93. But when our men, on the giving of the signal, had run forward with javelins levelled and had observed that the Pompeians were not advancing against them, profiting by the experience they had gained in former battles, they spontaneously checked their speed and halted in about the middle of the space, so that they might not approach the foe with their vigour exhausted; and after a brief interval, again renewing their rapid advance, they discharged their javelins and quickly drew their swords, according to Caesar’s directions. Nor indeed did the Pompeians fail to meet the emergency. For they parried the shower of missiles and withstood the attack of the legions without breaking their ranks, and after discharging their javelins had recourse to their swords. At the same time the horse on Pompeius’ left wing, according to orders, charged in a body, and the whole multitude of archers poured forth. Our cavalry, failing to withstand their attack, gradually quitted their position and retired. Pompeius’ cavalry pressed forward all the more eagerly, and deploying by squadrons began to surround our lines on their exposed flank. Caesar, observing it, gave the signal to his fourth line, which he had composed of six cohorts. These advanced rapidly and with colours flying attacked Pompeius’ horse with such fury that not one of them stood his ground, and all, wheeling round, not only quitted the position but forthwith in hurried flight made for the highest hills. When these were dislodged all the archers and slingers, left defenceless, without support, were slain. With the same onslaught the cohorts surrounded the left wing, the Pompeians still fighting and continuing their resistance in their lines, and attacked them in the rear.
93. Sed nostri milites dato signo cum infestis pilis procucurrissent atque animum advertissent non concurri a Pompeianis, usu periti ac superioribus pugnis exercitati sua sponte cursum represserunt et ad medium fere spatium constiterunt, ne consumptis viribus appropinquarent, parvoque intermisso temporis spatio ac rursus renovato cursu pila miserunt celeriterque, ut erat praeceptum a Caesare, gladios strinxerunt. Neque vero Pompeiani huic rei defuerunt. Nam et tela missa exceperunt et impetum legionum tulerunt et ordines suos servarunt pilisque missis ad gladios redierunt. Eodem tempore equites ab sinistro Pompei cornu, ut erat imperatum, universi procucurrerunt, omnisque multitudo sagittariorum se profudit. Quorum impetum noster equitatus non tulit, sed paulatim loco motus cessit, equitesque Pompei hoc acrius instare et se turmatim explicare aciemque nostram a latere aperto circumire coeperunt. Quod ubi Caesar animadvertit, quartae aciei, quam instituerat sex cohortium, dedit signum. Illi celeriter procucurrerunt infestisque signis tanta vi in Pompei equites impetum fecerunt, ut eorum nemo consisteret, omnesque conversi non solum loco excederent, sed protinus incitati fuga montes altissimos peterent. Quibus submotis omnes sagittarii funditoresque destituti inermes sine praesidio interfecti sunt. Eodem impetu cohortes sinistrum cornu pugnantibus etiam tum ac resistentibus in acie Pompeianis circumierunt eosque a tergo sunt adorti.
94. At the same time Caesar ordered the third line, which had been undisturbed and up to that time had retained its position, to advance. So, as they had come up fresh and vigorous in place of the exhausted troops, while others were attacking in the rear, the Pompeians could not hold their ground and turned to flight in mass. Nor was Caesar wrong in thinking that the victory would originate with those cohorts which had been posted opposite the cavalry in the fourth line, as he had himself stated in exhorting his troops; for it was by them that the cavalry was first repulsed, by them that the archers and slingers were slaughtered, by them that the Pompeian force was surrounded on the left and the rout first started. But Pompeius, when he saw his cavalry beaten back and that part of his force in which he had most confidence panic-stricken, mistrusting the rest also, left the field and straightway rode off to the camp. To the centurions whom he had placed on duty at the praetorian gate he exclaimed in a loud voice that the troops might hear: “Protect the camp and defend it carefully if anything goes amiss. I am going round the other gates and encouraging the guards of the camp.” Having said this, he betook himself to the general’s headquarters, mistrusting his fortunes and yet waiting to see the issue.
94. Eodem tempore tertiam aciem Caesar, quae quieta fuerat et se ad id tempus loco tenuerat, procurrere iussit. Ita cum recentes atque integri defessis successissent, alii autem a tergo adorirentur, sustinere Pompeiani non potuerunt, atque universi terga verterunt. Neque vero Caesarem fefellit, quin ab ei* cohortibus, quae contra equitatum in quarta acie collocatae essent, initium victoriae oriretur, ut ipse in cohortandis militibus pronuntiaverat. Ab his enim primum equitatus est pulsus, ab isdem factae caedes sagittariorum ac funditorum, ab isdem acies Pompeiana a sinistra parte circumita atque initium fugae factum. Sed Pompeius, ut equitatum suum pulsum vidit atque eam partem, cui maxime confidebat, perterritam animadvertit, aliis quoque diffisus acie excessit protinusque se in castra equo contulit et eis centurionibus, quos in statione ad praetoriam portam posuerat, clare, ut milites exaudirent, “tuemini,” inquit, “castra et defendite diligenter, si quid durius acciderit. Ego reliquas portas circumeo et castrorum praesidia confirmo.” Haec cum dixisset, se in praetorium contulit summae rei diffidens et tamen eventum exspectans.
95. When the Pompeians were driven in flight within the rampart, Caesar, thinking that no respite should be given them in their terror, urged his men to take advantage of the kindness of fortune and attack the camp. And though fatigued by the great heat, for the action had been prolonged till noon, they nevertheless obeyed his command, with a spirit ready for every toil. The camp was being zealously defended by the cohorts which had been left there on guard, and much more keenly still by the Thracians and barbaric auxiliaries. For the soldiers who had fled from the battlefield, panic-stricken in spirit and exhausted by fatigue, many of them having thrown away their arms and their military standards, were thinking more of further flight than of the defence of the camp. Nor could those who had planted themselves on the rampart stand up any longer against the multitude of javelins, but, worn out by wounds, quitted their position, and forthwith all, following the guidance of centurions and military tribunes, fled for refuge to some very lofty hills that stretched up to the camp.
