Greece -- Biography -- Early works to 1800; Rome -- Biography -- Early works to 1800
LXXIII. Pompeius having proceeded a little way from the camp let his
horse go, and with very few persons about him, went on slowly as no
one pursued him, and with such thoughts, as would naturally arise in
the mind of a man who for four-and-thirty years had been accustomed to
conquer and to have the mastery in everything, and now for the first
time in his old age experienced what defeat and flight were;
reflecting also that in a single battle he had lost the reputation and
the power which were the fruit of so many struggles and wars, and
while a little before he was protected by so many armed men and
horses, and armaments, now he was retreating and had become so weak
and humbled, as easily to escape the notice of his enemies who were
looking for him. After passing Larissa[380] and arriving at Tempe,
being thirsty he threw himself down on his face and drank of the
river, and then rising up he proceeded through Tempe till he reached
the sea. There he rested for the remainder of the night in a
fisherman's hut, and at daybreak embarking on board of one of the
river-boats and taking with him those of his followers who were
freemen, and bidding his slaves go to Cæsar without any apprehension
for their safety, he rowed along the coast till he saw a large
merchant-ship preparing to set sail, the master of which was a Roman,
who had no intimacy with Pompeius, but knew him by sight: his name was
Peticius. It happened the night before that Peticius saw Pompeius in a
dream, not as he had often seen him, but humble and downcast, speaking
to him. And it happened that he was telling his dream to his
shipmates, as is usual with men in such weighty matters, who have
nothing to do; when all at once one of the sailors called out that he
spied a river-boat rowing from the land with men in it who were making
signals with their clothes and stretching out their hands to them.
Accordingly Peticius turning his eyes in that direction recognised
Pompeius just as he had seen him in the dream, and striking his
forehead he ordered the sailors to put the boat alongside, and he
stretched out his right hand and called to Pompeius, already
conjecturing from his appearance the fortune and the reverses of the
man. Upon which the master, without waiting to be entreated or
addressed, took on board with him, all whom Pompeius chose (and these
were the two Lentuli[381] and Favonius), and set sail; and shortly
after seeing King Deiotarus making his way from the land as fast as he
could they took him in also. When it was supper time and the master
had made the best preparation that he could, Favonius observing that
Pompeius had no domestics and was beginning to take off his shoes, ran
up to him and loosed his shoes and helped him to anoint himself. And
henceforward Favonius continued to wait on Pompeius and serve him,
just as slaves do their master, even to the washing of his feet and
preparing his meals, so that a witness of the free will of that
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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