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.