95. Caesar Pompeianis ex fuga intra vallum compulsis nullum spatium perterritis dari oportere existimans milites cohortatus est, ut beneficio fortunae uterentur castraque oppugnarent. Qui, etsi magno aestu fatigati (nam ad meridiem res erat perducta), tamen ad omnem laborem animo parati imperio paruerunt Castra a cohortibus, quae ibi praesidio erant relictae, industrie defendebantur, multo etiam acrius a Thracibus barbarisque auxiliis. Nam qui acie refugerant milites, et animo perterriti et lassitudine confecti, missis plerique armis signisque militaribus, magis de reliqua fuga quam de castrorum defensione cogitabant. Neque vero diutius, qui in vallo constiterant, multitudinem telorum sustinere potuerunt, sed confecti vulneribus locum reliquerunt, protinusque omnes ducibus usi centurionibus tribunisque militum in altissimos montes, qui ad castra pertinebant, confugerunt.
96. In the camp of Pompeius one might see bowers constructed, a great weight of silver plate set out, soldiers’ huts laid with freshly cut turf, and those of Lucius Lentulus and some others covered over with ivy, and many other indications of excessive luxury and confidence of victory, so that it could easily be supposed that they had felt no fear about the issue of the day, inasmuch as they sought out unnecessary indulgences. Yet these men kept taunting Caesar’s most wretched and long-suffering army with luxurious indulgence, though it had always lacked every article of necessary use. When our men were now circulating within the rampart, Pompeius, procuring a horse and tearing off his insignia as Imperator, flung himself out of the camp by the decuman gate and, putting spurs to his horse, hurried straight off to Larisa. Nor did he halt there, but, coming across a few of his men in flight, with undiminished speed, not stopping his course at night, arrives at the sea with a retinue of thirty horsemen and embarks on board a corn-ship, often complaining, as it was said, that his expectations had been so utterly falsified that it almost seemed as if he had been betrayed, the flight having originated with that particular part of his force from which he had hoped for the victory.
96. In castris Pompei videre licuit trichilas structas, magnum argenti pondus expositum, recentibus caespitibus tabernacula constrata, Lucii etiam Lentuli et nonnullorum tabernacula protecta edera, multaque praeterea, quae nimiam luxuriam et victoriae fiduciam designarent, ut facile existimari posset nihil eos de eventu eius diei timuisse, qui non necessarias conquirerent voluptates. At hi miserrimo ac patientissimo exercitui Caesaris luxuriam obiciebant, cui semper omnia ad necessarium usum defuissent. Pompeius, iam eum intra vallum nostri versarentur, equum nactus, detractis insignibus imperatoris, decumana porta se ex castris eiecit protinusque equo citato Larisam contendit. Neque ibi constitit, sed eadem celeritate, paucos suos ex fuga nactus, nocturno itinere non intermisso, comitatu equitum XXX ad mare pervenit navemque frumentariam conscendit, saepe, ut dicebatur, querens tantum se opinionem fefellisse, ut, a quo genere hominum victoriam sperasset, ab eo initio fugae facto paene proditus videretur.
97. Caesar, having got possession of the camp, urgently demands of his men not to let slip an opportunity of completing their task through absorption in plunder. Having gained his object, he begins to surround the hill with earthworks. The Pompeians, as the hill had no water supply, distrusting the position, began to withdraw in mass by its ridges towards Larisa. Caesar, observing this, divided his forces and ordered a part of the legions to remain in Pompeius’ camp, land sent back part to his own camp; four legions he took with him and began to advance against the Pompeians by a more convenient route, and when he had proceeded four miles drew up his line. On observing this the Pompeians halted on a certain hill. The foot of this was washed by the river. Caesar exhorted his troops, and then, although they were worn out by the continuous toil of a whole day, land night was now coming on, nevertheless cut off the river from the hill by a line of fortification, so that the Pompeians might be unable to get water at plight. When this work was concluded the enemy bent a deputation and began to treat of surrender. A few men of the senatorial order who had joined them sought safety in flight at nightfall.
97. Caesar castris potitus a militibus contendit, ne in praeda occupati reliqui negotii gerendi facultatem dimitterent. Qua re impetrata montem opere circummunire instituit. Pompeiani, quod is mons erat sine aqua, diffisi ei loco relicto monte universi iugis eius Larisam versus se recipere coeperunt. Qua re animadversa Caesar copias suas divisit partemque legionum in castris Pompei remanere iussit, partem in sua castra remisit, mi secum legiones duxit commodioreque itinere Pompeianis occurrere coepit et progressus milia passuum vi aciem instruxit. Qua re animadversa Pompeiani in quodam monte constiterant. Hunc montem flumen subluebat. Caesar milites cohortatus, etsi totius diei continenti labore erant confecti noxque iam suberat, tamen munitione flumen a monte seclusit, ne noctu aquari Pompeiani possent. Quo perfecto opere illi de deditione missis legatis agere coeperunt. Pauci ordinis senatorii, qui se cum eis coniunxerant, nocte fuga salutem petiverant.
98. At early dawn Caesar ordered all those who had taken up their position on the hill to come down from the higher ground to the plain and to throw down their arms. When they did this without demur and, flinging themselves on the ground in tears, with outstretched hands begged him for safety, he consoled them and bade them rise, and addressing a few words to them about his own lenity to lessen their fears, preserved them all safe and commended them to his soldiers, urging that none of them should be injured and that they should not find any of their property missing. After this exercise of care he ordered the other legions to come from the camp and join him, and those which had been under his command to take rest in their turn and to return to the camp, and on the same day he arrived at Larisa.
