cared to make any special exertion. Their circumstances, however, were now altered. Afranius was compelled to halt and draw out his men in battle array, for Cæsar was advancing in three lines, as if prepared to demand an engagement. The pursuer now halted in his turn to give his troops rest and refreshment before drawing their swords. Afranius again threw his lines into column, and hurried forward, till the enemy, advancing once more, and pressing closely upon him, rendered escape impossible. The Pompeian general however was informed that at a distance of five miles a tract of hilly country commenced, in which the cavalry of his pursuers would be rendered unavailing. His intention was now to secure the defiles of these hills with forces sufficient to arrest the progress of his pursuers, and so effect his retreat with the bulk of his army to the Ebro; and in this, which was the best course open to him, he might have succeeded had he persisted in continuing his march late into the night, which, considering the few miles he had yet traversed, required no extraordinary effort. But other counsels prevailed; the troops pleaded the fatigues of a day of marching and fighting, and the salvation of the republican cause in Spain was postponed to the morrow. Meanwhile, Cæsar, on his part, was satisfied with the feats his soldiers had performed that day, and he took up his position on the nearest eminence. But he maintained his vigilance through the silent hours of gloom. About midnight some stragglers from the Pompeian camp were brought to his quarters, and from them he learned that his opponents were preparing to evacuate their entrenchments under cover of the darkness. Immediately the Cæsarian trumpets sounded to arms, the tents were struck, baggage piled, arms and accoutrements buckled on; and the uproar of a camp of four legions breaking up announced far and wide that their general was on the alert, and ready to follow hard upon the track of the fugitives. Afranius feared to risk the result of a night engagement, to which he might be compelled in the narrow passes of the mountains, and countermanded the intended movement.

Cæsar makes a feint, and

moves to inter

of the enemy.

The next day was passed on both sides in examining the nature of the country in the direction in which both armies were equally anxious to proceed. The Pompeian generals held a council, in which they determined cept the march to wait for the morning to continue their route, that they might at least have the advantage of daylight to repel the attacks of the enemy, whose vigilance they could not even in darkness elude. But Cæsar turned the information he had acquired to another account. By a rapid though circuitous march he saw that he could throw himself between the retreating army and the mountains. In the early twilight his battalions were observed to issue from their camp, and seemingly to retire in the track upon which they had advanced the day before. The Afranians were convinced that they were in rapid retreat towards Ilerda, overcome by famine, fatigue, or terror; but when they saw the dense columns wheel suddenly to the right' and sweep along the verge of the horizon towards the quarter whither they were themselves bound, the tactics of the supposed fugitives and at the same time their own imminent danger became apparent.

Cæsar brings the Afranians to a check, but will not suffer his soldiers to engage with them.

The breaking up of their camp, however, caused some little delay. At the same time the Cæsarian cavalry, hanging upon the flanks of the Afranians as they formed and advanced, impeded their movements; so that, in the efforts of both armies to gain the hills, the Cæsarians had so much the advantage as to be able to range themselves in order of battle at their foot, and effectually block up the road to Octogesa. An eminence in the plain afforded the harassed Afranians a position where at least they could recover breath and consider

1 Cæs. B. C. i. 69. A wheel to the right after issuing from the rear of the camp (contrariam in partem iri videbatur) would lead them to the east of Afranius's camp, which would thus be placed between them and the Sicoris. The loca aspera and angustia which Cæsar mentions, Guischard supposes to be a defile between the mountains and this river. I think it describes the interior of the tract between the Sicoris and the Iberus.

what course to take.' They first attempted to create a diversion by sending a body of the light armed Spanish auxiliaries to occupy a hill on the flank of the Cæsarians; but the terrible Gaulish cavalry were immediately upon them, and cut them off to a man in sight of both armies. It was now evident that the Afranians, dispirited by their reverses, and inferior in cavalry, would have no chance against their assailants in the open plain. The Cæsarians were confident of dislodging them from the slight acclivity on which they had taken refuge; and, as before, the centurions and tribunes again surrounded their general, and urged him with almost threatening importunity to lead them to combat. But Cæsar had many reasons for wishing to refrain from an engagement which he believed to be superfluous; for the enemy, even though unassailed, could not long maintain their position for want of water, but, if driven to despair, might still cause him the loss of many of his bravest troops. Moreover, it accorded with his policy as well as his temper to avoid the effusion of Roman blood, whether on his own side or that of his opponents. And, above all, perhaps, his experience in Italy assured him that a large portion of the men now arrayed against him were, in their hearts, well disposed to join his colours. Accordingly, he steadily rejected the demands of his imperious veterans, though in doing so he greatly offended them, and might hear them muttering, with the licence to which they had been long accustomed, that another time fight they would not when Cæsar ordered them.'

