Part 11

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

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

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

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

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

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

In general, the first stage of the war was in favor of the Cæsarians; Sicily had been abandoned by Cato, and the only dark spot on the record was the decisive defeat in Africa of Curio, who had unwisely attacked the Pompeians near Utica while they were being aided by a Numidian king. On the way to Rome Cæsar had to handle a case of mutiny in one of the legions, the ninth. The soldiers complained of the strict discipline under which they were kept, as no plundering was allowed. A signal example was made of them, for the whole legion was disbanded and the men only taken back on condition that they gave up their ringleaders. Of these one in ten were taken by lot and executed.

During his residence in Rome, in the interval between the first and second stages of the war, Cæsar was returned as Consul for the coming year (48), after serving a few days in the extraordinary capacity of Dictator. Some new legislation was passed, extending the franchise to provincial populations, and an effort was made to relieve the financial situation produced by the civil war. Money was scarce, interest was high, there being, owing to the general uncertainty, a good deal of hoarding of specie; but nothing was done to encourage the wild rumors of a revolution after the Catiline model, under which there would be a general cancellation of debts. Practically the whole administration of civil affairs was in the conqueror’s hands. Only a few senators were left, most of them having fled to Pompeius’ camp in Greece, where their presence was a considerable annoyance to their leader, who found in them inveterate critics and grumblers, anxious to give advice on military matters of which they were supremely ignorant.

Cæsar’s undivided authority was useful to him; before he left Italy he had his consular powers enlarged and the city could be left without fear, as his own partisans were in control. Cæsar’s Spanish victory had given him, on land, decided superiority over his opponents. He had now, in addition to the eleven old legions, seventeen new ones, mostly composed of Pompeian troops, who had transferred their allegiance as the fortune of war had changed. Two had been lost in the disaster in Africa under Curio. About half of his whole strength, twelve legions and 1000 horse, he collected together at Brundisium, intending to sail from that port and meet Pompeius’ army in Epirus. The rest of his forces were scattered about in Italy, Sicily, Gaul, and Spain.

To oppose to the Cæsarian main army, the senatorial party had only eleven legions; two of them had originally served under Cæsar, the rest were recruited in the East or were old units filled out by fresh additional soldiers. Pompeius’ chief hope, after the defeat of his army in Spain, lay in the possession of a superior sea power. In this respect he had decidedly the advantage, for besides the Roman fleet there were the ships of the dependent Eastern states, while Cæsar’s ships in the Adriatic had been either captured or destroyed. Cæsar had, it is true, ordered new ones, but he had no seagoing population to draw from, to secure sailors. Marseilles, it will be remembered, had taken sides with Pompeius and had only been captured with difficulty.

When Cæsar reached Brundisium, he found there were not enough ships there to transport his army to the Greek coast. He adopted, however, the bold plan of using what transports there were, and so, taking advantage of a favorable wind, carried half his available force, seven legions and a corps of cavalry, to the other side. The whole operation took only from twelve to fifteen hours. Pompeius had not brought his land force to the coast of Epirus, and his fleet, as it was the winter season, had not counted on Cæsar’s making the passage at that time. Yet when Cæsar landed, the situation was anything but favorable for him; Pompeius’ army had reached the principal harbor of Epirus, Dyrrhachium, and his fleet had destroyed part of the transports and was keeping vigilant watch to intercept the rest, if they attempted to leave Brundisium with the legions which remained there. Cæsar was cut off from his base, but Pompeius dared not attack him, though his army was numerically superior. The two armies faced one another in inaction, Pompeius waiting for reinforcements, and Cæsar hoping that there would be a chance for the rest of his army to join him, although the way through Illyria was impracticable, the country being mountainous and the population of uncertain loyalty.

On the other hand, the attempt of the Pompeian fleet to blockade Brundisium failed. After waiting two months, Marcus Antonius succeeded in making the passage, at a time when weather conditions made it impossible for the enemy’s ships to interfere with the landing. With this accession of strength, four legions and additional cavalry, Cæsar’s force was now superior to that of his opponent; but Pompeius was strongly intrenched on the shore, close to a city well supplied with provisions, and by means of his fleet, in communication with the rest of the world.

The problem of supplies on Cæsar’s side was a difficult one, since the neighboring country was nearly exhausted. It was probably this reason which induced him to divide his force by sending some three and a half legions into the interior of the country, partly to intercept a Pompeian relieving army under Scipio, and partly to operate in Greece itself with a view of winning adherents for his cause. With the remainder he proceeded to inclose Pompeius’ camp, not so much to force a capitulation, which seemed hopeless because at any time they wished the Pompeian fleet could carry the army away, as to produce a moral effect on the Pompeians, who would be dispirited everywhere, when they learned that their leader was not acting on the offensive.