98. Caesar prima luce omnes eos, qui in monte consederant, ex superioribus locis in planiciem descendere atque arma proicere iussit. Quod ubi sine recusatione fecerunt passisque palmis proiecti ad terram flentes ab eo salutem petiverant, consolatus consurgere iussit et pauca apud eos de lenitate sua locutus, quo minore essent timore, omnes conservavit miltibusque suis commendavit, ne qui eorum violaretur, neu quid sui desideraret. Hac adhibita diligentia ex castris sibi legiones alias occurrere et eas, quas secum duxerat, in vicem requiescere atque in castra reverti iussit eodemque die Larisam pervenit.
99. In this battle he lost not more than two hundred from the ranks, but about thirty brave centurions. Also Crastinus, whom we have mentioned above, was slain by a sword-stroke in his face while fighting with the utmost bravery. Nor did the remark which he had made when starting out for the fight prove false, for Caesar was of opinion that the valour of Crastinus in that battle had been most remarkable, and judged that he had rendered him a great service. Of the Pompeian army about fifteen thousand appeared to have fallen, but more than twenty-four thousand surrendered, for even the cohorts which had been on garrison duty in the forts surrendered to Sulla; many besides fled to the neighbouring communities. There were brought to Caesar from the battle one hundred and eighty military standards and nine eagles. L. Domitius in his flight from the camp to the mountain was slain by the cavalry, his strength having failed him from fatigue.
99. In eo proelio non amplius CC milites desideravit, sed centuriones, fortes viros, circiter XXX amisit. Interfectus est etiam fortissime pugnans Crastinus, cuius mentionem supra fecimus, gladio in os adversum coniecto. Neque id fuit falsum, quod ille in pugnam proficiscens dixerat. Sic enim Caesar existimabat, eo proelio excellentissimam virtutem Crastini fuisse, optimeque eum de se meritum iudicabat. Ex Pompeiano exercitu circiter milia XV cecidisse videbantur, sed in deditionem venerunt amplius milia XXIIII (namque etiam cohortes, quae praesidio in castellis fuerant, sese Sullae dediderunt), multi praeterea in finitimas civitates refugerunt; signaque militaria ex proelio ad Caesarem sunt relata CXXXX et aquilae vim. L. Domitius ex castris in montem refugiens, cum vires eum lassitudine defecissent, ab equitibus est interfectus.
100. At the same time D. Laelius reached Brundisium with the fleet and occupied the island lying over against the Brundisium port, as we have shown that Libo did previously. In the same way Vatinius, who was in charge of Brundisium, having covered over with a deck and carefully equipped some rowing-boats, enticed out the ships of Laelius and captured in the narrows of the harbour one quinquereme which had been brought out too far and two smaller ones, and also by placing pickets of cavalry here II and there took measures to prevent the sailors from getting water. But Laelius, finding the time of year more suitable for navigation, brought up supplies of water for his men from Corcyra and Dyrrachium in merchant-vessels, and, until news was brought of the battle fought in Thessaly, he was not deterred from his purpose, nor could he be driven to leave the port and the island either by the disgrace of losing his ships or by the want of necessaries.
100. Eodem tempore D. Laelius cum classe ad Brundisium venit eademque ratione, qua factum a Libone antea demonstravimus, insulam obiectam portui Brundisio tenuit. Similiter Vatinius, qui Brundisio praeerat, tectis instructisque scaphis elicuit naves Laelianas atque ex his longius productam unam quinqueremem et minores duas in angustiis portus cepit, itemque per equites dispositos aqua prohibere i classiarios instituit. Sed Laelius tempore anni commodiore usus ad navigandum onerariis navibus Corcyra Dyrrachioque aquam suis supportabat, neque a proposito deterrebatur neque ante proelium in Thessalia factum cognitum aut ignominia amissarum navium aut necessariarum rerum inopia ex portu insulaque expelli potuit.
101. About the same time G. Cassius came to Sicily I with the Syrian, Phoenician, and Cilician fleets, and as Caesar’s fleet was divided into two parts, the praetor P. Sulpicius at Vibo being in command of one half, and M. Pomponius at Messana of the I other, Cassius hurried with his ships to Messana, before Pomponius could learn of his approach, and n finding him in a state of disorganization, with no surveillance and no fixed order of battle, with the aid of I a strong and favourable wind he sent against the I fleet of Pomponius some merchant-ships loaded with I pine, pitch, tow, and other combustibles and burnt I all thirty-five ships, of which twenty were decked. Such terror was caused by this action that, though there was a legion on guard at Messana, the town I was scarcely defended, and had not some news of Caesar’s victory been brought, just at that time, by relays of horsemen, many were of opinion that it I would have been lost. But news having most I opportunely arrived, the town was defended. Cassius I departed thence to Vibo to the Sulpician fleet, and I our ships having been moored to the shore in the I same way as before, Cassius, with the advantage of I a favourable wind, sent down some merchant-vessels I prepared for burning, and the fleet having caught fire on each wing, five ships were consumed. And when the fire, through the greatness of the wind, spread more widely, some soldiers on the sick list, who had been left from the veteran legions to guard the ships, could not brook the ignominy, but of their own accord boarded the ships and let loose from the land; and making an attack on the Cassian fleet, they captured two quinqueremes, in one of which was Cassius himself, but he was taken off by a boat and escaped; besides this two triremes were sunk. And not long after news arrived of the battle fought in Thessaly, the result being that the Pompeians themselves believed it, for up to that time they thought it was an invention of Caesar’s envoys and friends. So these events having become known, Cassius departed with his fleet from this district.
