--- title: "The Civil War · Commentarii de Bello Civili" author: "Julius Caesar" translator: "Arthur George Peskett" languages: [la, en] shelf: "Classical Latin" section: 2 of 11 url: https://scriptura.si/works/caesar-civil-war/2/ cite: "Julius Caesar, tr. Arthur George Peskett, The Civil War · Commentarii de Bello Civili, section 2. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/caesar-civil-war/2/" --- # The Civil War · Commentarii de Bello Civili *Julius Caesar, tr. Arthur George Peskett* Caesar’s own account of his war with Pompey, from the Rubicon to Alexandria. > Latin: ed. Arthur George Peskett, from the Perseus Digital Library (canonical-latinLit, phi0448.phi002, CC BY-SA 4.0). > English: Arthur George Peskett, from the Perseus Digital Library (phi0448.phi002.perseus-eng2). Notes are not included. > Rows follow the references the two texts share (books, chapters and sections), cut where both reach the end of a sentence. ## 2. Book I · chapters 22–41 Source: https://scriptura.si/works/caesar-civil-war/2/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/caesar-civil-war/2/#p-N [¶0] 22. About the fourth watch Lentulus Spinther confers with our outposts and sentries from the wall, saying that he would like to have an interview with Caesar if the opportunity were granted him. Permission being given, he is escorted from the town, nor do the Domitian soldiers leave him till he is brought into the presence of Caesar. He pleads with him for his own safety, begs and beseeches that he will spare him, reminds him of their old-standing friendship, and sets forth the benefits that Caesar had conferred on him —and they were very great, for through his means he had been admitted to the College of the Pontifices, had held the province of Spain after his prae- torship, and had been assisted in his candidature for the consulship. Caesar interrupts his speech, observing that he had not quitted his province with any evil intent, but to defend himself from the insults of his foes, to restore to their position the tribunes of the people who at that conjuncture had been expelled from the state, to assert the freedom of himself and the Roman people who had been oppressed by a small faction. Lentulus, encouraged, by his speech, begs permission to return to the town, saying that the fact that he had gained his point about his own safety would comfort the rest in their hope for theirs; “some of them,” he added, “are so terrified that they are being forced to adopt harsh measures against their own life.” Receiving permission, he departs. > Latin: 22. Quarta vigilia circiter Lentulus Spinther de muro cum vigiliis custodibusque nostris colloquitur; velle, si sibi fiat potestas, Caesarem convenire. Facta potestate ex oppido mittitur, neque ab eo prius Domitiani milites discedunt, quam in conspectum Caesaris deducatur. Cum eo de salute sua agit, orat atque obsecrat, ut sibi parcat, veteremque amicitiam commemorat Caesarisque in se beneficia exponit; quae erant maxima: quod per eum in collegium pontificum venerat, quod provinciam Hispaniam ex praetura habuerat, quod in petitione consulatus erat sublevatus. Cuius orationem Caesar interpellat: se non maleficii causa ex provincia egressum, sed uti se a contumeliis, inimicorum defenderet, ut tribunos plebis in ea re ex civitate expulsos in suam dignitatem restitueret, ut se et populum Romanum factione paucorum oppressum in libertatem vindicaret. Cuius oratione confirmatus Lentulus, ut in oppidum reverti liceat, petit: quod de sua salute impetraverit, fore etiam reliquis ad suam spem solatio; adeo esse perterritos nonnullos, ut suae vitae durius consulere cogantur. Facta potestate discedit. [¶1] 23. As soon as day dawned Caesar orders all senators and their sons, military tribunes, and Roman knights to be brought before him. There were fifty of them: of the senatorial order, L Domitius, P Lentulus Spinther, L. Caecilius Rufus, Sex. Quintilius Varus the quaestor, L. Rubrius; also the son of Domitius with many other youths, and a large number of Roman knights and decurions whom Domitius had summoned from the municipal towns. All these when brought before him he protects from the clamorous insolence of the troops: he addresses them in a few words, complaining that no gratitude had been shown him on their part for his signal acts of kindness, and dismisses them all unharmed. The sum of 6,000,000 sesterces which had been taken by Domitius to Corfinium and placed in the public treasury, and then handed over to him by the four magistrates of Corfinium, he restores to Domitius, in order that he may not be thought more self-eon-trolled in dealing with men’s lives than with their property, although there was no doubt that this money belonged to the state and had been assigned by Pompeius for military pay. The soldiers of Domitius he orders to take the oath of allegiance to himself, and on that day moves camp and completes a full day’s march, having stopped at Corfinium for seven days in all, and, passing through the borders of the Marrucni, Frentani, and Larinates, arrives in Apulia. > Latin: 23. Caesar, ubi luxit, omnes senatores senatorumque liberos, tribunos militum equitesque Romanos ad se produci iubet. Erant quinquaginta; ordinis senatorii L. Domitius, P. Lentulus Spinther, L. Caecilius Rufus, Sex. Quintilius Varus quaestor, L. Rubrius; praeterea filius Domitii aliique complures adulescentes et magnus numerus equitum Romanorum et decurionum, quos ex municipiis Domitius evocaverat. Hos omnes productos a contumeliis militum conviciisque prohibet; pauca apud eos loquitur, queritur quod sibi a parte eorum gratia relata non sit pro suis in eos maximis beneficiis; dimittit omnes incolumes. HS LX,quod advexerat Domitius atque in publico deposuerat, allatum ad se ab IIII viris Corfiniensibus Domitio reddit, ne continentior in vita hominum quam in pecunia