throw off its allegiance to Jugurtha after the battle on the Muthul had dissipated the Numidian army. He now turned his attention to the still more important town of Zama, the true capital and stronghold of this southern district, and prepared to master the position by assault or siege.
Battle on the Muthul Beyond the utterly barren mountain-range, over which lay the route of the Romans into the interior, a plain of eighteen miles in breadth extended as far as the river Muthul, which ran parallel to the mountain-chain. The plain was destitute of water and of trees except in the immediate vicinity of the river, and was only intersected by a hill-ridge covered with low brushwood.
Battle on the Muthul Beyond the utterly barren mountain-range, over which lay the route of the Romans into the interior, a plain of eighteen miles in breadth extended as far as the river Muthul, which ran parallel to the mountain-chain. The plain was destitute of water and of trees except in the immediate vicinity of the river, and was only intersected by a hill-ridge covered with low brushwood.
The days that followed the battle of the Muthul must have been an anxious time for Metellus; for he had been taught that it was necessary to change his plan of campaign into a shape which was not likely to secure a speedy termination of the war.
With this view the circumstance also very well accords, that the battle on the Muthul and the siege of Zama must, from the relation in which they stand to Marius' candidature for the consulship, be necessarily placed in 646. In no case can the author be pronounced free from inaccuracies; Marius, for instance, is even spoken of by him as consul in 649.
Neither the movements which followed the battle of the Muthul nor the site of the winter quarters into which Metellus led his men, have been recorded. The campaign of the next year seems still to have been confined to the eastern portion of Numidia, its object being the security of the country between Vaga and Zama.
The two Roman columns, the one led by Metellus, the other by Marius who, although by birth and rank the humblest, occupied since the battle on the Muthul the first place among the chiefs of the staff traversed the Numidian territory, occupied the towns, and, when any place did not readily open its gates, put to death the adult male population.
Selecting for his lieutenants able generals, he led over his army to Africa. Jugurtha made proposals of peace, which were refused, and he prepared for a desperate defense. Intrenched on a ridge of hills in the wide plain of Muthul, he awaited the attack of his enemies, but was signally defeated by Metellus, assisted by Marius, a brave plebeian, who had arisen from the common soldiers.
He learnt that the Numidian army which had fought at the Muthul had wholly broken up in accordance with the custom of the race, that Jugurtha had left the field with his body-guard alone, that he had fled to wild and difficult country and was there raising a second army an army that promised to be larger than the first, but was likely to be less efficient, composed as it was of shepherds and peasants with little training in war.
The two Roman columns, the one led by Metellus, the other by Marius who, although by birth and rank the humblest, occupied since the battle on the Muthul the first place among the chiefs of the staff traversed the Numidian territory, occupied the towns, and, when any place did not readily open its gates, put to death the adult male population.
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