101. Isdem fere temporibus C. Cassius cum classe Syrorum et Phoenicum et Cilicum in Siciliam venit, et cum esset Caesaris classis divisa in duas partes, dimidiae parti praeesset P. Sulpicius praetor ad Vibonem, dimidiae M. Pomponius ad Messanam, prius Cassius ad Messanam navibus advolavit, quam Pomponius de eius adventu cognosceret, perturbatumque eum nactus nullis custodiis neque ordinibus certis, magno vento et secundo completas onerarias naves taeda et pice et stupa reliquisque rebus, quae sunt ad incendia, in Pomponianam classem immisit atque omnes naves incendit XXXV, e quibus erant XX constratae. Tantusque eo facto timor incessit, ut, cum esset legio praesidio Messanae, vix oppidum defenderetur, et nisi eo ipso tempore quidam nuntii de Caesaris victoria per dispositos equites essent allati, existimabant plerique futurum fuisse, uti amitteretur. Sed opportunissime nuntiis allatis oppidum est defensum; Cassiusque ad Sulpicianam inde classem profectus est Vibonem, applicatisque nostris ad terram navibus pari atque antea ratione Cassius secundum nactus ventum onerarias naves praeparatas ad incendium immisit, et flamma ab utroque cornu comprensa naves sunt combustae quinque. Cumque ignis magnitudine venti latius serperet, milites, qui ex veteribus legionibus erant relicti praesidio navibus ex numero aegrorum, ignominiam non tulerunt, sed sua sponte naves conscenderunt et a terra solverant impetuque facto in Cassianam classem quinqueremes duas, in quarum altera erat Cassius, ceperunt; sed Cassius exceptus scapha refugit; praeterea duae sunt depressae triremes. Neque multo post de proelio facto in Thessalia cognitum est, ut ipsis Pompeianis fides fieret; nam ante id tempus fingi a legatis amicisque Caesaris arbitrabantur. Quibus rebus cognitis ex Ii is locis Cassius cum classe discessit.
102. Caesar thought it right to put aside everything else and follow Pompeius, into whatever parts he should have betaken himself in his flight, that he might not be able again to collect other forces and to renew the war: he advanced every day as great a distance as he could cover with his cavalry, and ordered one legion to follow by shorter marches. An edict had been issued at Amphipolis in the name of Pompeius that all the youths of that province, whether Greeks or Roman citizens, should assemble to take the oath. But no opinion could be formed whether Pompeius had proposed this to avert suspicion, in order that he might keep his purpose of a distant flight concealed as long as possible, or that with the new levies he might attempt to hold Macedonia, if no one checked him. He himself stopped there one night at anchor, and after inviting his friends at Amphipolis to a conference and collecting money for necessary expenses, on receiving news of Caesar’s approach he quitted that place and in a few days arrived at Mytilenae. Detained there for two days by rough weather, after adding to his fleet other small craft he came to Cilicia and thence to Cyprus. There he learns that, by the consent of all the people of Antioch and of the Roman citizens engaged in business there, arms had been taken up for the purpose of excluding him, and that messages had been sent to those who were said to have betaken themselves in flight to the neighbouring townships bidding them not to go to Antioch. If they did so, they were told, it would be at great peril of their lives. The same thing had happened at Rhodes to L. Lentulus, who had been consul the previous year, to P. Lentulus, an ex-consul, and to some others, who, when they were following Pompeius in flight and had come to the island, had not been allowed admittance in the town and the harbour, and on messages being sent to them to quit these parts, had weighed anchor contrary to their intention. And already a report of Caesar’s approach was being conveyed to the communities.
102. Caesar omnibus rebus relictis persequendum sibi Pompeium existimavit, quascumque in partes se ex fuga recepisset, ne rursus copias comparare alias et bellum renovare posset, et quantumcumque itineris equitatu efficere poterat, cotidie progrediebatur legionemque unam minoribus itineribus subsequi iussit. Erat edictum Pompei nomine Amphipoli propositum, uti omnes eius provinciae iuniores, Graeci civesque Romani, iurandi causa convenirent. Sed utrum avertendae suspicionis causa Pompeius proposuisset, ut quam diutissime longioris fugae consilium occultaret, an ut novis dilectibus, si nemo premeret, Macedoniam tenere conaretur, existimari non poterat. Ipse ad an coram unam noctem constitit et vocatis ad se Amphipoli hospitibus et pecunia ad necessarios sumptus corrogata, cognito Caesaris adventu, ex eo loco discessit et Mytilenas paucis diebus venit Biduum tempestate retentus navibusque aliis additis actuariis in Ciliciam atque inde Cyprum pervenit. Ibi cognoscit consensu omnium I Antiochensium civiumque Romanorum, qui illic negotiarentur, arma capta esse excludendi sui causa nuntiosque dimissos ad eos, qui se ex fuga in finitimas civitates recepisse dicerentur, ne Antiochiam adirent: id si fecissent, magno eorum capitis periculo futurum. Idem hoc L. Lentulo, qui superiore anno consul fuerat, et P. Lentulo consulari ae nonnullis aliis acciderat Rhodi; qui cum ex fuga Pompeium sequerentur atque in insulam venissent, oppido ae portu recepti non erant missisque ad eos nuntiis, ut ex his locis discederent contra voluntatem suam naves solverant, Iamque de Caesaris adventu fama ad civitates perferebatur.
