The military strength of the two parties was, from the senatorial point of view, altogether on their side; they had, they reasoned, the whole empire to draw upon for recruits, while Cæsar had only his own province. The difficulty of the senatorial position was, that their forces were not together when the war broke out. Of Cæsar’s original thirteen legions, two were now under Pompeius’ command; besides this, the latter had in Spain seven legions of well-seasoned troops; in Italy he had the two legions already mentioned, which originally belonged to the army of Gaul; and another in a state of creation. Cæsar’s chance lay in prompt action, in administering a decisive defeat before Pompeius could get his scattered men together. While the negotiations were in progress, he had only one legion in northern Italy; but two had been sent for, and when they were at hand Cæsar had, with his allies, about 20,000 men, a force considerably superior to that of Pompeius, who was especially careful not to lead Cæsar’s old legions against their former commander. With one legion of newly recruited men he could do nothing; the consequence was that in Italy there was practically no resistance to Cæsar’s advance. When some of the newly created cohorts joined him, the senators with their commander fled to Greece. The moral effect of the abandonment of Italy and the capital was a great asset for the Cæsarian party. The critics have condemned Pompeius because he failed to relieve the senatorial troops inclosed by Cæsar in the town of Corfinium in the Abruzzi. It was a discouraging blow at the very commencement of the struggle for the senatorial party to see their soldiers and one of their chief partisans, Domitius Ahenobarbus, left to their fate. But Pompeius was in no position to give help; if he had attempted to give aid, he would have been defeated and captured. Instead of pursuing Pompeius across the Adriatic to Greece, Cæsar turned away to the conquest of Spain. Even if transports were lacking, he might have doubled round the Adriatic coast through Illyria, his own province. He might soon have got the control of the entire East before a sufficient force was collected to oppose him. But if he had done so, in the meantime Italy would have been exposed to an invasion from Pompeius’ Spanish veterans, for the senatorial commander would undoubtedly have betaken himself there and acted on the offensive. By the time Cæsar could reach Antioch, in Syria, Pompeius could have occupied Rome. Cæsar therefore consistently followed the principle of striking at the enemy’s force where it was concentrated and prepared for effective work.