The Historians' History of the World 05 [The Roman Republic]

“Meantime he had formed intelligence in Dyrrhachium, and upon hopes the place would be delivered to him, he came with a small company to the gate which is near the temple of Diana; but his design being discovered, came off again without doing anything. The same winter Scipio, father-in-law to Pompey, bringing him another army out of Syria, was set upon in Macedon by C. Calvisius, whom he defeated, and slew him a whole legion, fourscore soldiers only escaping. There came now no more provisions to Cæsar by sea, Pompeius being the stronger, wherefore the soldiers were forced to make bread of a certain kind of herb, pieces of which being by some runaways brought to Pompey, thinking it would be to him a joyful present. Instead of rejoicing at it, ‘What sort of beasts,’ said he, ‘have we to deal with?’ Cæsar now pinched with necessity drew together his forces, resolving to engage Pompey whether he would or no; but Pompey being now possessed of several good forts, kept close in his trenches, which so much troubled Cæsar that he undertook a work almost impossible, and scarcely credible, which was to enclose all the forts Pompey had with a trench drawn from the sea, judging that though his design took not effect, he should gain the reputation of a man capable of great things; for this trench must have been twelve hundred furlongs in length. Pompey on his part, drew lines and trenches directly opposite to Cæsar’s works; thus one eluded the enterprises of the other.

“At length there happened a great fight between them, wherein Pompey bravely repulsing Cæsar’s men and having put them to flight, pursued them to their very camp. Many colours they took and had taken the eagle of a legion, if the standard-bearer who carried it had not thrown it with all his force into the trenches, that he might preserve it for Cæsar; for the Roman soldiery have a great respect for their standards. Cæsar with other companies came to the relief of those that fled, but so terrified were these too, that as soon as they beheld Pompey at a distance, though they were near the camp, it was not possible for Cæsar to stop them, nor to make them go in again, nor so much as to hearken to him; the soldiers fled away in disorder without shame, without reason, or without anything to oblige them to it; Cæsar might well run up and down, and with reproaches show them that Pompey was yet a great way off. This hindered them not from throwing down their arms and flying, or else standing still, silent and immovable, fixing their eyes upon the ground with shame and confusion, so great was that panic fear that possessed them. There was an ensign who, as his general would have stopped him, presented him the point of his javelin, but he was upon the spot punished by the gods as he deserved. Those who escaped into the camp were so cast down that they kept no guard at the gates nor lined the rampire, but the trenches were left without any to defend them. All men believed that Pompey might have thrown himself into the camp with the flyers, and so have made an end of the war, if Labienus (for God would have it so) had not persuaded him rather to pursue those he had routed, then march up to the trenches; him therefore he believed, whether it were that he was not in such haste as to make an end of all at once, or that seeing the camp defenceless, he feared some ambuscade, or else being victorious, scorned that little advantage. Going therefore to charge those that were still abroad, he made yet a great slaughter, so that in two engagements in one day he gained twenty-eight colours, and twice lost the opportunity of ruining his enemy beyond redress. And Cæsar himself stuck not to say that that day the war had been ended, had his enemy known how to make use of his victory.