103. Ascertaining these facts, Pompeius gave up his idea of visiting Syria, took the funds belonging to the association of tax-farmers, borrowed money from certain private persons, and deposited on shipboard a great weight of bronze coinage for the use of the soldiers; and having armed two thousand men, partly those whom he had selected from the households of the tax-farmers, partly those whom he had requisitioned from the merchants and those of their own men whom each owner judged to be fit for the purpose, arrived at Pelusium. There by chance was King Ptolomaeus, a boy in years, waging war with large forces against his sister Cleopatra, whom a few months before he had expelled from the throne by the help of his relations and friends. The camp of Cleopatra was not far distant from his camp. To him Pompeius sent begging to be received in Alexandria and supported in his calamity by the king’s resources, in remembrance of the hospitality and friendship that he had shown his father. But his messengers, having fulfilled the duty of their embassy, began to converse more freely with the king’s soldiers and to exhort them to show their dutiful loyalty to Pompeius, and not to despise his fortunes. In the number of these men were very many soldiers of Pompeius, whom Gabinius had taken over from his army in Syria and had transported to Alexandria, and on the conclusion of the war had left them with Ptolomaeus, the youth’s father.
103. Quibus cognitis rebus Pompeius deposito adeundae Syriae consilio pecunia societatis sublata et a quibusdam privatis sumpta et aeris magno pondere ad militarem usum in naves imposito duobusque milibus hominum armatis, partim quos ex familiis societatum delegerat, partim a negotiatoribus coegerat, quosque ex suis quisque ad hanc rem idoneos existimabam Pelusium pervenit. Ibi casu rex erat Ptolomaeus, puer aetate, magnis copiis cum sorore Cleopatra bellum gerens, quam paucis ante mensibus per suos propinquos atque amicos regno expulerat; castraque Cleopatrae non longo spatio ab eius castris distabant. Ad eum Pompeius misit, ut pro hospitio atque amicitia patris Alexandria reciperetur atque illius opibus in calamitate tegeretur. Sed qui ab eo missi erant, confecto legationis officio liberius cum militibus regis coi loqui coeperunt eosque hortari, ut suum officium Pompeio praestarent, neve eius fortunam despicerent. In hoc erant numero complures Pompei milites, quos ex eius exercitu acceptos in Syria Gabinius Alexandriam traduxerat belloque confecto apud Ptolomaeum, patrem pueri, reliquerat.
104. Then, on learning of these proceedings, the king’s friends, who, on account of his youth, were in charge of the kingdom, whether moved by fear, as they afterwards gave out, lest Pompeius should seize on Alexandria and Egypt after tampering with the royal army, or because they despised his fortunes, according to the common rule that in misfortune friends become enemies, gave in public a generous reply to his messengers and bade him visit the king, but themselves formed a secret plot, and sent Achillas, the king’s prefect, a man of singular audacity, and L. Septimius, a military tribune, to assassinate Pompeius. And he, being courteously addressed by them and being lured forth by some previous knowledge of Septimius, because he had been a centurion under him in the pirate war, embarked in a little boat with a few of his friends, and is thereupon assassinated by Achillas and Septimius. L. Lentulus is also arrested by the king and slain in prison.
104. His tum cognitis rebus amici regis, qui propter aetatem eius in procuratione erant regni, sive timore adducti, ut postea praedicabant, sollicitato exercitu regio ne Pompeius Alexandriam Aegyptumque occuparet, sive despecta eius fortuna, ut plerumque in calamitate ex amicis inimici exsistunt, his, qui erant ab eo missi, palam liberaliter responderunt eumque ad regem venire iusserunt; ipsi clam consilio inito Achillam, praefectum regium, singulari hominem audacia, et L. Septimium, tribunum militum, ad interficiendum Pompeium miserunt. Ab his liberaliter ipse appellatus et quadam notitia Septimi productus, quod bello praedonum apud eum ordinem duxerat, naviculam parvulam conscendit cum paucis suis: ibi ab Achilla et Septimio interficitur. Item L. Lentulus comprehenditur ab rege et in custodia necatur.
105. On Caesar’s arrival in Asia he found that T. Ampius had attempted to remove sums of money from Ephesus from the temple of Diana, and that with this object he had summoned all the senators from the province, that he might employ them as witnesses in reference to the amount of the sum, but that he had fled when interrupted by Caesar’s arrival. So on two occasions Caesar saved the Ephesian funds. Also it was established, by going back and calculating the dates, that at Elis in the temple of Minerva, on the very day on which Caesar had fought his successful battle, the image of Victory, which had been placed in front of Minerva herself and had previously looked towards the image of Minerva, had turned itself towards the folding-doors and threshold of the temple. And on the same day at Antioch in Syria so great a clamour of a host and a noise of trumpetings had twice been heard that the body of citizens rushed about in arms on the walls. The same thing happened at Ptolomais. At Pergamum in the secret and concealed parts of the temple, whither no one but the priests is allowed to approach, which the Greeks call ἄδυτα, there was a sound of drums. Also at Tralles in the temple of Victory, where they had dedicated a statue of Caesar, a palm was pointed out as having grown up during those days from the pavement between the joints of the stones.
105. Caesar, cum in Asiam venisset, reperiebat T. Ampium conatum esse pecunias tollere Epheso ex fano Dianae eiusque rei causa senatores omnes ex provincia evocasse, ut his testibus in summa pecuniae uteretur, sed interpellatum adventu Caesaris profugisse. Ita duobus temporibus Ephesiae pecuniae Caesar auxilium tulit. Item constabat Elide in templo Minervae repetitis atque enumeratis diebus, quo die proelium secundum Caesar fecisset, simulacrum Victoriae, quod ante ipsam Minervam collocatum esset et ante ad simulacrum Minervae spectavisset, ad valvas se templi limenque convertisse. Eodemque die Antiochiae in Syria bis tantus exercitus clamor et signorum sonus exauditus est, ut in muris armata civitas discurreret. Hoc idem Ptolomaide accidit. Pergami in occultis ac reconditis templi, quo praeter sacerdotes adire fas non est, quae Graeci ἄδυτα appellant, tympana sonuerunt. Item Trallibus in templo Victoriae, ubi Caesaris statuam consecraverant, palma per eos dies inter coagmenta lapidum ex pavimento exstitisse ostendebatur.
