PHARSALUS: THAPSUS: MUNDA.--Caesar gained the advantage of securing the state treasure which _Pompeius_ had unaccountably left behind him, and was able to establish his power in _Italy_. Before pursuing Pompeius, he marched through _Gaul_ into _Spain_ (49 B.C.), conquered the Pompeian forces at _Ilerda_, and secured his hold upon that country. He then crossed the Adriatic, He encountered Pompeius, who could not manage his imprudent officers, on the plain of _Pharsalus_ (48 B.C.), where the senatorial army was completely overthrown. _Pompeius_ sailed for Egypt; but, just as he was landing, he was treacherously assassinated. His head was sent to _Caesar_, who wept at the spectacle, and punished the murderers. _Caesar_ gained friends everywhere by the exercise of a judicious clemency, which accorded with his natural disposition. He next went to _Egypt_. There he was met by _Cleopatra_, whose dazzling beauty captivated him. She reigned in conjunction with her younger brother, who, according to the Egyptian usage, was nominally her husband. The Egyptians were roused against Caesar, and, on one occasion, he saved his life by swimming; but he finally defeated and destroyed the Egyptian army. At _Zela_, in _Pontus_, he met and vanquished _Pharnaces_, the revolted son of _Mithridates_, and sent the laconic message, "Veni, vidi, vici" (I came, I saw, I conquered). Early in 46 he landed in _Africa_, and, at _Thapsus_, annihilated the republican forces in that region. A most powerful combination was made against him in _Spain_, including some of his old officers and legionaries, and the two sons of _Pompeius_. But in the hard-fought battle at _Munda_ (March, 45 B.C.), when Caesar was himself in great personal danger, he was, as usual, triumphant. CAESAR AS A CIVILIAN.--Marvelous as the career of Caesar as a general was, his merit as a civilian outstrips even his distinction as a soldier. He saw that the world could no longer be governed by the Roman rabble, and that monarchy was the only alternative. He ruled under the forms of the old constitution, taking the post of dictator and censor for life, and absorbing in himself the other principal republican offices. The whole tendency of his measures, which were mostly of a very wholesome character, was not only to remedy abuses of administration, but to found a system of orderly administration in which Rome should be not the sole _mistress_, but simply the _capital_, of the world-wide community which had been subjected to her authority.