Communica

The Pompeian generals, meanwhile, were in a state of great perplexity. All hope of crossing the Ebro was abandoned; their choice of an asylum now lay between Ilerda and Tarraco. But their movements were closely watched, and circumscribed by the squadrons which hovered around them. No

tions are open

ed between the

soldiers in the

opposite ranks.

1 The level country at the foot of the hills in which these manoeuvres took place is, I conceive, the tract now called la Gariga, and the spot on which Afranius pitched his camp may be that of the village of Llardecans.

2 Cæs. B. C. i. 72.

handful of forage nor cup of water could they procure except at the sword's point. The parties they sent out for supplies were attacked, and only rescued by the succour of fresh battalions, which, in their turn, required to be supported by others; so that a large portion of the army was gradually drawn down into the lower ground. The generals ordered a trench and rampart to be constructed from the hill to the watering-place; the distance was great, the work arduous, and, to carry it through, required the presence and encouragement of all the superior officers. Meanwhile, the soldiers in their camp were left almost without superintendence; the Cæsarians straggled up to their entrenchments, and opened communications with such friends and acquaintances as the fortune of civil war had arrayed in the opposite ranks. By degrees this distant intercourse ripened into familiarity and confidence; the soldiers of either party mingled freely among one another; and the enthusiasm with which Cæsar's veterans proclaimed the merits of their commander worked surely and speedily upon the indifference of the Afranians. The rival parties soon came to an understanding. The only stipulation they made between themselves was, that the lives of the Pompeian generals should be guaranteed them. Even Afranius's own son was forced to be satisfied with this assurance; and, upon its being given, the legions arrayed under his standard declared themselves content to surrender to a merciful and munificent enemy.1

poses violently, and breaks off all inter

course between them.

The report of these important transactions brought both the Pompeian leaders hastily back to the camp. Afranius Petreius inter- easily acquiesced in an arrangement in which his own safety had been carefully provided for; but Petreius, a man of sterner temper, would abandon neither his reputation nor his duty. It was usual for the general to have a body-guard about his own person, distinct from the maniples of the legions. That of Petreius consisted of a cohort of light native infantry, a small squadron of cavalry, and a number of private friends and attend

1 Cæs. B. C. i. 74.

ants, who formed his staff or acted as his aides-de-camp. With these men who remained true to him, he rushed impetuously to the rampart at which the soldiers of the opposed armies were holding their treasonable conferences, and broke up their meeting, slaughtering as many of the Cæsarians as he could lay hands on. The remnant, collecting hastily to gether, wrapped their cloaks about their left arms, and with drawn swords fought their way through the assailants to their own camp hard by. Petreius re-entered his entrenchments, and the habits of discipline resumed their sway.

Ferocity of

Petreius now proposed the solemn form of the military oath not to desert nor betray the army or its generals, nor to hold any private parley with the enemy. He first took the oath himself, then tendered it to his col- Petreius. leagues; next came the tribunes, and after them the centurions, and, finally, the whole body of the legionaries, century by century. Strict orders were immediately issued that every Cæsarian who had been entertained by a relative or friend in the camp should be brought forth and slain; but mercy or shame interfered to frustrate this atrocious command, and most of them were concealed till nightfall, and then sent privily away. Meanwhile, the conduct of Cæsar was studiously in contrast with this cruelty.' He carefully inquired for all the Pompeians who had strayed into his camp, and offered to send them back to their own quarters unharmed. But many of the officers were already so charmed with his demeanour, that they preferred to remain in his service, in which he gave them their old rank, or even promoted them to a higher.'

The Afranians were now reduced to great distress for provisions, and at the same time were cut off from water. It was resolved to direct the retreat upon Ilerda, The Afranians where their magazines were not yet exhausted, rather than Tarraco, which lay at a greater dis- steps towards tance, and where probably no preparation had

1 Suet. Jul. 75.; Appian, B. C. ii. 43.

2 Cæs. B. C. i. 76, 77.

are compelled to retrace their

Ilerda.