106. When Caesar, after lingering a few days in Asia, had heard that Pompeius had been seen in Cyprus, conjecturing that he was on his way to Egypt because of his ties with the kingdom and the further advantages of the place, he went to Alexandria with one legion which he had ordered to follow him from Thessaly and another which he had summoned out of Achaea from his legate Q. Fufius, and also with eight hundred horse and with ten warships from Rhodes and a few from Asia. In these legions there were about three thousand two hundred men; the rest, worn out by wounds received in battle and by their toil and the severity of their march, had been quite unable to follow. But Caesar, trusting in the report of his exploits, had not hesitated to advance with weak supports, thinking that every place would be equally safe for him. At Alexandria he learns of the death of Pompeius, and there immediately on landing he hears the shouting of the soldiers whom the king had left in the town on garrison duty and sees them hurrying to meet him, because the fasces were being carried in front of him. Hereby the whole multitude asserted that the royal authority was being infringed. When this tumult was appeased frequent disturbances took place on successive days from the gathering of the multitude, and many soldiers were killed in all parts pf this town.
106. Caesar paucos dies in Asia moratus, cum audisset Pompeium Cypri visum, coniectans eum in Aegyptum iter habere propter necessitudines regni reliquasque eius loci opportunitates cum legione una, quam se ex Thessalia sequi iusserat, et altera, quam ex Achaia a Q. Fufio legato evocaverat, equitibusque DCCC et navibus longis Rhodiis X et Asiaticis paucis Alexandriam pervenit. In his erant legionibus hominum milia tria CC; reliqui vulneribus ex proeliis et labore ac magnitudine itineris confecti consequi non potuerant. Sed Caesar confisus fama rerum gestarum infirmis auxiliis proficisci non dubitaverat, aeque omnem sibi locum tutum fore existimans. Alexandriae de Pompei morte cognoscit atque ibi primum e nave egrediens clamorem militum audit, quos rex in oppido praesidii causa reliquerat, et concursum ad se fieri videt, quod fasces anteferrentur. In hoc omnis multitudo maiestatem regiam minui praedicabat. Hoc sedato tumultu crebrae continuis diebus ex concursu multitudinis concitationes fiebant, compluresque milites huius urbis omnibus partibus interficiebantur.
107. Observing these events, he ordered other legions which he had made up out of the Pompeian troops to be brought him from Asia. For he was himself compulsorily detained by the etesian winds, which blow directly counter to those sailing from Alexandria. Meanwhile, thinking that the controversies of the princes affected the Roman people and himself as consul, and concerned his functions all the more because in his previous consulship an alliance had been formed with the elder Ptolomaeus both by legislative enactment and by decree of the senate, he declares that it is his pleasure that King Ptolomaeus and his sister Cleopatra should disband the armies that they controlled, and should settle their disputes by process of law before himself rather than by armed force between themselves.
107. Quibus rebus animadversis legiones sibi alias ex Asia adduci iussit, quas ex Pompeianis militibus confecerat. Ipse enim necessario etesiis tenebatur, qui navigantibus Alexandria fiant adversissimi venti. Interim controversias regum ad populum Romanum et ad se, quod esset consul, pertinere existimans atque eo magis officio suo convenire, quod superiore consulatu cum patre Ptolomaeo et lege et senatusconsulto societas erat facta, ostendit sibi placere regem Ptolomaeum atque eius sororem Cleopatram exercitus, quos haberent, dimittere et de controversiis iure apud se potius quam inter se armis disceptare.
108. On account of the king’s youth his tutor, a eunuch named Pothinus, was in charge of the kingdom. He at first began to complain among his friends and express his indignation that the king should be summoned to plead his cause; then, finding certain persons among the king’s friends to abet his plot, he secretly summoned the army from Pelusium to Alexandria and put the same Achillas, whom we have mentioned above, in command of all the forces. This man, puffed up as he was by his own and the king’s promises, he urged to action, and informed him by letter and messenger what he wished to be done. In the will of their father Ptolomaeus the elder of the two sons and the elder of the two daughters were inscribed as heirs. In the same will Ptolomaeus adjured the Roman people in the name of all the gods and of the treaties which he had made at Rome to carry out these provisions. One copy of the will had been taken to Rome by his envoys to be placed in the treasury, but had been deposited with Pompeius because it had not been possible to place it there owing to the embarrassments of the state; a second duplicate copy was left sealed for production at I Alexandria.
108. Erat in procuratione regni propter aetatem pueri nutricius eius, eunuchus nomine Pothinus. Is primum inter suos queri atque indignari coepit regem ad causam dicendam evocari; deinde adiutores quosdam consilii sui nactus ex regis amicis exercitum a Pelusio clam Alexandriam evocavit atque eundem Achillam, cuius supra meminimus, omnibus copiis praefecit. Hunc incitatum suis et regis inflatum pollicitationibus, quae fieri vellet, litteris nuntiisque edocuit. In testamento Ptolomaei patris heredes erant scripti ex duobus filiis maior et ex duabus filiabus ea, quae aetate antecedebat. Haec uti fierent, per omnes deos perque foedera, quae Romae fecisset, eodem testamento Ptolomaeus populum Romanum obtestabatur. Tabulae testamenti unae per legatos eius Romam erant allatae, ut in aerario ponerentur (hic cum propter publicas occupationes poni non potuissent, apud Pompeium sunt depositae), alterae eodem exemplo relictae atque obsignatae Alexandriae proferebantur.
