The historians' history of the world in twenty-five volumes, volume 05

by Unknown

CHAPTER XXIII. CÆSAR AT WAR WITH POMPEY

[133-60 B.C.]

At this point the Roman historian Florus casts a backward look over the history of his people. Giving the point of view of the first century of the empire, it shows no little acumen and is well worth quoting.

“This,” he says, “is the third age of the Roman people, with reference to its transactions beyond the sea; an age in which, when they had once ventured beyond Italy, they carried their arms through the whole world. Of which age, the first hundred years were pure and pious, and, as I have called them, ‘golden’; free from vice and immorality, as there yet remained the sincere and harmless integrity of the pastoral life, and the imminent dread of a Carthaginian enemy supported the ancient discipline.[115]

“The succeeding hundred, reckoned from the fall of Carthage, Corinth, and Numantia, and from the inheritance bequeathed us by King Attalus in Asia, to the times of Cæsar and Pompey, and those of Augustus who succeeded them, and of whom we shall speak hereafter, were as lamentable and disgraceful for the domestic calamities, as they were honourable for the lustre of the warlike exploits that distinguished them. For, as it was glorious and praiseworthy to have acquired the rich and powerful provinces of Gaul, Thrace, Cilicia, and Cappadocia, as well as those of the Armenians and Britons, so it was disgraceful and lamentable at the same time, to have fought at home with our own citizens, with our allies, our slaves, and gladiators.

“I know not whether it would have been better for the Romans to have been content with Sicily and Africa, or even to have been without them, while still enjoying the dominion of Italy, than to grow to such greatness as to be ruined by their own strength. For what else produced those intestine distractions but excessive good fortune? It was the conquest of Syria that first corrupted us, and the succession afterwards in Asia, to the estate of the king of Pergamus. Such wealth and riches ruined the manners of the age, and overwhelmed the republic, which was sunk in its own vices as in a common sewer. For how did it happen that the Roman people demanded from the tribunes lands and subsistence, unless through the scarcity which they had by their luxury produced? Hence there arose the first and second sedition of the Gracchi, and a third, that of Apuleius Saturninus. From what cause did the equestrian order, being divided from the senate, domineer by virtue of the judiciary laws, if it was not from avarice, in order that the revenues of the state and trials of causes might be made a means of gain? Hence again it was that the privilege of citizenship was promised to the Latins, and hence were the arms of our allies raised against us. And what shall we say as to the wars with the slaves? How did they come upon us, but from the excessive number of slaves? Whence arose such armies of gladiators against their masters, if it was not that a profuse liberality, by granting shows to gain the favour of the populace, made that an art which was once but a punishment of enemies? And to touch upon more specious vices, did not the ambition for honours take its rise from the same excess of riches? Hence also proceeded the outrages of Marius, hence those of Sulla. The extravagant sumptuousness of banquets, too, and profuse largesses, were not they the effects of wealth, which must in time lead to want? This also stirred up Catiline against his country. Finally, whence did that insatiable desire of power and rule proceed, but from a superabundance of riches? This it was that armed Cæsar and Pompey with fatal weapons for the destruction of the state.”

THE WAR BETWEEN CÆSAR AND POMPEY

“Almost the whole world being now subdued,” Florus continues, “the Roman empire was grown too great to be overthrown by any foreign power. Fortune, in consequence, envying the sovereign people of the earth, armed it to its own destruction. The outrages of Marius and Cinna had already made a sort of prelude within the city. The storm of Sulla had thundered even farther, but still within the bounds of Italy. The fury of Cæsar and Pompey, as with a general deluge or conflagration, overran the city, Italy, other countries and nations, and finally the whole empire wherever it extended; so that it cannot properly be called a civil war, or war with allies; neither can it be termed a foreign war; but it was rather a war consisting of all these, or even something more than a war. If we look at the leaders in it, the whole of the senators were on one side or the other; if we consider the armies, there were on one side eleven legions, and on the other eighteen; the entire flower and strength of the manhood of Italy. If we contemplate the auxiliary forces of the allies, there were on one side levies of Gauls and Germans, on the other Deiotarus, Ariobarzanes, Tarcondimotus, Cotys, and all the force of Thrace, Cappadocia, Cilicia, Macedonia, Greece, Ætolia, and all the East; if we regard the duration of the war, it was four years, a time short in proportion to the havoc made in it, if we attend to the space and ground on which it was conducted, it arose within Italy, whence it spread into Gaul and Spain, and returning from the West, settled with its whole force on Epirus and Thessaly; hence it suddenly passed into Egypt, then turned towards Asia, next fell upon Africa, and at last wheeled back into Spain, where it at length found its termination. But the animosities of parties did not end with the war, nor subsided till the hatred of those who had been defeated satiated itself with the murder of the conqueror in the midst of the city and the senate.