fuisse videatur, etsi eam pecuniam publicam esse constabat datamque a Pompeio in stipendium. Milites Domitianos sacramentum apud se dicere iubet atque eo die castra movet iustumque iter conficit VII omnino dies ad Corfinium commoratus, et per fines Marrucinorum, Frentanorum, Larinatium in Apuliam V pervenit. [¶2] 24. Pompeius, learning of the events that had happened at Corfinium, goes from Luceria to Canusium and thence to Brundisium. He orders that all the forces drawn from the new levies should be brought to him from every quarter; he arms the slaves and husbandmen and furnishes them with horses, making out of them about three hundred horsemen. L. Manlius the praetor flies from Alba with six cohorts, Rutilius Lupus the praetor from Tarracina with three. These, catching sight of Caesar’s cavalry under the command of Vibius Curius, desert their praetor, transfer their colours to Curius, and go over to his side. So, too, on subsequent marches several cohorts fall in with Caesar’s main body and others with the horse. N. Magius of Cremona, Pompeius’ chief engineer, is captured on the route and brought back to Caesar, who sends him back to Pompeius with instructions to the effect that, since up to the present no opportunity of a conference has been allowed and he himself is on the way to Brundisium, it is to the interest of the state and the common welfare that he should have a conference with Pompeius; that when they are separated by long distance and terms of agreement are conveyed by others, the same results are not gained as would be secured if they were to discuss all the conditions face to face. > Latin: 24. Pompeius his rebus cognitis, quae erant ad Corfinium gestae, Luceria proficiscitur Canusium atque inde Brundisium. Copias undique omnes ex novis delectibus ad se cogi iubet; servos, pastores armat atque eis equos attribuit: ex his circiter ccc equites conficit. L. Manlius praetor Alba cum cohortibus sex profugit, Rutilius Lupus praetor Tarracina eum tribus; quae procul equitatum Caesaris conspicatae, cui praeerat Vibius Curius, relicto praetore signa ad Curium transferunt atque ad eum transeunt. Item reliquis itineribus nonnullae cohortes in agmen Caesaris, aliae in equites incidunt. Reducitur ad eum deprensus ex itinere N. Magius Cremona, praefectus fabrum Cn. Pompei. Quem Caesar ad eum remittit cum mandatis: quoniam ad id tempus facultas colloquendi non fuerit, atque ipse Brundisium sit venturus, interesse rei publicae et communis salutis se cum Pompeio colloqui; neque vero idem profici longo itineris spatio, cum per alios condiciones ferantur, ac si coram de omnibus condicionibus disceptetur. [¶3] 25. Having given these instructions, he arrives at Brundisium with six legions, three veteran, and the rest consisting of those which he had formed from a new levy and raised to their full complement on his march, for he had sent the Domitian cohorts straight off from Corfinium to Sicily. He finds out that the consuls had gone to Dyrrachium with a great part of the army, and that Pompeius was remaining at Brundisium with twenty cohorts, nor could it be ascertained for certain whether he had remained there for the sake of holding Brundisium, in order that he might more easily control the whole Adriatic from the extremities of Italy and the shores of Greece and so carry on war from either side, or whether he had halted there from lack of ships; and fearing lest Pompeius should think that he ought not to abandon Italy, he determined to block the exits and stop the working of the harbour of Brundisium. The following was the method of his operations. Where the mouth of the harbour was narrowest he threw out piers and a dam from the shore on each side because the sea was shallow there. As he proceeded further out, since the mole could not hold together where the water was deeper, he placed two rafts thirty feet square over against the end of the breakwater. He fastened these by four anchors, one at each of the four angles, to prevent them being shifted by the waves. When they were finished and placed in position he attached in order other rafts of a like size. These he covered with soil and a raised causeway that there might be no obstacle in the way of approach or ingress for the purpose of defence. In front and on each side he protected them with fascines and screens; on every fourth raft he ran up towers of two stories that he might thus more conveniently defend them from an attack by ships and from fire. > Latin: 25. His datis mandatis Brundisium cum legionibus VI pervenit, veteranis III et reliquis, quas ex novo delectu confecerat atque in itinere compleverat; Domitianas enim cohortes protinus a Corfinio in Siciliam miserat. Peperit consules Dyrrachium profectos cum magna parte exercitus, Pompeium remanere Brundisii cum cohortibus viginti; neque certum inveniri poterat, obtinendine Brundisii causa ibi remansisset, quo facilius omne Hadriaticum mare ex ultimis Italiae partibus legionibusque Graeciae in potestate haberet atque ex utraque parte bellum administrare posset, an inopia navium ibi restitisset, ventusque, ne ille Italiam dimittendam non existimaret, exitus administrationesque Brundisini portus impedire instituit. Quorum operum haec erat ratio. Qua fauces erant angustissimae portus, moles atque aggerem ab utraque parte litoris iaciebat, quod his Iocis erat vadosum mare. Longius progressus, cum agger altiore aqua contineri non posset, rates duplices quoquo versus pedum XXX e regione molis collocabat. Has quatenus ancoris ex IIII angulis destinabat, ne fluctibus moverentur. His perfectis collocatisque alias deinceps pari magnitudine rates iungebat. Has terra atque aggere in tegebat, ne aditus atque incursus ad defendendum impediretur. A fronte atque ab utroque latere cratibus ac pluteis protegebat; in quarta quaque earum turres binorum tabulatorum excitabat, quo