The world's leading conquerors

by Wilson Lloyd Bevan

The moral effect of the abandonment of Italy and the capital was a great asset for the Cæsarian party. The critics have condemned Pompeius because he failed to relieve the senatorial troops inclosed by Cæsar in the town of Corfinium in the Abruzzi. It was a discouraging blow at the very commencement of the struggle for the senatorial party to see their soldiers and one of their chief partisans, Domitius Ahenobarbus, left to their fate. But Pompeius was in no position to give help; if he had attempted to give aid, he would have been defeated and captured.

Instead of pursuing Pompeius across the Adriatic to Greece, Cæsar turned away to the conquest of Spain. Even if transports were lacking, he might have doubled round the Adriatic coast through Illyria, his own province. He might soon have got the control of the entire East before a sufficient force was collected to oppose him. But if he had done so, in the meantime Italy would have been exposed to an invasion from Pompeius’ Spanish veterans, for the senatorial commander would undoubtedly have betaken himself there and acted on the offensive. By the time Cæsar could reach Antioch, in Syria, Pompeius could have occupied Rome. Cæsar therefore consistently followed the principle of striking at the enemy’s force where it was concentrated and prepared for effective work.

Several of the legions newly formed from Italian recruits were sent to Sardinia, Sicily, and Africa as crucial points, from which a descent might be made on Italy; others were left in Italy itself. Of the veteran legions from Gaul, three were despatched to Marseilles, which had taken the senatorial side, and six were taken to Spain. There were seven Pompeian legions in the peninsula under three different commanders, Afranius and Petreius in the north, Varro in the south. Varro, the celebrated antiquarian and scholar, was not an enthusiastic partisan of Pompeius; there seems to be no reason, except his desire to be neutral, why he should have weakened the Pompeian forces in the north by keeping his legions in the south. In any case, the five legions near the Pyrenees, as if conscious of their weakness, remained on the defensive, although for a time they were opposed only by two legions of Cæsar’s.

Cæsar’s force was undoubtedly numerically superior, for there was a considerable contingent of allies, German and Gallic, both horse and foot. The plan of strategy adopted by the Pompeians was to keep Cæsar in check until Pompeius’ preparations in the East were completed, that is, to wait until he could come to Spain to direct the operations there in person, or could make a diversion by attacking Italy with the troops raised in the East. No attempt was made by Pompeius’ lieutenants to stop Cæsar’s passage through the mountain passes of the Pyrenees. This, in any case, would have been a questionable operation and apt to cause a division of strength in the opposing army.

The first point of conflict between the two armies was at Ilerda, 150 kilometers south of the Pyrenees and about forty north of the Ebro. There was a stream in front of the town, crossed by a stone bridge, and near this stream, on a height south of the town, the Pompeians placed their camp. They were well supplied with provisions; and they commanded the access to the bridge. As the stream had a strong current and was liable to the sudden changes of a mountain torrent it would be unsafe for Cæsar to make a temporary bridge to keep in contact two separated portions of an enveloping army. Cæsar could not afford to leave this strongly encamped force in his rear, for the way would be open to them to invade both Gaul and Italy. In case of defeat the Pompeians might make a further stand, with an advantageous position on the banks of the Ebro.

For some time the Cæsarian army under Fabius remained inactive before Ilerda. Two bridges had been built across the stream, but one of these the current had carried away, and at one time two of the legions were in considerable danger while they were foraging on the southern bank. When Cæsar took over the command both bridges had gone, and the Pompeians, by using the stone bridge, could prevent any further bridge building. Food supplies from the north were cut off, and the Cæsarians were hard-pressed for provisions, having exhausted all the food in the neighborhood of their camp. Cæsar managed finally to relieve this trying situation by building a bridge outside the range of the operations of the Pompeians, who never dared to get too far away from their camp. His next move was to try to cut them off from the city, their base of supplies, but this failed. They were secure where they were, but they grew alarmed when some of the native population joined Cæsar’s forces; there was also a prospect of a period of low water in the river, when Cæsar could use a ford and so completely envelop them.

Under such conditions they resolved to abandon their camp and retire to the Ebro to make there another stand. The retreat was accomplished without much difficulty, except from cavalry attacks, which delayed their progress toward the river, which they would have reached five miles south of Ilerda. They had covered most of this distance when Cæsar’s legions suddenly appeared ready for attack. In spite of the difficulty of crossing the stream at Ilerda, Cæsar’s men with great valor had braved the dangers of the swift current and had marched with such rapidity that they caught up with the Pompeians before sunset. Afranius and Petreius soon found themselves outmanœuvered by their opponents, the way to the river being closed to them. The only alternative now was to fight or surrender. After some hesitation, perhaps due to divided counsels in their own camp, they abandoned the attempt to reach the Ebro and returned to their original camping ground at Ilerda. (August, 44 B.C.)

Cæsar, in the meantime, held his hand, though his soldiers earnestly wished for a pitched battle under such favorable circumstances. It was a civil war, and Cæsar had no taste for the kind of butchery practised on the barbarians in Gaul on so many occasions. The Pompeian commanders soon capitulated; the best force of his opponents had now by Cæsar’s superior strategy been put out of action, as effectively as if it had been beaten on the battlefield. Such a victory is practically unique in military annals. The Roman army at Trasimene and at Cannæ, the Prussians at Jena, and the French in 1870-71 were annihilated as military units, but only after hard-fought battles.

Cæsar in this brilliant campaign of forty days deprived his antagonists of an entire and efficient army without striking a blow. He was all the time ready to fight, and the absence of a battle was due to the fact that the commanders on the other side were completely out-generaled. The operations followed one another with the system of moves on a chess board. The losing party saw the uselessness of a fight and the victor had no desire to shed blood needlessly.

Easy terms were imposed upon the vanquished; the only conditions made being that Afranius and Petreius should dismiss their troops on the way back to Italy. Varro, in southern Spain, who had none of the temperament for command, and who was waiting to see which was the winning side, soon found himself deserted by the provincials; even Gades, where he had contemplated making a resolute stand, declared for Cæsar. The most serious feature of the campaign in the West was due to the obstinate resistance of the people of Marseilles; they held out for several months and surrendered only when they were exhausted by pestilence and famine. With this siege ended, Cæsar was free to return to Italy.