“The cause of this calamity was the same with that of all others, excessive good fortune. For in the consulship of Quintus Metellus and Lucius Afranius, when the majesty of Rome predominated throughout the world and Rome herself was celebrating, in the theatres of Pompey, her recent victories and triumphs over Pontus and Armenia, the overgrown power of Pompey, as is usual in similar cases, excited among the idle citizens a feeling of envy towards him. Metellus, discontented at the diminution of his triumph over Crete, Cato, ever an enemy to those in power, calumniated Pompey, and raised a clamour against his acts. Resentment at such conduct drove Pompey to harsh measures, and impelled him to provide some support for his authority. Crassus happened at that time to be distinguished for family, wealth, and honour, but was desirous to have his power still greater. Caius Cæsar had become eminent by his eloquence and spirit, and by his promotion to the consulate. Yet Pompey rose above them both. Cæsar, therefore, being eager to acquire distinction, Crassus to increase what he had got, and Pompey to add to his, and all being equally covetous of power, they readily formed a compact to seize the government. Striving, accordingly, with their common forces each for his own advancement, Cæsar took the province of Gaul, Crassus that of Asia, Pompey that of Spain; they had three vast armies and thus the empire of the world was now held by these three leading personages. Their government extended through ten years, at the expiration of this period (for they had previously been kept in restraint by dread of one another) a rivalry broke forth between Cæsar and Pompey, consequent on the death of Crassus among the Parthians, and that of Julia, who, being married to Pompey, maintained a good understanding between the son-in-law and father-in-law by means of this matrimonial bond. But now the power of Cæsar was an object of jealousy to Pompey and the eminence of Pompey was offensive to Cæsar. The one could not bear an equal nor the other a superior. Sad to relate, they struggled for mastery, as if the resources of so great an empire would not suffice for two.”[d]

[60-50 B.C.]

It was particularly fortunate for Cæsar that the conquest of Gaul was completed before his enemies at Rome combined against him, and that Vercingetorix was vanquished before Pompey took up arms against him. The meeting at Lucca and the decisions thereof had again put a great deal of power in the hands of Pompey.

At Lucca, Cæsar had been promised the consulate for the year 48. This aim attained and supported by his victorious army, with the prestige of his deeds and his superior intellect he could easily have overreached Pompey, who was no statesman. Cæsar would have organised the popular party, and completed in some form or other the work of a democratic monarchy which had been commenced by Gracchus and had failed in the unskilful hands of Marius; the achievement would have been more glorious for him if it had been accomplished without the aid of military force.

But the most enthusiastic of Pompey’s partisans now adopted a high tone. They declined to concur in any compromise or compact which involved danger to the republic; and at the beginning of the year 51 they threw down the gauntlet to Cæsar. M. Claudius motioned for the newly appointed consuls to be sent on the 1st of March in the year 49 to Cæsar’s two vicegerencies of Cisalpine and Transalpine Gaul. The party also demanded Cæsar’s disbandment of his army and maintained that his grant of citizen rights to the colonies which he had founded, was not legal. An inhabitant of Novum Comum, a town to which Cæsar had granted the Latin privilege, was struck with rods.

Cæsar’s followers showed the unreasonableness of these views and courses by references to Pompey’s position, and Pompey delayed doing anything or declaring himself. The debate on the business of the nomination was fixed for the 1st of March in the year 50. The union between Pompey and the aristocrats became closer and closer, and the time they lost was to the advantage of Cæsar.

[50-49 B.C.]

In the mean time he suppressed the rebellion of Vercingetorix, and Gaul began to calm down. To show his desire for peace, Cæsar followed the senate’s command to disband two legions, the one he had borrowed some years before from Pompey and the other which he had raised himself. He recompensed both before he dismissed them. However, the government did not keep to the agreement of sending them to the Euphrates, but retained them in the Campania for any emergency closer at hand. Cæsar also gained increasing ground at Rome, where clever agents worked for him, and he won an important victory through Curio, the plebeian tribune, a dissolute but talented and wide-awake man, whom he gained over to his side by paying his debts.[116] This ally maintained that what was due from Cæsar was also due from Pompey, and threatened to put his veto upon all one-sided courses against Cæsar.

The aristocrats hesitated, and in the meantime Cæsar arrived but without his army, at Ravenna, the most southern point of his province. Then Curio formulated his measure that Cæsar and Pompey should simultaneously resign their provinces and thus allay the fears of the Roman people. The plan was very well laid, and as the event showed, very cleverly arranged. The measure was put to the vote of the senate and to the astonishment of all concerned it resulted in 370 voting for the motion and twenty against it. It therefore seemed that there were only twenty in the senate upon whom Pompey could implicitly rely. “Then take Cæsar as your chief!” exclaimed the consul Marcellus in a rage as he closed the sitting.

Pompey’s party was in fact in a great strait; and Cæsar (probably at a high price) had attained what he wished. He had forced his adversaries to enter the list as insurrectionists. Pompey began raising troops without the necessary authority, whilst Cæsar, who was with a legion at Ravenna, sent the order to his assembled troops to disband without delay. He also despatched a letter to the senate, in which he offered to resign the governorship of Cisalpine Gaul, to reduce his ten legions to two, if he were allowed to retain these and the governorship of Cisalpine Gaul until the election of the consul for 48. This document was delivered to the senate by Curio. The tribunes Mark Antony and C. Cassius insisted on its being read aloud. The sitting was stormy, and the two consuls C. Claudius Marcellus, and L. Cornelius Lentulus made a point of Cæsar’s appearing as a private individual before the judicature.