commodius ab impetu navium incendiisque defenderet. [¶4] 26. To meet this Pompeius fitted out some large merchant-ships which he had seized in the port of Brundisium. On them he erected towers of three stories each, and when they were equipped with a number of engines and weapons of every kind he brought them up close to Caesar’s works so as to breakthrough the rafts and destroy the works. Thus fighting went on every day, each side discharging slings, arrows, and other missiles. But Caesar, while carrying on these operations, did not think that negotiations for peace ought to be dropped; and though he was very much surprised that Magius, whom he had commissioned to carry instructions to Pompeius, was not sent back to him, and though his frequent attempts at an understanding were hindering energetic action and policy, yet on all accounts he thought it right to persevere therein. And so he sends to Scribonius Libo his legate Caninius Rebilus, one of Libo’s intimate friends, to confer on the subject. He instructs him to exhort Libo to effect a reconcilement; his chief demand is that he should himself have an interview with Pompeius. He explains that if he is allowed this opportunity he has great confidence that it will result in their laying down arms on equal terms; and that a great part of the praise and credit for this achievement will fall to Libo if a cessation of hostilities should take place by his advice and efforts. Libo, quitting his interview with Caninius, goes to see Pompeius. Soon after he brings back word that, the consuls being absent, negotiations for a settlement cannot be carried on without them. So Caesar decides that he must at last abandon an attempt so often made in vain and must apply himself to warfare. > Latin: 26. Contra haec Pompeius naves magnas onerarias, quas in portu Brundisino deprehenderat, adornabat. Ibi turres cum ternis tabulatis erigebat easque multis tormentis et omni genere telorum completas ad opera Caesaris appellebat, ut rates perrumperet atque opera disturbaret. Sic cotidie utrimque eminus fundis, sagittis reliquisque telis pugnabatur. Atque haec Caesar ita administrabat, ut condiciones pacis dimittendas non existimaret; ac tametsi magnopere admirabatur Magium, quem ad Pompeium cum mandatis miserat, ad se non remitti, atque ea res saepe temptata etsi impetus eius consiliaque tardabat,tamen omnibus rebus in eo perseverandum putabat. Itaque Caninium Rebilum legatum, familiarem necessariumque Scribonii Libonis, mittit ad eum colloquii causa; mandat, ut Libonem de concilianda pace hortetur; imprimis, ut ipse cum Pompeio colloqueretur, postulat; magnopere sese confidere demonstrat, si eius rei sit potestas facta, fore, ut aequis condicionibus ab armis discedatur; cuius rei magnam partem laudis atque existimationis ad Libonem perventuram, si illo auctore atque agente ab armis sit discessum. Libo a colloquio Canini digressus ad Pompeium proficiscitur. Paulo post renuntiat, quod consules absint, sine illis non posse agi de compositione Ita saepius rem frustra temptatam Caesar aliquando dimittendam sibi iudicat et de bello agendum. [¶5] 27. When nearly half the work had been completed by Caesar and nine days had been spent on it, the ships which had conveyed to Dyrrachium the first part of the army and had been sent back thence by the consuls return to Brundisium. On the arrival of the ships Pompeius, either because he was perturbed by Caesar’s siege-works or else because he had originally intended to quit Italy, begins to prepare his departure, and in order to delay with greater ease any sudden attack on the part of Caesar, and prevent his troops breaking into the town at once after his departure, he blocks the gates, barricades lanes and streets, d raws transverse trenches across the thoroughfares, and fixes therein stakes and blocks of wood sharpened at the ends. These he levels over with light hurdles and earth, while he shuts off the approaches and the two routes which led outside the wall to the harbour by planting in the ground huge balks of timber also sharpened to a point. Having made these preparations, he bids the soldiers embark in silence, and places light-armed men, drawn from the reserves, the archers, and the slingers, at intervals along the wall and in the towers. These he arranges to recall at a given signal when all the troops had embarked, and leaves some merchant-vessels for them in an accessible place. > Latin: 27. Prope dimidia parte operis a Caesare effecta diebusque in ea re consumptis vim naves a consulibus Dyrrachio remissae, quae priorem partem exercitus eo deportaverant, Brundisium revertuntur. Pompeius sive operibus Caesaris permotus sive etiam quod ab initio Italia excedere constituerat, adventu navium profectionem parare incipit et, quo facilius impetum Caesaris tardaret, ne sub ipsa profectione milites oppidum irrumperent, portas obstruit, vicos plateasque inaedificat, fossas transversas viis praedixit atque ibi sudes stipitesque praeacutos defigit. Haec levibus cratibus terraque inaequat; aditus autem atque itinera duo, quae extra murum ad portum ferebant, maximis defixis trabibus atque eis praeacutis praesaepit. His paratis rebus milites silentio naves conscendere iubet, expeditos autem ex evocatis, sagittariis funditoribusque raros in muro turribusque disponit. Hos certo signo revocare constituit, cum omnes milites naves conscendissent, atque eis expedito loco actuaria navigia relinquit, Brundisini Pompeianorum militum iniuriis atque ipsius Pompei contumeliis permoti Caesaris rebus favebant. [¶6] 28. The Brundisians, embittered by the wrongs inflicted on them by the Pompeian soldiery and by the insults of Pompeius himself, favoured the cause of Caesar. And so when they heard of the departure of Pompeius, while his men were hurrying about occupied in the business in hand, they signalled the fact from every