The siege operations proved calamitous; Cæsar’s veterans suffered a severe defeat, and in some places the lines of the inclosing fortifications were destroyed. The other side, elated by victory, were now prepared for a decisive battle. This hazard Cæsar declined to take; instead of this he gave his troops time enough to recover from the effects of their defeat and then moved off from the coast, taking the road to Thessaly in order there to join the other detachments of his army, who were occupied in trying to force Scipio to an engagement.

He was soon followed by Pompeius, and the great pitched battle of the year took place on the plains of Thessaly. The two sides were far from being evenly matched; probably Pompeius had 40,000 legionaries and 3000 cavalry, while under Cæsar there were 30,000 legionaries and 2000 horse. When the armies came in sight of one another, there was some preliminary manœuvering to get the advantage of a favorable position, but finally Pompeius advanced some distance from his camp on level ground, and Cæsar, who was about to march away rather than attack under unfavorable conditions, decided to give battle. Pompeius’ right wing rested near a brook with precipitous sides. Relying on this to protect his flanks, he placed the light-armed infantry and the cavalry, under the command of Labienus, on the left wing with directions to make a vigorous onslaught on the troops opposed to them. If the enemy gave way, they were then to attack the legionaries on the sides and rear; in the meantime, Pompeius’ own legions were ordered not to advance but to await, where they were, the attack from the other side. It was hoped that Cæsar’s men would be in confusion before the hand-to-hand conflict began, as the distance they would have to traverse was greater than was usual in the battles of this period.

Probably all of Cæsar’s cavalry were disposed in such a way that they faced the opposing cavalry. In order to compensate for his inferiority of numbers in this arm, he had trained some of his best legionaries to fight interspersed with the cavalry, after the practice among the Germans. The cavalry were separated, too, by a division of 3000 men, and behind his whole order of battle there was a considerable reserve force. It was to be supposed that, even without the assistance of this last support, his seasoned veterans would withstand the enemy for a long time. This expectation was all the more likely to be realized, just because of Pompeius’ orders that his own infantry were to be held back from engagement and should maintain their own ground, while his cavalry were at work.

The battle opened with the cavalry charge on the Pompeian side. Cæsar’s German and Gallic horse, as they were instructed, withdrew, and as soon as the Pompeian horse followed them, the 3000 men placed previously to support them, attacked the Pompeian cavalry in the flank. This manœuver was immediately followed by a quick action on the part of Cæsar’s cavalry. They swerved about, attacked in their turn those who had just been pressing them, and forced them back in confusion. There was not time enough for Pompeius now to get together a mass of infantry to protect his cavalry. The hand-to-hand conflict immediately began, Cæsar’s whole force of infantry throwing themselves on the opposing legionaries, who now no longer had the support of their cavalry. The pressure on the front and sides was too much for the Pompeians; first the left wing gave way and then the entire army. (August 8, 48 B.C.)

The crucial feature of the whole battle was Cæsar’s skilful disposition of the 3000 men, placed, as some authorities describe it, in a kind of ambuscade. It was this that upset the whole plan of Pompeius’ massive cavalry charge. The intelligent manœuvering of the Gallic and German horse, first giving way, then returning to charge superior numbers, is an illuminating illustration of the discipline prevailing in all arms of Cæsar’s force. The close of the battle was followed by the occupation of the Pompeian camp. The commander himself fled in deep dejection from Greece, and met his death by an assassin’s hands, when landing from a boat on the coast of Egypt. As a military leader he had proved himself in this war unimaginative and sluggish. He was a master of the technique of warfare, but failed to make use of his opportunities; he seemed to have worked out his own campaign in advance, and to have followed the scheme with deliberation, but in other respects he was resourceless, both when the advantage was his own and when the enemy made mistakes.

With two very much reduced legions and a few horse, Cæsar pursued his rival to Egypt, where he was too late to take him alive. But the factional contests in Egypt as to the royal succession and perhaps, too, the desire to get his hands on the Egyptian treasury, induced the conqueror to use this opportunity of asserting Roman sovereignty over the dependent kingdom. It proved to be a rash step, for the Egyptians were fanatically attached to their autonomous position, and Cæsar’s small force was in great danger, not only from the Egyptian army, but also from the turbulent Alexandrian populace, who tried and almost succeeded in shutting him up in part of the city, and in preventing supplies and reinforcements coming to him by sea. At times the Romans were in great danger; there were furious combats in the city and in the harbor, and it was not till many months had passed that Cæsar was master of the situation. It took all the resources of his versatile genius to hold out until large enough reinforcements came from the East to bring the Alexandrians into subjection.

The whole winter after the battle of Pharsalus was spent in this way, and when the war was over in March, there was three months more delay in Alexandria, owing, it was said, to the fascination exerted over the conqueror by the famous Egyptian queen, Cleopatra. During the summer preparations were made for an extensive expedition throughout the Farther East with a small body of men, the design being to pacify the Oriental provinces. This proved not very difficult; most of the problems were solved by diplomacy and only one battle was fought, that of Zela, in Pontus, with Pharnaces, king of Pontus, who had taken advantage of the civil war to try to set up an independent rule over a large part of Asia Minor.