In accordance with their views, the motion was carried for Cæsar to resign his province and to disband his army within a fixed time; his neglect to concur with this decree was to be considered high treason. In that case L. Domitius was nominated as his successor. This motion was passed on the 1st of January, 49, but the tribunes put their veto on it, and a great excitement prevailed in the city, into which Pompey had brought two legions. With this support the terrified senate, after expelling the dissentient tribunes from the curia, issued the decree which involved the declaration of war. The senate solemnly conjured the leaders, the officials supported by a military force in the city and its neighbourhood, to watch over the safety of the endangered state. The tribunes renewed their veto, but threatened by the soldiers of Pompey, against whom they were powerless, they fled from Rome and repaired to Cæsar’s headquarters. The decisive step was taken, the swords were unsheathed. Cæsar still remained with his single legion at Ravenna when the tribunes arrived in the character of fugitives. He had already carefully weighed the matter, and had conceived a clear decided course. He had his own army which had served him for ten years in danger and in victory. He knew every cohort, almost every soldier in his command; and every single man was devoted to the general who shared danger and honour with them all, and who had never deserted them in any strait. Moreover he had the Transpadian, or Romanised Gauls of the Po district, to whom he had granted full civic rights on his own authority; this however was the end of his resources.

CÆSAR CROSSES THE RUBICON

[49 B.C.]

On the other side all the other forces of Rome, the legions in Spain, the state treasure, the fleet, the tribute of the dominions, the contingents and the money of the whole of the East, and the respected name of the republic were at the disposal of Pompey, who boasted, and not without cause, that he had only to stamp upon the ground for armies to appear. Perhaps the charm of the old fame of Pompey exceeded the attraction of the more recent victories of Cæsar. But Cæsar did not hesitate. On the other side of the little river Rubicon which separated the Cisalpine province from Italy, lay his native land, and the civil war which could only end with his overthrow or his complete victory.[b]

Cæsar crossing the Rubicon

“Cæsar had sent people to bring his army,” says Appian, “but being accustomed to succeed more by diligence, striking a terror and hardiness, than any mighty preparations, he resolved to begin this great war with his five thousand men, and to seize some places of Italy that were commodious for him. First he sent before to Ariminum some centurions and men who were to enter the city as passengers, and then all of a sudden to seize on that city (the first that offers itself coming from Gaul); and himself, in the evening, going out as if he had found himself ill after a feast, leaves his friends, and mounting in a chariot drove himself the same way, followed at a distance by his cavalry. When he came to the banks of Rubicon he stopped some time, looking upon the water, and thinking of the calamities he was about to be the cause of, if he passed that river in arms.

“At length turning to those of his train, ‘My friends,’ said he, ‘if I pass not this river immediately, it will be to me the beginning of all misfortunes; and if I do pass it, I go to make a world of people miserable’; and there withal, as if he had been pressed forward by some divinity, he drove into the stream, and crossing it, cries with a loud voice, ‘The lot is cast.’ From whence, continuing on his way with speed, he seized Ariminum by break of day, and all in an instant places garrisons in all the good places of that country, which he reduced either by force or favour.

“Meanwhile, as it happens in these unexpected alarms, the whole country was filled with people flying, the countrymen forsaking their habitations, and nothing was to be heard but cries, and lamentations, and groans, yet no man knew from whence this disorder came, but all imagined that Cæsar was upon them with all his forces. The consuls receiving the news, gave not Pompey, who perfectly understood war, leisure to prepare himself, and take his own time; they began to press him to be gone out of the city, and make levies of forces in Italy, as if Rome had been in immediate danger of being taken and plundered. And the senate surprised with so unlooked for an irruption, were terrified, and began to repent they had not accepted those reasonable conditions offered by Cæsar; but this was not till fear had opened their eyes, and led them back from partiality to reason; for now men talked of a great many prodigies and extraordinary signs which had appeared in the heavens, that it had rained blood in many places, that in others the statues of the gods had sweat, that many temples had been struck with thunderbolts, that a mule had engendered, besides an infinite of other things which seemed to foretell the change of the present state, and the ruin of the commonwealth, so as it should never be re-established; wherefore they made vows and prayers as in a public consternation. And the people, remembering again the miseries they had suffered because of the dissensions of Sulla and Marius, cried out that they ought to take away the command as well from Cæsar as from Pompey, since that was the only means to prevent a war. Cicero himself was of opinion that deputies should be sent to Cæsar to treat an accommodation, but the consuls absolutely opposed it.

“Favonius, quipping at Pompey because of a word he had once said with too much arrogance, bade him stamp on the ground with his foot, and see if any armed men would rise. To which Pompey answered: ‘You will want none so you will follow me, and are not troubled to leave the city, and Italy, itself, if there be occasion; for people of courage,’ said he, ‘do not make liberty consist in the possession of lands and houses; they cannot want in any place they come to; and if they lose not their courage, will soon recover their houses and lands.’

“After having said these words, and protested he would hold him for an enemy, who out of fear to lose what he possessed, deserted the commonwealth in extreme danger, he went out of the palace, and soon after out of the city, to join the army that was at Capua. The consuls followed him presently, but the other senators weighed it a little longer, and spent all the night in the palace, without resolving anything; and at length as soon as it was break of day, the greater part followed the same way after Pompey. Meantime, Cæsar having reached at Corfinium, L. Domitius, whom they had sent for his successor with four thousand men (of which he had already lost a part), he besieged him in the city, from whence, endeavouring to escape, the inhabitants stopped him at the gate, and brought him to Cæsar, to whom the remainder of his forces yielded themselves; he received them kindly, that he might draw others by their example, and without doing any wrong to Domitius, he suffered him to go whither he pleased, with all his equipage, hoping by this courtesy to oblige him to take his party, yet without hindering him from going to find out Pompey. Pompey on the other side marched from Capua to Brundusium, that he might thence pass to Epirus, where he designed to establish the seat of war; he sent to all provinces and to kings themselves that they should send him what forces they could supply.”[c]

Pompey having accordingly decided that the most prudent course to adopt was to quit Italy and retire across the sea, had assembled all the available troops at Brundusium, though the greater half had already happily crossed to Greece. Cæsar reached the city accompanied by his legions. But Pompey, until the return of the fleet, succeeded in baffling his efforts to close the mouth of the harbour. He now barricaded the city and the two roads leading to the harbour; the rest of the army embarked, and the retreat was made on the ships, which they carried across the sea.[117] Cæsar being left with the empty town, found his hope had failed of ending the war as quickly as he had commenced it.