house. Learning through them the state of affairs, Caesar orders ladders to be prepared and men to be armed, so as not to lose any opportunity of action. Pompeius weighs anchor at nightfall. The men who were placed on the wall on garrison duty are recalled by the signal agreed on and run down to the ships by familiar routes. The soldiers bring up scaling-ladders and mount the walls, but, warned by the Brundisians to beware of the blind stockade and ditches, they halt, and, taking a circuitous route, under their guidance reach the harbour, and by means of boats and punts arrest and capture two ships with troops on board which had fallen foul of Caesar’s piers. > Latin: 28. Itaque cognita Pompei profectione concursantibus illis atque in ea re occupatis vulgo ex tectis significabant. Per quos re cognita Caesar I scalas parari militesque armari iubet, ne quam rei gerendae facultatem dimittat. Pompeius sub noctem naves solvit. Qui erant in muro custodiae causa, collocati, eo signo, quod convenerat, revocantur notisque itineribus ad naves decurrunt. Milites positis I scalis muros ascendunt, sed moniti a Brundisinis, ut I vallum caecum fossasque caveant, subsistunt et longo I itinere ab his circumducti ad portum perveniunt ' duasque naves cum militibus, quae ad moles Caesaris adhaeserant, scaphis lintribusque reprehendunt, I reprehensas excipiunt. [¶7] 29. Though Caesar, in the hope of finishing the business, particularly approved the plan of collecting ships and then crossing the sea and following Pompeius before he should strengthen himself by oversea support, yet he feared the delay and length of time involved, because Pompeius by collecting all the ships had robbed him of any present opportunity of following him. It remained to wait for ships from the more distant parts of Gaul and Picenum and from the strait. This, owing to the time of year, seemed a protracted and difficult task. Meanwhile he was unwilling that a veteran army and two Spanish provinces, one of which was under obligation to Pompeius for very great benefits, should be confirmed in their allegiance, that auxiliary forces and cavalry should be provided, that Gaul and Italy should be tampered with, all in his absence. > Latin: 29. Caesar, etsi ad spem conficiendi negotii maxime probabat coactis navibus mare transire et Pompeium sequi, priusquam ille sese transmarinis auxiliis confirmaret, tamen eius rei moram temporisque longinquitatem timebat, quod omnibus coactis navibus Pompeius praesentem facultatem insequendi sui ademerat. Relinquebatur, ut ex longinquioribus regionibus Galliae Picenique et a freto naves essent exspectandae. Id propter anni tempus longum atque impeditum videbatur. Interea veterem exercitum, duas Hispanias confirmari, quarum erat altera maximis beneficiis Pompei devincta, auxilia, equitatum parari, Galliam Italiamque temptari se absente nolebat. [¶8] 30. So for the present he gives up his plan of following Pompeius and determines to go into Spain. He bids the officials of all the municipal towns to find ships and see that they are conveyed to Brundisium. He sends his legate Valerius into Sardinia with one legion and Curio as propraetor into Sicily with two, and bids him on recovering Sicily to transport his army forthwith to Africa. M. Cotta was in control of Sardinia and M. Cato of Sicily; Tubero ought by the allotment of offices to have been in command of Africa. The people of Caralis, as soon as they heard that Valerius was being sent to them, before he had quitted Italy, of their own accord eject Cotta from the town. Terror-struck, because he gathered that the whole province was in accord with them, he flies from Sardinia to Africa. Cato in Sicily was repairing the old warships and requisitioning new ones from the communities, devoting much zeal to the performance of his task. Among the Lucani and Bruttii he was raising levies of Roman citizens through his legates, and was exacting a fixed number of cavalry and infantry from the townships of Sicily, When these measures were almost completed, hearing of the approach of Curio he complains in a public meeting that he had been flung aside and betrayed by Gn. Pompeius, who, while utterly unprepared in every particular, had undertaken an unnecessary war, and when questioned by himself and the rest in the senate had assured them that he had everything fit and ready for war. After making these complaints in the assembly he fled from the province. > Latin: 30. Itaque in praesentia Pompei sequendi rationem omittit, in Hispaniam proficisci constituit: duumviris municipiorum omnium imperat, ut naves conquirant Brundisiumque deducendas curent. Mittit in Sardiniam cum legione una Valerium legatum, in Siciliam Curionem pro praetore cum legionibus duabus; eundem, cum Siciliam recepisset, protinus in Africam transducere exercitum iubet. Sardiniam obtinebat M. Cotta, Siciliam M. Cato; Africam sorte Tubero obtinere debebat. Caralitani, simul ad se Valerium mitti audierunt, nondum profecto ex Italia sua sponte Cottam ex oppido eiciunt. Ille perterritus, quod omnem provinciam consentire intellegebat, ex Sardinia in Africam profugit. Cato in Sicilia naves longas veteres reficiebat, novas civitatibus imperabat. Haec magno studio agebat. In Lucanis Bruttiisque per legatos suos civium Romanorum delectus habebat, equitum peditumque certum numerum a civitatibus Siciliae exigebat. Quibus rebus paene perfectis adventu Curionis cognito queritur in contione sese proiectum ac proditum a Cn. Pompeio, qui omnibus rebus imparatissimus non necessarium bellum suscepisset et ab se reliquisque in senatu interrogatus omnia sibi esse ad bellum apta ae parata confirmavisset. Haec in contione questus ex provincia fugit. [¶9] 31. Valerius and Cotta, finding Sardinia and Sicily bereft of military control, proceed thither with their armies. Tubero on reaching Africa finds Attius Varus