109. When these matters were being dealt with by Caesar, and he was particularly desirous of settling the disputes of the princes as a common friend and arbitrator, word is suddenly brought that the royal army and all the cavalry are on their way to Alexandria. Caesar’s forces were by no means so large that he could trust them if he had to fight outside the town. It remained that he should keep in his own position in the town and learn the intentions of Achillas. But he ordered all his men to stand by their arms, and exhorted the king to send to Achillas those of his friends whom he judged to be of chief authority and to explain what his intentions were. Accordingly Dioscorides and Serapion, who had both been envoys at Rome and had possessed great influence with his father Ptolomaeus, were commissioned by the king and came to Achillas. And when they had come into his presence, before hearing them or learning for what reason they had been sent he ordered them to be arrested and killed. And one of them, having received a wound, was promptly snatched away by his friends and carried off for dead; the other was slain. After this deed Caesar manages to bring the king under his own control, because he thinks that the king’s title had great weight with his subjects, and in order to make it apparent that the war had been undertaken on the private initiative of a small clique and a set of brigands rather than on that of the king.
109. De his rebus eum ageretur apud Caesarem, isque maxime vellet pro communi amico atque arbitro controversias regum componere, subito exercitus regius equitatusque omnis venire Alexandriam nuntiatur. Caesaris copiae nequaquam erant tantae, ut eis, extra oppidum si esset dimicandum, confideret. Relinquebatur, ut se suis locis oppido teneret consiliumque Achillae cognosceret. Milites tamen omnes in armis esse iussit regemque hortatus est, ut ex suis necessariis, quos haberet maximae auctoritatis, legatos ad Achillam mitteret et, quid esset suae voluntatis, ostenderet. A quo missi Dioscorides et Serapion, qui ambo legati Romae fuerant magnamque apud patrem Ptolomaeum auctoritatem habuerant, ad Achillam pervenerunt. Quos ille, cum in conspectum eius venissent, priusquam audiret aut, cuius rei causa missi essent, cognosceret, corripi atque interfici iussit; quorum alter accepto vulnere occupatus per suos pro occiso sublatus, alter interfectus est. Quo facto regem ut in sua potestate haberet, Caesar efficit, magnam regium nomen apud suos auctoritatem habere existimans et ut potius privato paucorum et latronum quam regio consilio susceptum bellum videretur.
110. The forces with Achillas were not such as to seem contemptible in respect of number or grade of men or experience in warfare. For he had twenty thousand men under arms. These consisted of soldiers of Gabinius who had habituated themselves to Alexandrian life and licence and had unlearnt the name and discipline of the Roman people and married wives by whom very many of them had children. To them were added men collected from among the freebooters and brigands of Syria and the province of Cilicia and the neighbouring regions; also many condemned criminals and exiles had joined them. All our own fugitive slaves had a sure place of refuge at Alexandria, and assurance of their lives on the condition of giving in their names and being on the army roll; and if any one of them was arrested by his owner he would be rescued by the common consent of the soldiery, who repelled violence done to their comrades as a peril to their own selves, since they were all alike involved in similar guilt. These men had been in the habit of demanding for execution the friends of the princes, of plundering the property of the rich, of besetting the king’s palace to secure an increase of pay, of driving one man from the throne and summoning another to fill it, after an ancient custom of the Alexandrian army. There were besides two thousand cavalry. All these had grown old in the numerous wars at Alexandria, had restored the elder Ptolomaeus to the throne, had killed the two sons of Bibulus, had waged war with the Egyptians. Such was their experience in warfare.
110. Erant cum Achilla eae copiae, ut neque numero neque genere hominum neque usu rei militaris contemnendae viderentur. Milia enim XX in armis habebat. Haec constabunt ex Gabinianis militibus qui iam in consuetudinem Alexandrinae vitae ae licentiae venerant et nomen disciplinamque populi Romani dedidicerant uxoresque duxerant, ex quibus plerique liberos habebant. Huc accedebant collecti ex praedonibus latronibusque Syriae Ciliciaeque provinciae finitimarumque regionum. Multi praeterea capitis damnati exulesque convenerant; fugitivis omnibus nostris certus erat Alexandriae receptus certaque vitae condicio, ut dato nomine militum essent numero; quorum si quis a domino prehenderetur, consensu militum eripiebatur, qui vim suorum, quod in simili culpa versabantur, ipsi pro suo periculo defendebant. Hi regum amicos ad mortem deposcere, hi bona locupletum diripere, stipendii augendi causa regis domum obsidere, regno expellere alios, alios arcessere vetere quodam Alexandrini exercitus instituto consuerant. Erant praeterea equitum milia duo. Inveteraverant hi omnes compluribus Alexandriae bellis; Ptolomaeum patrem in regnum reduxerant, Bibuli filios duos interfecerant, bella cum Aegyptiis gesserant. Hunc usum rei militaris habebant.
111. Achillas, trusting in these forces and despising the small number of Caesar’s troops, was trying to occupy Alexandria, except that part of the town which Caesar held with his troops, though at the first assault he had endeavoured to burst into his house; but Caesar, placing cohorts about the streets, held his attack in check. And at the same time a battle was fought at the port, and this affair produced by far the most serious fighting. For at one and the same time a battle was going on with scattered forces in several streets and the enemy were attempting in great numbers to seize the warships, of which fifty had been sent to the support of Pompeius and had returned home after the battle in Thessaly, all of them quadriremes and quinqueremes fitted and equipped with everything necessary for navigation, and, besides these, twenty-two which had usually been on duty at Alexandria, all of them decked. And if they had seized these, by robbing Caesar of his fleet they would have the harbour and the whole seaboard in their control and would shut off Caesar from supplies and reinforcements. Consequently the struggle was fought with the intense eagerness that was bound to occur when the one side saw a speedy victory, the other their own safety, depending on the event. But Caesar gained his purpose. He burnt all those ships and the rest that were in the docks, because he could not protect so wide an extent with his small force, and at once he embarked his men and landed them on Pharos.