CÆSAR’S SERIOUS POSITION

This success was great, but the seriousness and danger of Cæsar’s position were now evident. He could not follow Pompey as long as the general’s seven powerful Spanish legions under their legates M. Petreius and L. Afranius were behind him; and if he went to Spain against them, where was he, who had no fleet, to get the means to oppose the return to Italy of Pompey, who ruled the seas? Moreover, Italy was more surprised than conquered. He had not been able in two months to gain the influence which Pompey had spent ten years to win. What would happen if insurrection broke out against him, and if Pompey’s fleet stopped supplies? The one mode of contravening these dangers was to double his force by the swiftness of his movements. But the difficulties of his position did not end here. If he plundered like Marius and Sulla, he would arouse the diverse elements of resistance against him; if he protected life and property, he would estrange such men of his own force as Mark Antony and P. Cornelius Dolabella, who expected to pay their debts by Cæsarian proscription lists.

In the hope of subsequently disbanding Pompey’s Spanish army, Cæsar repaired first to Rome, untiring in his efforts to win over to his side the peaceful burgesses who formed the party of order. The feared proscription lists did not appear, and pardons were bruited from all sides. Perhaps this was the reason Cæsar found that the assembly of the remaining senators which he summoned were not very willing to endow him with all-embracing legal authority. Pompey was still considered the stronger; Cæsar’s success seemed only transient, and his moderation was put down to a sense of weakness. Hence Cicero, who played a pitiful part in these days and stood undecided between both parties, did not appear in the Cæsarian senate. He like many other weaklings cast longing glances to the other camp beyond the sea without mustering courage to join either party. There was at least an attempt at resistance in Rome. The plebeian tribune L. Metellus covered with his body the door leading to the public treasure. Cæsar calmly gave the necessary commands regardless of the senate, and the obstinate tribune was quietly carried from the door, which Cæsar then forced open. The gold discovered proved a powerful ally. The Pompeian party left behind in the haste of their flight not less than £3,500,000.

Cæsar then took measures and did all that was necessary to create a fleet. He gave the prætor M. Æmilius Lepidus the appointment of city prefect, and despatched his officers. The legate Valerius was sent with a legion against Sardinia, and M. Cotta, Pompey’s follower who was there in command. C. Curio was commissioned to go with three legions to Sicily against M. Porcius Cato and thence to Africa. To others he deputed the organisation of the fleet, and with the remaining nine legions he repaired to Spain.

CÆSAR LORD FROM ROME TO SPAIN

[49-48 B.C.]

The seven Pompeian legions were stationed on the Ebro under Afranius and Petreius. The important city of Massilia (Marseilles) had gone over to Pompey through the L. Domitius whom Cæsar had released after he fell into his hands at Corfinium. Cæsar was moreover prevented from taking the Pyrenean passes by the legates of his foe who now took up a position somewhat north of the Iberus at Ilerda (Lerida) on the Sicoris (the left tributary of the Ebro). Cæsar took up a position opposite, whilst he left Decimus Brutus at Massilia.

During the month of June the strength of both armies was tested in numerous battles and difficult movements, until finally Cæsar, whose knowledge of war was quite different from that of his enemies, succeeded in getting the army on to the left bank of the Sicoris and cutting his enemy off from the Ebro. Having put the enemy into this position his men began to fraternise with the Pompeians. Further bloodshed seemed superfluous. At the beginning of August, 49, the Pompeians capitulated, part of the army disbanding and part joining Cæsar. The capitulation of the army on this side led to that of Further Spain also. The province was under the command of Terentius Varro, a celebrated scholar and a zealous republican, and Massilia surrendered at the same time and escaped further condemnation by resigning its arms and fleet, a part of its territory and its garrison.

Things did not go so well in places where Cæsar could not himself be present. During his absence in Spain, M. Æmilius Lepidus, whom he had left as prefect of the city to govern Italy, had named him dictator. He assumed the great dignity thus conferred upon him, but held it only eleven days. In that period he presided at the comitia and was elected consul, together with P. Servilius Isauricus, one of his old competitors for the chief pontificate. He also passed several laws. One of these restored all exiles to the city, except Milo, thus undoing one of the last remnants of Sulla’s dictatorship. A second provided for the payment of debts, so as to lighten the burdens of the debtors without satisfying the democratic cry for an abolition of all contracts. A third conferred the franchise on the citizens of Transpadane Gaul, who had since the Social War enjoyed the Latin right only. Certainly Sardinia and Sicily were held by Cæsarian lieutenant-generals who kept the Pompeian force in check; and Curio, who here again gave evidence of his great talent, was at first victorious over the soldiers of Pompey when he was transferred from Sicily to Africa. He was victorious at Utica, and commenced the siege of the city. But a false report which led him to believe he had only to deal with a small force of the foe drew him into the Bagradas plain. He began the battle boldly, but it ended in his entire defeat when King Juba of Numidia, the ally of the Pompeians appeared in the vicinity with his ready prepared army. Curio himself fell. The rest of his troops surrendered the following day to P. Atius Varus, the Pompeian governor of Africa. Cæsar met with another reverse in Illyricum. The ships under P. Dolabella, and the land forces under C. Antonius were seized and destroyed by superior Pompeian forces in the attempt to avoid an attack of Pompey on this side.