While Cæsar was absent in the East, his cause in the West had been far from successfully handled by his lieutenants. The Pompeian fleet had given great trouble on the Italian coast and in the Adriatic Sea. Affairs in Spain had been hopelessly muddled by a corrupt and tyrannous governor, who angered the provincials and got into trouble with the native tribes. In Rome the victory at Pharsalus had been followed by great activity on the part of the Senate and popular assembly in heaping additional honors on Cæsar. He was made Dictator with virtually unlimited powers. The administration, so far as any semblance of legality was concerned, seemed to have gone to pieces, while Cæsar was having his troubled experiences in Alexandria. No provision had been made for filling up the magistracies, and the conduct of affairs fell into the hands of an irresponsible agitator, Dolabella, Cicero’s son-in-law, who prepared a social program containing, as its chief items, canceling of debts and remission of rents. There were serious riots in the city, the mob becoming so powerful that even the Cæsarian Senate had to call on Marcus Antonius, Cæsar’s chief local lieutenant, to suppress the violence by the use of military power.

When Cæsar arrived in Italy from the Orient, there was much to be done and not much time in which to do it, because all the irreconcilable partisans of Pompeius, trusting in the help of the Numidian king, Juba, had gathered in Africa, where, since the defeat of Curio, they met with no opposition in their control of the country. During Cæsar’s stay in Rome, there were various measures passed, some to relieve the financial crisis, others to provide against disturbances of public order, while political rewards had to be distributed to his followers in the way of nominations to the Senate, or by the creation of additional places among the magistracies. On account of the government’s embarrassments, there was a resort to the policy of forced loans, both from individuals and from communities. The private property of Pompeius and some of his adherents was sold at public auction, a questionable proceeding which gave rise to a good deal of unpleasant jobbery among Cæsar’s friends, who bought the property in, and then, depending on their influence with their all-powerful master, tried to evade payment. (47 B.C.)

More serious than these matters of local politics was the sullenness of Cæsar’s troops, which developed into open mutiny when they were ordered to make ready for the coming campaign in Africa. They refused to budge until the promises of money and land made them before the battle of Pharsalus were strictly carried out. Cæsar dealt successfully with the situation; he had no cash to give them, but he discharged them, calling them citizens and not soldiers, and assured them at the same time that all of their demands, with back interest, would be paid as soon as he returned from Africa to celebrate his triumph. The veterans were placed in a dilemma; they could not turn against Cæsar, for their hope of reward lay in his success. Most of them were taken back as volunteers for the African campaign. Before leaving Italy, Cæsar again arranged to become Consul for the year 46, at the same time making arrangements for the distribution of provincial charges. One assignment was especially noteworthy: a pardoned Pompeian senator, Junius Brutus, nephew of Cato, at the time in arms against Cæsar, was appointed to Cisalpine Gaul.

A year and a half had passed since Pompeius’ defeat at Pharsalus, but his cause was being energetically upheld in Africa, where his partisans were making a final stand. It was here that Scipio, Labienus, Cato, Afranius, and Petreius gathered together with the forces that remained, ten legions in all, no inconsiderable force in itself; but there were besides a large contingent of well-trained cavalry and heavy- and light-armed troops, supplied by Juba, king of Numidia, who was implacably hostile to Cæsar’s cause, and who meant to use the divisions of the Romans for the purpose of carving out for himself an independent kingdom. The only danger point, apart from an attack from Italy, lay further west, where the two Mauretanian kings, Bocchus and Bogud, acted together as a check to the power of the Numidians. They were able to carry out their policy intelligently, because they had the help of a Roman adventurer, Publius Sittius, suspected of being an accomplice of Catiline, and for this reason an enemy of the remnant of the senatorial party in Africa.

Cæsar landed in Africa in December with only a small force, and for a time he had to maintain himself in an intrenched camp on the coast. His six legions were made up of raw material, and it was impossible for him to take the offensive, until his veterans, who had been sent for, arrived. The situation was saved by Sittius, who made a diversion in the West, and so drew off Juba to the defense of his own kingdom. Among the provincials, the Cæsarian cause began to be popular, for they saw in it a protection against the nationalist schemes of Juba. Moreover, the Roman aristocratic commanders had treated the population of the province with scant consideration, so there were many desertions to Cæsar’s side. Owing to the incompetent strategy of his opponents, who do not seem to have known how to handle their fleet, communications with Italy were kept open. It was Cæsar’s purpose, after the veteran legions arrived, to compel Scipio to give battle. This he refused to do, until his hands were forced. When Cæsar began the siege of the important seaport town of Thapsus, Scipio was obliged to come to the rescue, and a pitched battle was fought early in April, in which the Pompeian force was completely routed. Cæsar’s troops occupied the enemy’s camp, and despite the entreaties of their commander, a wholesale butchery by the legionaries followed the fight.