in the province in military command; he, as we have explained above, after the loss of his cohorts at Auximum had immediately fled and gone to Africa and had on his own account seized on the vacant province. By raising a levy he had made up two legions, having by his knowledge of the people and the district and his familiarity with the province gained an opening for engaging in such undertakings, as he had held the province a few years previously after his praetorship. He prevents Tubero on arrival at Utica with his ships from approaching the port and the town, and does not allow him to land his son who was stricken with illness, but compels him to weigh anchor and quit the district. > Latin: 31. Nacti vacuas ab imperiis Sardiniam Valerius, Curio Siciliam cum exercitibus eo perveniunt. Tubero, cum in Africam venisset, invenit in provincia eum imperio Attium Varum; qui ad Auximum, ut supra demonstravimus, amissis cohortibus protinus ex fuga in Africam pervenerat atque eam sua sponte vacuam occupaverat delectuque habito duas legiones effecerat, hominum et locorum notitia et usu eius provinciae nactus aditus ad ea conanda, quod paucis ante annis ex praetura eam provinciam obtinuerat. Hic venientem Uticam navibus Tuberonem portu atque oppido prohibet neque affectum valetudine filium exponere in terram patitur, sed sublatis ancoris excedere eo loco cogit. [¶10] 32. Having carried out these measures, Caesar withdraws his men into the nearest towns that for the rest of the time they might have some intermission of toil. He himself proceeds to the city. Having called the senate together, he recounts the wrongs done him by his personal enemies. He explains that he had sought no extraordinary office, but, waiting for the legitimate time of his consulship, had been content with privileges open to all the citizens. A proposal had been carried by the ten tribunes while Pompeius himself was consul that he should be allowed to compete in absence, though his enemies spoke against it, while Cato opposed with the utmost vehemence and after his old habit spun out the days by obstructive speech. If Pompeius disapproved, why did he allow it to be carried? If he approved, why did he prohibit him from taking advantage of the people’s kindness? He sets forth his own patience when under no pressure he had made the request about the disbandment of the armies, a point in which he was ready to make a personal sacrifice of dignity and position. He tells them of the bitterness of his foes who refused in his case what they demanded in the other, and preferred utter confusion to the surrender of military power and armed force. He tells of their injustice in robbing him of his legions, of their cruelty and insolence in infringing the rights of the tribunes; he enumerates the terms that he had offered, the conferences asked for and refused. On these considerations he exhorts and charges them to take up the burden of state and administer it with his help; but if they shrink through fear he will not burden them, and will administer the state himself. Envoys should be sent to Pompeius to effect a settlement, nor was he afraid of the remark made by Pompeius a little before in the senate, to the effect that undue influence is attributed to those to whom envoys are sent and fear argued on the part of those that send them. Such considerations seemed to belong to a poor and weak spirit. His own wish was to be superior to others in justice and equity as he had striven to surpass them in action. > Latin: 32. His rebus confectis Caesar, ut reliquum tempus a labore intermitteretur, milites in proxima municipia deducit; ipse ad urbem proficiscitur. Coacto senatu iniurias inimicorum commemorat. Docet se nullum extraordinarium honorem appetisse, sed exspectato legitimo tempore consulatus eo fuisse contentum, quod omnibus civibus pateret. Latum ab X tribunis plebis contradicentibus inimicis, Catone vero acerrime repugnante et pristina consuetudine dicendi mora dies extrahente, ut sui ratio absentis haberetur, ipso consule Pompeio; qui si Improbasset, cur ferri passus esset? si probasset, cur se uti populi beneficio prohibuisset? Patientiam proponit suam, cum de exercitibus dimittendis ultro postulavisset; in quo iacturam dignitatis atque honoris ipse facturus esset, Acerbitatem inimicorum docet, qui, quod ab altero postularent, in se recusarent atque omnia permisceri mallent, quam imperium exercitusque dimittere. Iniuriam in eripiendis legionibus praedicat, crudelitatem et insolentiam in circumscribendis tribunis plebis; condiciones a se latas, expetita colloquia ac denegata commemorat. Pro quibus rebus hortatur ac postulat, ut rem publicam suscipiam; atque una secum administrent. Sin timore defugiant, illis se oneri non futurum et per se rem publicam administraturum. Legatos ad Pompeium de compositione mitti oportere, neque se reformidare, quod in senatu Pompeius paulo ante dixisset, ad quos legati mitterentur, his auctoritatem attribui timoremque eorum, qui mitterent, significari. Tenuis atque infirmi haec animi videri. Se vero, ut operibus anteire studuerit, sic iustitia et aequitate velle superare. [¶11] 33. The senate approves his proposal about the sending of envoys, but no one was found to be sent, each refusing for himself the duty of this embassy mainly through fear. For Pompeius when quitting the city had said in the senate that he would regard in the same light those who remained at Rome and those who were in Caesar’s camp. Thus three days are spun out with discussion and excuses. Also L. Metellus, the tribune, is put up by Caesar’s enemies to thwart this proposal and to hinder everything else that he proposed to do. When his design was understood, several days having been already wasted, Caesar, in order to avoid throwing away any more time, having failed to do what he had proposed, leaves the city and goes