Pompey himself had done nothing all the summer but make preparations on a colossal scale. He was probably hampered in doing what he knew would be advisable by the brainlessness, the inaccuracy, and the pride of the aristocrats about him, which, from all we know, we cannot overestimate. But it certainly gives us a very poor idea of his talent as a general when we see that whilst he was engaged, during the whole of the important summer of 48, in these fruitless preparations, he let his enemy gain possession of Spain, Italy, Sardinia, the cities of Sicily and as far as he was concerned, Africa too, without making any resistance, and even allowing the foe time to collect a naval force.

The place of assembly of the aristocrats and Pompeians was Macedonia. Their senate was held at Thessalonica where its members numbered two hundred. To their remarkable incapacity for politics the aristocrats added a deplorable want of judgment; the useless rage of this class expended itself in wild talk and revengeful plans. Defeated through their own fault, they avenged themselves with fine words for Cæsar’s energetic deeds. Their obstinate pride rejected every peace negotiation offered by Cæsar, and regaled itself in vengeance-breathing declamations. “They are,” writes Cicero, who had finally decided which party to join, “devastating in war and in their speech so wild, that I shudder at their success. They are an exalted people, but deeply in debt—but what would you have? They have nothing good about them but the cause.” Yet even the cause was bad if it had no other supporters. It was natural for Pompey to feel crippled with these generals of high rank, these incompetent officers. But he at least knew how to use the rich supplies which came to him from the East, over which he still exercised unconditional control. Eleven legions, seven thousand horsemen, Celts, Thracians, Commagenian archers, Armenians, Numidian cavalry, a fleet of 500 sail, and a well-filled treasure chest were placed at his disposal. He assembled his forces on the coast of Epirus.

CÆSAR IN GREECE

[49 or 48 B.C.]

In the meanwhile Cæsar had returned from Spain, and after a short dictatorship, he was elected in Rome consul for the year 48, and at the beginning of the year [or by the rectified calendar in November 49] collected his troops at Brundusium. He had succeeded with great trouble in collecting a fleet which, to the great surprise of the crews, brought him and his six legions safely to the Acroceraunian coast. But the bold venture might have been fatal. The fleet of the foe commanded the sea and the second fleet of transports did not appear. Cæsar found himself cut off from Italy with scarcely twenty-five thousand men. He would have been lost if Pompey had promptly advanced against him from Dyrrhachium.[b]

APPIAN DESCRIBES THE BATTLE OF DYRRHACHIUM

[48 B.C.]

“Cæsar pitched his camp directly against him, on the other side of the river Alora, which parted the two armies, where yet there happened some horse skirmishes, now one party and then another passing the river, but neither would engage with all their forces, because Pompey thought good first to exercise his forces that were newly levied, and Cæsar expected those that were to come from Brundusium. He thought if they stayed till spring, and then should come over with ships of burden (and he had no other) they could no way be secured, Pompey having such a number of galleys to defend the passage; but if they embarked during winter, they might slip by their enemies, who now lay harboured in the islands, or if they were engaged, might open themselves a passage by the violence of the winds, and the bulk of their vessels; wherefore he did all he could to hasten their coming.

“And therefore out of impatience that the rest of his army came not from Brundusium, he resolved himself to go privately over, thinking they would sooner follow him than any other; wherefore without discovering his design to any one, he sent three of his slaves to a river not above twelve furlongs distant, to secure some very light boat, and a good pilot, as if he had an intention to send him upon some design, and feigning himself ill, rose from the table where he desired his friends to continue, and taking the habit of a private man, mounting his chariot, came to the boat as Cæsar’s messenger.

“He had given orders to his slaves to command the mariners what they had to do, whilst he kept himself concealed under coverlids and the darkness of the night. Though the wind were contrary, and very raging, the slaves made the pilot put off, bidding him be of courage, and make use of his time to escape the enemy, who were not far from them, they laboured so hard, that by force of oars they got the mouth of the river, where the waves of the sea beating against the stream of the river, the pilot (who on the other side was afraid of falling into the enemies hands) did all that was possible for man to do, till seeing they gained nothing, and the seamen not able to pull any longer, he left the helm. Then the consul discovering his head, cried out, ‘Courage, pilot, fear no storm, for thou carriest Cæsar and his fortune.’ Whereupon the pilot and his crew astonished at these words, redoubling their force, passed the mouth of the river; got out to sea; but because the winds and the waves still drove them towards the lee shore in spite of all their endeavours, and day approaching, the mariners fearing to be discovered by the enemy, Cæsar angry at fortune that envied him, suffered the pilot to regain the river, and the boat presently running afore the wind, came to the place from whence they set out: Cæsar’s friends admired at his boldness, others blamed him for having done an action more proper for a private soldier than a general; and he seeing his design had not succeeded, and that it was impossible for him to pass over without being known, sent Postumius in his place. He first had charge to tell Gabinius that he should presently embark the army, and bring it to him; and if he refused, then to address himself to Antony, and at last to Calenus, and if none of these three had spirit enough to execute these orders, he had a letter for the army in general, by which the soldiers were exhorted to come over and follow Postumius, landing at any place they could, without regarding the ships; for he had more need of men than ships, so much confidence had he in fortune, indeed more than in prudence.

