27. What was the consequence of this proposal?
28. Did Pompey obey this command?
29. What was Cæsar's conduct on this occasion?
30. How did he next proceed?
31. What measure did the senate adopt?
SECTION II.
On him thy hate, on him thy curse bestow.
Who would persuade thee Cæsar is thy foe;
And since to thee I consecrate my toil,
Oh! favour thou my cause, and on thy soldier smile.—Lucan.
1. Cæsar, however, seemed no way disturbed at these violent proceedings; the night before his intended expedition into Italy, he sat down to table cheerfully, conversing with his friends on subjects of literature and philosophy; and apparently disengaged from every ambitious concern. After[Pg. 200] some time, rising up, he desired the company to make themselves joyous in his absence, and that he would be with them in a moment: in the mean time, having ordered his chariot to be prepared, he immediately set out, attended by a few friends, for Arim'inum, a city upon the confines of Italy, whither he had despatched a part of his army the morning before. 2. This journey by night, which was very fatiguing, he performed with great diligence, sometimes walking, and sometimes on horseback; till at the break of day, he came up with his army, which consisted of about five thousand men, near the Ru'bicon, a little river which separates Italy from Gaul, and which marked the limits of his command. 3. The Romans had ever been taught to consider this river as the sacred boundary of their domestic empire. 4. Cæsar, therefore, when he advanced at the head of his army to the side of it, stopped short upon the bank, as if impressed with terror at the greatness of his enterprise. He could not pass it without transgressing the laws; he therefore pondered for some time in fixed melancholy, looking and debating with himself whether he should venture in. "If I pass this river," said he to one of his generals, "what miseries shall I bring upon my country! and if I now stop short I am undone." 5. After a pause he exclaimed, "Let us go where the gods and the injustice of our enemies call us." Thus saying, and renewing all his former alacrity, he plunged in, crying out, "The die is cast." His soldiers followed him with equal promptitude, and having passed the Ru'bicon, quickly arrived at Arim'inum, and made themselves masters of the place without any resistance.
6. This unexpected enterprise excited the utmost terror in Rome; every one imagining that Cæsar was leading his army to lay the city in ruins. At the same time were to be seen the citizens flying into the country for safety, and the inhabitants of the country coming to seek shelter in the city. 7. In this universal confusion, Pompey felt all that repentance and self-condemnation, which must necessarily arise from the remembrance of having advanced his rival to his present pitch of power: wherever he appeared, many of his former friends were ready to tax him with his supineness, and sarcastically to reproach his ill-grounded presumption. 8. "Where is now," cried Favo'nius, a ridiculous senator of this party, "the army that is to rise at your command?[Pg. 201] let us see if it will appear by stamping."[7] Cato reminded him of the many warnings he had given him; which, however, as he was continually boding nothing but calamities, Pompey might very justly be excused from attending to. 9. Being at length wearied with these reproaches, which were offered under colour of advice, he did all that lay in his power to encourage and confirm his followers: he told them that they should not want an army, for that he would be their leader. He confessed, indeed, that he had all along mistaken Cæsar's aims, judging only from what they ought to have been; however, if his friends were still inspired with the love of freedom, they might yet enjoy it in whatever place their necessities should happen to conduct them. 16. He let them know that their affairs were in a very promising situation: that his two lieutenants were at the head of a very considerable army in Spain, composed of veteran troops that had made a conquest of the east: besides these, there were infinite resources, both in Asia and Africa, together with the succours they were sure to receive from all the kingdoms that were in alliance with Rome. 11. This speech served in some measure to revive the hopes of the confederacy. The greatest part of the senate, his private friends and dependents, with all those who expected to make their fortunes by espousing his cause, agreed to follow him. But being in no capacity to resist Cæsar at Rome, he resolved to lead his forces to Cap'ua, where the two legions that served under Cæsar in Gaul were stationed.
12. Cæsar in the mean time, after having vainly attempted to bring Pompey to an accommodation, resolved to pursue him into Cap'ua before he could collect his forces. Accordingly, he marched on to take possession of the cities that lay between him and his rival, not regarding Rome, which he knew would fall of course to the conqueror.