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Hannibal received none of the circumstances which were reported to him
with feelings of joy, for they brought word that, as it happened,
Masinissa had joined the enemy that very day with six thousand infantry
and four thousand horse; but he was principally dispirited by the
confidence of his enemy, which, doubtless, was not conceived without
some ground. Accordingly, though he himself was the originator of the
war, and by his coming had upset the truce which had been entered into,
and cut off all hopes of a treaty, yet concluding that more favorable
terms might be obtained if he solicited peace while his strength was
unimpaired than when vanquished, he sent a message to Scipio requesting
permission to confer with him.
Scipio took up his position not far from the city of Naragara, in a
situation convenient not only for other purposes, but also because there
was a watering-place within a dart's throw. Hannibal took possession of
an eminence four miles thence, safe and convenient in every respect,
except that he had a long way to go for water.


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