“Pompeius then judging he ought no longer to delay, drew out his army in battalia, and caused them to advance against Cæsar; but two of his soldiers being entered into the river to sound the ford, and one of Cæsar’s men having slain them both, he took this as an ill presage, and led back his forces into the camp, though many lamented the loss of so fair an occasion.

“As for the forces at Brundusium, Gabinius, refusing to follow the orders brought by Postumius, with all that would follow him, went the way of Illyricum by land, taking such long marches that his men being quite tired the inhabitants of the country cut them all in pieces, for which Cæsar could not yet be revenged, being engaged in affairs of more importance. Antony shipped away the rest, and having the wind right aft, passed in sight of Apollonia with a merry gale; but about noon the wind beginning to slacken, they were discovered by twenty of Pompey’s galleys, who made up towards them; they were fearful lest the stems of the long ships running on board them should pierce through and sink them. However, they were preparing to fight, every man laying hold of his sling, his javelin, or arms of the like nature; when on a sudden there sprung up a fresher gale than the former; so that Antony, setting his low sails, went spooning away before, whilst the others, not able to bear sail, were tossed to and fro where the winds and waves pleased, and at length driven into the narrows and cast upon lee shores where there was neither port nor harbour. Thus Antony safely recovered the port of Nymphæum without losing more than two ships, which unfortunately running upon the flats were taken by the enemies.

“Cæsar having now with him all his forces as well as Pompey, they pitched their camps in sight of each other upon eminences where each entrenched themselves, raising out forts, which were often attacked by one party and the other, one general still striving to block up the other’s army and cut them off from provisions, so that there happened many skirmishes. In this new mode of making war, as Cæsar’s men one day proved the weaker in a fort assailed by the enemy, a centurion called Scæva, famous before for many gallant actions, being wounded in an eye, leaped from the rampart, and making a sign with his hand for silence, as if he had something to say, he called to one of the centurions of the contrary party, a man of reputation, to whom he said, ‘Save the life of one of thy own quality, save the life of thy friend; send somebody to lead me by the hand, thus wounded as I am.’ Whereupon two soldiers stepping in to receive him as a runaway, he slew one before he suspected the deceit, and knocked the other down. He did this action out of the pure despair he was in of being able to defend the place; but it succeeded better than he imagined, for this happy success so raised the courage of his companions that they repulsed the enemy and remained masters of the fort. Minucius, who commanded, had a great share in the glory as well as in the danger of this assault, for ’tis said that his buckler was six and twenty times pierced through, and he was wounded in the eye as well as Scæva; so Cæsar honoured them both with many military recompenses.

“Meantime he had formed intelligence in Dyrrhachium, and upon hopes the place would be delivered to him, he came with a small company to the gate which is near the temple of Diana; but his design being discovered, came off again without doing anything. The same winter Scipio, father-in-law to Pompey, bringing him another army out of Syria, was set upon in Macedon by C. Calvisius, whom he defeated, and slew him a whole legion, fourscore soldiers only escaping. There came now no more provisions to Cæsar by sea, Pompeius being the stronger, wherefore the soldiers were forced to make bread of a certain kind of herb, pieces of which being by some runaways brought to Pompey, thinking it would be to him a joyful present. Instead of rejoicing at it, ‘What sort of beasts,’ said he, ‘have we to deal with?’ Cæsar now pinched with necessity drew together his forces, resolving to engage Pompey whether he would or no; but Pompey being now possessed of several good forts, kept close in his trenches, which so much troubled Cæsar that he undertook a work almost impossible, and scarcely credible, which was to enclose all the forts Pompey had with a trench drawn from the sea, judging that though his design took not effect, he should gain the reputation of a man capable of great things; for this trench must have been twelve hundred furlongs in length. Pompey on his part, drew lines and trenches directly opposite to Cæsar’s works; thus one eluded the enterprises of the other.

“At length there happened a great fight between them, wherein Pompey bravely repulsing Cæsar’s men and having put them to flight, pursued them to their very camp. Many colours they took and had taken the eagle of a legion, if the standard-bearer who carried it had not thrown it with all his force into the trenches, that he might preserve it for Cæsar; for the Roman soldiery have a great respect for their standards. Cæsar with other companies came to the relief of those that fled, but so terrified were these too, that as soon as they beheld Pompey at a distance, though they were near the camp, it was not possible for Cæsar to stop them, nor to make them go in again, nor so much as to hearken to him; the soldiers fled away in disorder without shame, without reason, or without anything to oblige them to it; Cæsar might well run up and down, and with reproaches show them that Pompey was yet a great way off. This hindered them not from throwing down their arms and flying, or else standing still, silent and immovable, fixing their eyes upon the ground with shame and confusion, so great was that panic fear that possessed them. There was an ensign who, as his general would have stopped him, presented him the point of his javelin, but he was upon the spot punished by the gods as he deserved. Those who escaped into the camp were so cast down that they kept no guard at the gates nor lined the rampire, but the trenches were left without any to defend them. All men believed that Pompey might have thrown himself into the camp with the flyers, and so have made an end of the war, if Labienus (for God would have it so) had not persuaded him rather to pursue those he had routed, then march up to the trenches; him therefore he believed, whether it were that he was not in such haste as to make an end of all at once, or that seeing the camp defenceless, he feared some ambuscade, or else being victorious, scorned that little advantage. Going therefore to charge those that were still abroad, he made yet a great slaughter, so that in two engagements in one day he gained twenty-eight colours, and twice lost the opportunity of ruining his enemy beyond redress. And Cæsar himself stuck not to say that that day the war had been ended, had his enemy known how to make use of his victory.