111. His copiis fidens Achillas paucitatemque militum Caesaris despiciens occupabat Alexandriam praeter eam oppidi partem, quam Caesar cum militibus tenebat, primo impetu domum eius irrumpere conatus; sed Caesar dispositis per vias cohortibus impetum eius sustinuit. Eodemque tempore pugnatum est ad portum, ac longe maximam ea res attulit dimicationem. Simul enim diductis copiis pluribus viis pugnabatur, et magna multitudine naves longas occupare hostes conabantur; quarum erant L auxilio missae ad Pompeium proelioque in Thessalia facto domum redierant, quadriremes omnes et quinqueremes aptae instructaeque omnibus rebus ad navigandum, praeter has XXII, quae praesidii causa Alexandriae esse consuerant, constratae omnes; quas si occupavissent, classe Caesari erepta portum ac mare totum in sua potestate haberent, commeatu auxiliisque Caesarem prohiberent. Itaque tanta est contentione actum, (planta agi debuit, cum illi celerem in ea re victoriam, hi salutem suam consistere viderent. Sed rem obtinuit Caesar omnesque eas naves et reliquas, (piae erant in navalibus, incendit, quod tam late tueri parva manu non poterat, confestimque ad Pharum navibus milites exposuit.
112. On the island there is a tower called Pharos, of great height, a work of wonderful construction, which took its name from the island. This island, lying over against Alexandria, makes a harbour, but it is connected with the town by a narrow roadway like a bridge, piers nine hundred feet in length having been thrown out seawards by former kings. On this island there are dwelling-houses of Egyptians and a settlement the size of a town, and any ships that went a little out of their course there through carelessness or rough weather they were in the habit of plundering like pirates. Moreover, on account of the narrowness of the passage there can be no entry for ships into the harbour without the consent of those who are in occupation of Pharos. Caesar, now fearing such difficulty, landed his troops when the enemy was occupied in fighting, and seized Pharos and placed a garrison on it The result of these measures was that corn and reinforcements could be safely conveyed to him on shipboard. For he sent messengers to all the neighbouring provinces and summoned reinforcements from them. In the remaining parts of the town the result of the fighting was that they separated after an indecisive engagement and neither side was beaten, the reason of this being the narrowness of the space; and a few men having been slain on both sides, Caesar drew a cordon round the most necessary positions and strengthened the defences by night. In this region of the town there was a small part of the palace to which he had been at first conducted for his personal residence, and a theatre was attached to the house which took the place of a citadel, and had approaches to the port and to the other docks. These defences he increased on subsequent days so that they might take the place of a wall as a barrier against the foe, and that he might not be obliged to fight against his will. Meanwhile the younger daughter of King Ptolomaeus, hoping to have the vacated tenure of the throne, removed herself from the palace to join Achillas, and began to conduct the war with him. But there quickly arose a controversy between them about the leadership, an event which increased the bounties to the soldiers, for each strove separately to win their favour by large sacrifices. While this was going on among the enemy, Pothinus, the young king’s tutor and controller of the kingdom, in Caesar’s part of the town, while sending messengers to Achillas and exhorting him not to slacken in the business nor to fail in spirit, was slain by Caesar, his messengers having been informed against and arrested. This was the beginning of the Alexandrian war.
112. Pharus est in insula turris magna altitudine, mirificis operibus exstructa; quae nomen ab insula accepit. Haec insula obiecta Alexandriae portum efficit; sed a superioribus regibus in longitudinem passuum DCCC in mare iactis molibus angusto itinere ut ponte cum oppido coniungitur. In hac sunt insula domicilia Aegyptiorum et vicus oppidi magnitudine; quaeque ibi naves imprudentia aut tempestate paulum suo cursu decesserunt, has more praedonum diripere consuerunt. Eis autem invitis, a quibus Pharus tenetur, non potest esse propter angustias navibus introitus in portum. Hoc tum veritus Caesar, hostibus in pugna occupatis, militibus expositis Pharum prehendit atque ibi praesidium posuit. Quibus est rebus effectum, uti tuto frumentum auxiliaque navibus ad eum supportari possent. Dimisit enim circum omnes propinquas provincias atque inde auxilia evocavit. Reliquis oppidi partibus sic est pugnatum, ut aequo proelio discederetur et neutri pellerentur (id efficiebant angustiae loci), paucisque utrimque interfectis Caesar loca maxime necessaria complexus noctu praemuniit. In eo tractu oppidi pars erat regiae exigua, in quam ipse habitandi causa initio erat inductus, et theatrum coniunctum domui quod areis tenebat locum aditusque habebat ad portum et ad reliqua navalia. Has munitiones insequentibus auxit diebus, ut pro muro obiectas haberet neu dimicare invitus cogeretur. Interim filia minor Ptolomaei regis vacuam possessionem regni sperans ad Achillam sese ex regia traiecit unaque bellum administrare coepit. Sed celeriter est inter eos de principatu controversia orta; quae res apud milites largitiones auxit; magnis enim iacturis sibi quisque eorum animos conciliabat. Haec dum apud hostes geruntur, Pothinus, nutricius pueri et procurator regni in parte Caesaris, cum ad Achillam nuntios mitteret hortareturque, ne negotio desisteret neve animo deficeret, iudicatis deprehensisque internuntiis a Caesare est interfectus. Haec initia belli Alexandrini fuerunt.