into further Gaul. > Latin: 33. Probat rem senatus de mittendis legatis: sed, qui mitterentur, non reperiebantur, maximeque timoris causa pro se quisque id munus legationis recusabat. Pompeius enim discedens ab urbe in senatu dixerat eodem se habiturum loco, qui Romae remansissent et qui in castris Caesaris fuissent. Sic triduum disputationibus excusationibusque extrahitur. Subicitur etiam L. Metellus, tribunus plebis, ab inimicis Caesaris, qui hanc rem distrahat reliquasque res, quascumque agere instituerit, impediat. Cuius cognito consilio Caesar frustra diebus aliquot consumptis, ne reliquum tempus amittat, infectis eis, quae agere destinaverat, ab urbe proficiscitur atque in ulteriorem Galliam pervenit. [¶12] 34. On his arrival there he learns that Vibullius Rufus, whom he had captured at Corfinium and dismissed a few days before, had been dispatched by Pompeius; also that Domitius had gone to seize Massilia with seven merchant-vessels which he had requisitioned and had manned with his own slaves, freedmen, and tenants; and also that some Massilian envoys had been previously sent home, youths of noble birth, whom Pompeius when quitting the city had exhorted not to let Caesar’s fresh services drive from their minds the memory of his own earlier kindnesses. Receiving these instructions, the people of Massilia had closed their gates against Caesar, and had called to their aid the Albici, a barbarian tribe, who owed allegiance to them from olden times, and inhabited the hills above Massilia; they had collected and brought into their town corn from the neighbouring districts and from all the strongholds; they had set up manufactories of arms in the town, and were engaged in repairing their walls, gates, and fleet. > Latin: 34. Quo cum venisset, cognoscit missum a Pompeio Vibullium Rufum, quem paucis ante diebus Corfinio captum ipse dimiserat; profectum item Domitium ad occupandam Massiliam navibus actuariis septem, quas Igilii et in Cosano a privatis coactas servis, libertis, colonis suis compleverat; praemissos etiam legatos Massilienses domum, nobiles adulescentes, quos ab urbe discedens Pompeius erat adhortatus, ne nova Caesaris officia veterum suorum beneficiorum in eos memoriam expellerent. Quibus mandatis acceptis Massilienses portas Caesari clauserant; Albicos, barbaros homines, qui in eorum fide antiquitus erant montesque supra Massiliam incolebant, ad se vocaverant; frumentum ex finitimis regionibus atque ex omnibus castellis in urbem convexerant; annorum officinas in urbe instituerant; muros, portas, classem reficiebant. [¶13] 35. Caesar summons fifteen of the chief men of Massilia. He pleads with them not, to let the first outbreak of hostilities come from the Massilians; they ought to follow the authority of the whole of Italy rather than be subservient to the will of one man. He leaves no point unmentioned that he thought adapted to restore their minds to sanity. The envoys report his speech, and bring back to Caesar the following authoritative reply: “We understand that the Roman people is from private persons divided into two parties. It is not within our discretion or our power to discriminate which side has the juster cause. The leaders of the two sides are Gn. Pompeius and G. Caesar, patrons of our state, one of whom has officially granted us the lands of the Volcae Arecomici and of the Helvii; the other, after conquering the Sallyes by armed force, has assigned them to us and increased our revenues. Wherefore it is our duty to show them equal goodwill, as their benefits are equal, and to aid neither of them against the other, nor to receive either within our city or ports.” > Latin: 35. Evocat ad se Caesar Massilia XV primos; cum his agit, ne initium inferendi belli a Massiliensibus oriatur: debere eos Italiae totius auctoritatem sequi potius, quam unius hominis voluntati obtemperare. Reliqua, quae ad eorum sanandas mentes pertinere arbitrabatur, commemorat. Cuius orationem legati domum referunt atque ex auctoritate haec Caesari renuntiant: intellegere se divisum esse populum Romanum in duas partes; neque sui iudicii neque suarum esse virium discernere, utra pars iustiorem habeat causam. Principes vero esse earum partium Cn. Pompeium et C. Caesarem patronos civitatis; quorum alter agros Volcarum Arecomicorum et Helviorum publice iis concesserit, alter bello victos Sallyas attribuerit vectigaliaque auxerit. Quare paribus eorum beneficiis parem se quoque voluntatem tribuere debere et neutrum eorum contra alterum iuvare aut urbe aut portibus recipere. [¶14] 36. While they are engaged on these proceedings, Domitius, arriving by sea at Massilia, is received by the inhabitants and put in command of the city; the whole control of the War is placed in his hands. Under his authority they send the fleet in every direction; they seize all the merchant-ships they can find and bring them into the harbour. Those which are insufficiently provided with bolts or timber, and with tackle, they use for fitting out and repairing the rest. All the corn that they can find they collect for the general use. The rest of the merchandise and provisions they reserve for the blockade, if it should ensue. Stirred by these wrongs, Caesar conducts three legions to Massilia; he determines to bring up towers and penthouses for the siege of the city, and make twelve warships at Arelate. These having been made and equipped within thirty days from the day on which the timber was first cut down, and having been brought to Massilia, he puts D. Brutus in command of them, and leaves his legate, G. Trebonius, to conduct the siege of Massilia. > Latin: 36. Haec dum inter eos aguntur, Domitius navibus Massiliam pervenit atque ab eis receptus urbi praeficitur; summa ei belli administrandi permittitur. Eius imperio classem quoquo versus dimittunt; onerarias naves, quas ubique possunt, deprehendunt