“Pompey after this glorious success wrote largely of it to the kings and commonalties; and conceived hopes that in a short time Cæsar’s army, either oppressed by famine or terrified with disgrace, would yield themselves to him; especially the tribunes, fearful of being punished for a fault they knew themselves guilty of. But they and all the soldiers touched with repentance as by divine inspiration, confessed themselves criminals; and afflicted themselves the more, that their general spoke kindly to them, and granted them pardon before they asked it: they would not forgive themselves; but with a wonderful change desired, as a punishment of their fault, they might be decimated according to the custom of their ancestors, but he would by no means admit it; which increased their shame the more that they should be guilty of such cowardice in prejudice of the best man of the world, and who most deserved their faith and their services.

“They besought him that at least he would punish the ensigns, who had been the cause of this rout; for in flying they had only followed their colours; and seeing Cæsar could not resolve to do that, but with much ado would consent to the punishment of a few, his moderation begot in the mind of the soldiers a general joy.

“They began all with one voice to cry out that he should lead them against the enemy, that by gaining a new victory they might wipe away their infamy; and in the sight of their general they swore by whole companies one to the other, never to return from the fight but victorious. Wherefore his friends advised him to take the army at their words, and make trial of them upon this height of repentance before their zeal grew cooler; but he answered them before all the multitude that he would choose a time more proper to show them the enemy; exhorting them then to remember the good will they now protested, and in private he told his confidants that it was convenient to let that fear which so late a loss had imprinted be worn a little out of the minds of the soldiery; and by temporising, let the fierceness of his enemies heightened by their late victory, be likewise a little cooled: He confessed withal he had committed a great fault in coming to a camp so near Dyrrhachium, where Pompey had all things in abundance; whereas if he had drawn himself farther off, they might have met with equal difficulties.

“After having discoursed in this manner, he came to Apollonia, and from thence privately by night took his march towards Thessaly; and on the way, coming to a little city called Gomphi, that refused to open their gates, he took it by storm and gave the plunder to his soldiers; who having long endured scarcity, fed now beyond measure, and filled themselves with wine, especially the Alamanni, whose drunkenness made them ridiculous to all the rest: so that here again in all appearance Pompey lost a fair occasion of victory by not pursuing an enemy he despised; but lying still, whilst in seven days’ march he got into Thessaly, and encamped near Pharsalia.”[c]

The pride of the victorious party after the success of Dyrrhachium knew no bounds. They were in no hurry to follow the advice of prudent men and to get possession of Italy again. The danger, if it had ever existed, now seemed past. The rest of the campaign would be nothing more than a safe march; the wild plans of revenge with which they had hoped to exceed the Sullanian restoration and its terrors seemed quite near their fulfilment.

Such was the mood of the army, especially of the conceited young aristocracy, when Pompey’s army joined with Scipio’s corps at Larissa, whilst Cato remained with eighteen cohorts at Dyrrhachium, and the Pompeian fleet of three hundred ships dropped anchor at Corcyra.

PHARSALIA

Cæsar had stationed himself by the town of Pharsalia on the left bank of the river Enipeus, which traverses the plain between the line of hills of Cynoscephalæ in the north and the mountains of Othrys in the south, and Pompey took up his stand on the right bank, at the foot of the Cynoscephalæ hills. Pompey could have conquered his foe by prolonging the war, and he, with his own experience of war, was himself conscious of the fact. But he had long ceased to be master in his camp. It was ruled by a hydra-headed regiment of high-born people, and the hot-blooded noble youth were already, as if victory was assured, disputing the division of the honours of Cæsar and the property of his allies. They pressed for a decisive blow, and they gave Pompey to understand that he was too fond of playing the part of Agamemnon, the king of kings, the commander-in-chief of so many prætors and consuls, the king of vassals and the prince of clients.[118] Confident of success they pointed to the forty-seven thousand foot-soldiers, and the seven thousand horsemen of their own army, which far exceeded the twenty thousand of Cæsar’s beaten force.

Pompey could not resist the pressure. He had put himself into this position, so he ceased to delay; and on the fateful 9th of August 48 [6th of June by the rectified calendar] he led his army over the river Enipeus.

Success seemed to favour the aristocrats when their numerous superior cavalry surrounded Cæsar’s right wing, which faced the plain, whilst the fighting by Cæsar’s left wing was resultless, and the weak cavalry of Cæsar could not long withstand the masses of Pompeian horsemen. T. Labienus commanded the corps against his former imperator, but as he pressed forward victoriously he was opposed by the two thousand picked legionaries which Cæsar, foreseeing the enemy’s attack, had placed there. “Strike the pretty young dancers on the face,” cried their general to them, and the determined, unexpected method in which they, contrary to custom, used the pila as lances threw the enemy’s cavalry into disorder and forced it to flight.

