Caesar, Julius; Rome -- History -- Republic, 265-30 B.C.
One morning, on the Enipeus, near Larissa, the 9th of August, old
style, or toward the end of May by real time, Caesar had broken up his
camp and was preparing for his usual leisurely march, when he perceived
a movement in Pompey's lines which told him that the moment which he
had so long expected was come. Labienus, the evil genius of the Senate,
who had tempted them into the war by telling them that his comrades
were as disaffected as himself, and had fired Caesar's soldiers into
intensified fierceness by his barbarities at Durazzo, had spoken the
deciding word: "Believe not," Labienus had said, "that this is the army
which defeated the Gauls and the Germans. I was in those battles, and
what I say I know. That army has disappeared. Part fell in action; part
perished of fever in the autumn in Italy. Many went home. Many were
left behind unable to move. The men you see before you are levies newly
drawn from the colonies beyond the Po. Of the veterans that were left,
the best were killed at Durazzo."
A council of war had been held at dawn. There had been a solemn taking
of oaths again. Labienus swore that he would not return to the camp
except as a conqueror; so swore Pompey; so swore Lentulus, Scipio,
Domitius; so swore all the rest. They had reason for their high
spirits. Pompey had forty-seven thousand Roman infantry, not including
his allies, and seven thousand cavalry. Caesar had but twenty-two
thousand, and of horse only a thousand. Pompey's position was carefully
chosen. His right wing was covered by the Enipeus, the opposite bank of
which was steep and wooded. His left spread out into the open plain of
Pharsalia. His plan of battle was to send forward his cavalry outside
over the open ground, with clouds of archers and slingers, to scatter
Caesar's horse, and then to wheel round and envelop his legions. Thus
he had thought they would lose heart and scatter at the first shock.
Caesar had foreseen what Pompey would attempt to do. His own scanty
cavalry, mostly Gauls and Germans, would, he well knew, be unequal to
the weight which would be thrown on them. He had trained an equal
number of picked active men to fight in their ranks, and had thus
doubled their strength. Fearing that this might be not enough, he had
taken another precaution. The usual Roman formation in battle was in
triple line. Caesar had formed a fourth line of cohorts specially
selected to engage the cavalry; and on them, he said, in giving them
their instructions, the result of the action would probably depend.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account