Preparations
Ad Decimum (Latin for "Ten Mile Post", literally "at the tenth"), was simply a marker along the Mediterranean coast 10 miles (16 km) south of Carthage. Gelimer, with 11,000 men under his command, had advance warning of the approach of Belisarius' 15,000-man army and chose to take a strong position along the road to Carthage near the post marker. He divided his forces, sending 2,000 men under his nephew Gibamund across a salt pan in an effort to flank Belisarius' army, which was advancing in narrow columns along the road. Another Vandal force, under Gelimer's brother Ammatas, was assigned to initiate a holding action at a defile near Ad Decimum. If everything worked well, Gelimer's 7,000-man main body would follow Gibamund around the Roman left flank and cut off their retreat.
Read more about this topic: Battle Of Ad Decimum
Famous quotes containing the word preparations:
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—Neville Chamberlain (1869–1940)
“At the ramparts on the cliff near the old Parliament House I counted twenty-four thirty-two-pounders in a row, pointed over the harbor, with their balls piled pyramid-wise between them,—there are said to be in all about one hundred and eighty guns mounted at Quebec,—all which were faithfully kept dusted by officials, in accordance with the motto, “In time of peace prepare for war”; but I saw no preparations for peace: she was plainly an uninvited guest.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The most evident difference between man and animals is this: the beast, in as much as it is largely motivated by the senses and with little perception of the past or future, lives only for the present. But man, because he is endowed with reason by which he is able to perceive relationships, sees the causes of things, understands the reciprocal nature of cause and effect, makes analogies, easily surveys the whole course of his life, and makes the necessary preparations for its conduct.”
—Marcus Tullius Cicero (106–43 B.C.)