Cæsar profited by this movement to make his reserve line advance for a general attack. Pompey’s legions, greatly inferior to Cæsar’s veterans in military prowess, began to retreat across the Enipeus. All was not yet lost, but Pompey, too spoiled by success to bear a moment’s reverse, neglected his duty, and throwing up the sponge he rode back to the camp. The vanquished legions gradually followed suit, as it became known in their ranks that mercy and consideration would be shown them by the enemy. They were driven from the camp by fresh onslaughts, and at midday it was stormed by the Cæsarians.

But Pompey had already mounted his horse and fled. His soldiers, in increasing disorder, destitute of command albeit fighting continuously, withdrew to the hills in the attempt to reach Larissa by that route.

But the dissolution was at hand; a number cast down their arms trusting to the victors’ promised mercy, and those who reached the heights were disappointed in their hope of getting to Larissa, for they were surrounded in the evening by Cæsar’s lines. The next morning twenty thousand men, a whole army, laid down their arms; fifteen thousand capitulated the previous day, whilst not more than six thousand lost their lives.

The victory did not cost Cæsar more than one thousand men. The enemy’s army was destroyed, but the results of the battle were not foreseen. They depended upon the course Pompey would take. Of him nothing was known but that he had taken the road to the sea and had escaped.

It is evident that this battle was mainly lost from want of command. But why did Pompey so quickly give it up for lost without any attempt to arrest the course of fate? We have no record from his headquarters which can throw light upon these facts, but it seems that the party of which he was the chief had grown too much for him; that a deep discontent and ill-humour took possession of him, and both the party and the cause for which he had sacrificed himself had become loathsome to him before the battle took place. This is the only explanation of his conduct at the battle. How could it be otherwise? His aim and object were quite opposed to those of the party to which he was chained, and he was so entirely in its power that even complete victory would have only benefited them, not him. Perhaps the shame of appearing before his own party drove him to this hasty flight; perhaps he was afraid of personal danger at the hands of his colleagues, for this Pompeian camp was torn with every passion. Suffice it to say he escaped, and this flight made the defeat dangerous, for his person was the rallying point for the resistance of his party.

He hastened to Larissa; then disguised, and with a few companions, he proceeded to the mouth of the Peneus, the celebrated Vale of Tempe, and from thence by ship to Amphipolis.

At Mytilene he took his wife Cornelia and his son Sextus on board, but he did not stop there, as the news of the disastrous battle and the unexpected consequence had spread all over Asia Minor. It did not seem advisable to attempt anything here. But he conceived the plan of putting himself at the head of his large fleet and joining the victorious land force in Africa. Choosing another course and another country, he might, perhaps, hope to be more independent. So he decided to turn to Egypt and start fresh undertakings, with this excellent position as a basis. But they were undertakings in which he had no real confidence, through having once been crossed by fortune.

Whilst the princes and powers of the East hastened to lay down their arms and cast themselves upon the mercy of the conqueror after the battle of Pharsalia, Pompey pursued the lonely course in which he met his fate.

From the coast of Asia Minor he sailed to Cyprus and from thence to the Egyptian shore after announcing his intended arrival to the king who was still a minor. The eunuch Pothinus persuaded Ptolemy, a thirteen year old boy, to secure as he thought, by a bloody deed, the favour of the victor whose support he would need against the claims of his sister, Cleopatra, who disputed his claim to the throne.

The ships of Pompey came in sight east of Pelusium by the Cassian Mountains. Egyptian troops were assembled on the shore, and in their midst stood the king. Then there pushed off from the shore a little boat, in which were Achillas, the commander-in-chief of the Egyptian army, and two Roman officers. One of them greeted the imperator and invited him to board the boat as the shallow water of the shore prevented a large ship being sent. His party was suspicious. But Pompey, deaf to their warning and adjurations, embarked in the boat with two companions. Before he left he was heard to repeat to Cornelia the lines of Sophocles:

“Who to the tyrant turns his step

Becomes his slave altho’ he went as a liberator.”

The boat approached the shore. “Do I see in thee one of the dangers of war?” said Pompey to one of the officers who bowed his head in silence, whereupon Pompey without further parley took a leaf in his hand and wrote a message to the king in the Greek language. The boat arrived, Pompey arose to disembark. At that moment he received a blow from behind and the two other men straightway fell upon him. Resistance was impossible. Pompey resigned himself to his fate without making a sound, he covered his face and fell dying to the ground. He was in the fifty-eighth year of his life and he died in the thirty-fifth of his career as a general. The body was left upon the beach, a prey to animals, but perhaps some faithful followers may have secretly saved it; the head, the witness of their scandalous deed, was taken off by the Egyptians.

Such was the sad end of a man whom the freaks of fortune and the great confusion of the Roman state raised to a height beyond his natural power. He, like Marius, was above all, a great soldier, clever enough to accomplish deeds when favoured by fortune but not independent enough to attain them against odds. He was unequalled in warlike courage, military skill, and personal bravery, and his moderate life in spite of his great wealth put the aristocrats of his time to shame. But he was utterly wanting in the higher qualities which secure lasting success, overthrow effete state organisations and construct new ones in their places. He was hard, selfish, and cruel. “As oppressor,” as a Roman subsequently said of him, “not better than Marius or Sulla.” Neither did he retain his position as a great general when the time came to prove his real worth, and his utter want of independence and capacity as a statesman was the rock upon which his life was wrecked; whilst Cæsar’s success was due to his capacity as a general as well as a statesman, and the power of bringing both these qualities to bear upon his course.[b]