atque in portum deducunt, parum clavis aut materia atque armamentis instructis ad reliquas armandas reficiendasque utuntur; frumenti quod inventum est in publicum conferunt; reliquas merces commeatusque ad obsidionem urbis, si accidat, reservant. Quibus iniuriis permotus Caesar legiones tres Massiliam adducit; turres vineasque ad oppugnationem urbis agere, naves longas Arelate numero XII facere instituit. Quibus effectis armatisque diebus XXX, a qua die materia caesa est, adductisque Massiliam his D. Brutum praeficit, C. Trebonium legatum ad oppugnationem Massiliae relinquit. [¶15] 37. While arranging and carrying out these measures he sends forward his legate, G. Fabius, into Spain with three legions, which he had stationed at Narbo and elsewhere round that district in winter quarters, and gives orders that the Pyrenean passes, which were then held with outposts by the legate L. Afranius, should be at once seized. He orders the rest of the legions, which are wintering further off, to follow up. Fabius, in obedience to orders, acting with promptitude, drove the outpost from the pass, and hurried by forced marches to the army of Afranius. > Latin: 37. Dum haec parat atque administrat, C. Fabium legatum cum legionibus ni, quas Narbone circumque ea loca hiemandi causa disposuerat, in Hispaniam praemittit celeriterque saltus Pyrenaeos occupari iubet, qui eo tempore ab L. Afranio legato praesidiis tenebantur. Reliquas legiones, quae longius hiemabant, subsequi iubet. Fabius, ut erat imperatum, adhibita celeritate praesidium ex saltu deiecit magnisque itineribus ad exercitum Afranii contendit. [¶16] 38. On the arrival of L. Vibullius Rufus, who, as we have shown, was sent by Pompeius into Spain, Afranius and Petreius and Varro, legates of Pompeius, of whom one held hither Spain with three legions, another further Spain from the pass of Castulo to the Anas with two legions, a third the district of the Vettones from the Anas and also Lusitania with an equal number of legions, divide their tasks in such a way that Petreius should march from Lusitania through the Vettones with all his forces to join Afranius, while Varro should protect the whole of further Spain with the legions under his command. When these arrangements were made Petreius requisitions cavalry and auxiliary troops from the whole or Lusitania, Afranius from Celtiberia, the Cantabri, and all the barbarous tribes that extend to the ocean. When they were collected Petreius quickly makes his way through the Vettones to Afranius, and with common consent they agree to wage war at Ilerda owing to the natural advantages afforded by the position. > Latin: 38. Adventu L. Vibullii Rufi, quem a Pompeio missum in Hispaniam demonstratum est, Afranius et Petreius et Varro, legati Pompei, quorum unus Hispaniam citeriorem tribus legionibus, alter ulteriorem a saltu Castulonensi ad Anam duabus legionibus, tertius ab Ana Vettonum agrum Lusitaniamque pari numero legionum obtinebat, officia inter se partiuntur, uti Petreius ex Lusitania per Vettones cum omnibus copiis ad Afranium proficiscatur, Varro cum eis, quas habebat, legionibus omnem ulteriorem Hispaniam tueatur. His rebus constitutis equites auxiliaque toti Lusitaniae a Petreio, Celtiberiae, Cantabris barbarisque omnibus, qui ad Oceanum pertinent, ab Afranio imperantur. Quibus coactis celeriter Petreius per Vettones ad Afranium pervenit, constituuntque communi consilio bellum ad Ilerdam propter ipsius loci opportunitatem gerere. [¶17] 39. There were, as I have explained above, three legions belonging to Afranius, two to Petreius, besides about eighty cohorts, some heavy-armed from the hither province, others light-armed from further Spain, and about five thousand cavalry from each province. Caesar had sent forward six legions into Spain, five thousand auxiliary infantry and three thousand cavalry which he had had with him during all his former wars, and an equal number from Gaul, which he had himself pacified, having specially called to arms all the men of conspicuous rank and bravery from every state; to these he had added men of the best class from among the Aquitani and the mountaineers who border on the province of Gaul. He had heard that Pompeius was marching at the head of his legions through Mauritania into Spain and would very soon arrive. At the same time he borrowed sums of money from the tribunes and centurions and distributed them among the soldiers. By this proceeding he gained two results: he established a lien on the loyalty of the centurions and purchased by the bounty the goodwill of the troops. > Latin: 39. Erant, ut supra demonstratum est, legiones Afranii tres, Petreii duae, praeterea scrutatae citerioris provinciae et cetratae ulterioris Hispaniae cohortes circiter LXXX equitumque utriusque provinciae circiter v milia. Caesar legiones in Hispaniam praemiserat VI, auxilia peditum V milia, equitum III milia, quae omnibus superioribus bellis habuerat, et parem ex Gallia numerum, quam ipse pacaverat, nominatim ex omnibus civitatibus nobilissimo et fortissimo quoque evocato, huc optimi generis hominum ex Aquitanis montanisque, qui Galliam provinciam attingunt, addiderat. Audierat Pompeium per Mauritaniam eum legionibus iter in Hispaniam facere confestimque esse venturum. Simul a tribunis militum centurionibusque mutuas pecunias sumpsit; has exercitui distribuit. Quo facto duas res consecutus est, quod pignore animos centurionum devinxit et largitione militum voluntates redemit. [¶18] 40. Fabius was tampering with the loyalty of the neighbouring communities by letters and messengers. Over the River Sicoris he had constructed two bridges four miles apart. Over these he kept sending supplies, because during the preceding days he had exhausted all that there was this side the river. The generals of the Pompeian army were doing pretty much the same thing and for the same reason, and they were engaged in constant cavalry skirmishes. When two Fabian legions, going out to protect the foragers according to their usual custom, had crossed the river by the nearer bridge, and the pack-horses and the whole cavalry force were following them, the bridge was suddenly broken down by a storm of wind and a great rush of water, and a large force of cavalry that remained behind was cut off. When Petreius and Afranius discovered what had happened from the earth and faseines which were being carried down the river, Afranius immediately threw across four legions and all his cavalry by his own bridge with which he had joined the town and his camp, and goes to meet the two Fabian legions. On the news of his approach L. Plancus, who was in command of the legions, under the stress of necessity occupies the higher ground and draws up his lines facing in opposite directions that he might not be surrounded by cavalry. So going into action with unequal numbers, he sustains impetuous charges of the legions and cavalry. After the cavalry had engaged, the standards of two legions are seen by each side some little way off. These Fabius had sent by the further bridge to support our men, suspecting that what actually occurred would happen, namely, that the commanders on the other side would employ the opportunity which a kind chance afforded them of crushing our men. On their arrival the battle is broken off and each leader marches his legions back to camp. > Latin: 40. Fabius finitimarum civitatum animos litteris nuntiisque temptabat. In Sicore flumine pontes effecerat duos distantes inter se milia passuum IIII. His pontibus pabulatum mittebat, quod ea, quae citra flumen fuerant, superioribus diebus consumpserat. Hoc idem fere atque eadem de causa Pompeiani exercitus duces faciebant, crebroque inter se equestribus proeliis contendebant. Huc eum cotidiana consuetudine congressae pabulatoribus praesidio propiore ponte legiones Fabianae duae flumen transissent, impedimentaque et omnis equitatus sequeretur, subito vi ventorum et aquae magnitudine pons est interruptus et reliqua multitudo equitum interclusa. Quo cognito a Petreio et Afranio ex aggere atque cratibus, quae flumine ferebantur, celeriter suo ponte Afranius, quem oppido castrisque coniunctum habebat, legiones IIII equitatumque omnem traiecit duabusque Fabianis occurrit legionibus. Cuius adventu nuntiato L. Plancus, qui legionibus praeerat, necessaria re coactus locum capit superiorem diversamque aciem in duas partes constituit, ne ab equitatu circumveniri posset. Ita congressus impari numero magnos impetus legionum equitatusque sustinet. Commisso ab equitibus proelio signa legionum duarum procul ab utrisque conspiciuntur, quas C. Fabius ulteriore ponte subsidio nostris miserat suspicatus fore id, quod accidit, ut duces adversariorum occasione et beneficio fortunae ad nostros opprimendos uterentur. Quarum adventu proelium dirimitur, ac suas uterque legiones reducit in castra. [¶19] 41. Within two days Caesar reached the camp with nine hundred horsemen whom he had reserved as a bodyguard for himself. The bridge which had been broken down by the storm was almost repaired: he ordered it to be finished at night. Having made himself acquainted with the character of the country, he leaves six cohorts to guard the bridge and the camp together with all his baggage, and on the following day, with his whole force drawn up in three lines, he sets out for Ilerda and halts close to the camp of Afranius, and, having waited there for a little while under arms, offers his foe an opportunity of fighting on level ground. The opportunity being thus allowed him, Afranius leads out his forces and posts them half way up the slope under shelter of his camp. When Caesar learned that it was only owing to Afranius that a pitched battle was not fought he determined to pitch his camp at an interval of about four hundred paces from the lowest spurs of the mountain, and in order that his men might not be panic-stricken by a sudden onset of the foe while engaged on their task and so be prevented from working, he forbade the erection of a rampart, which could not fail to be prominent and visible from a distance, but ordered a ditch of fifteen feet width to be constructed facing the enemy. The first and second line remained under arms as they had been posted at first; behind these the work was being secretly done by the third line. So it was all completed before Afranius could become aware that the camp was being fortified. Towards evening Caesar withdraws the legions within the fosse and bivouacs there under arms the following night. > Latin: 41. Eo biduo Caesar cum equitibus DCCCC, quos sibi praesidio reliquerat, in castra pervenit. Pons, qui fuerat tempestate interruptus, paene erat refectus; hunc noctu perfici iussit. Ipse cognita locorum natura ponti castrisque praesidio sex cohortes reliquit atque omnia impedimenta et postero die omnibus copiis triplici instructa acie ad Ilerdam proficiscitur et sub castris Afranii constitit et ibi paulisper sub armis moratus facit aequo loco pugnandi potestatem. Potestate facta Afranius copias educit et in medio colle sub castris constituit. Caesar, ubi cognovit per Afranium stare, quo minus proelio dimicaretur, ab infimis radicibus montis intermissis carciter passibus ecce castra facere constituit et, ne in opere faciundo milites repentino hostium incursu exterrerentur atque opere prohiberentur, vallo muniri vetuit, quod eminere et procul videri necesse erat, sed a fronte contra hostem pedum XV fossam fieri iussit. Prima et secunda acies in armis, ut ab initio constituta erat, permanebat; post hos opus in occulto a in acie fiebat. Sic omne prius est perfectum, quam intellegeretur ab Afranio castra muniri. Sub vesperum Caesar intra hanc fossam, legiones reducit atque ibi sub armis proxima nocte conquiescit.