60
PECULIARITY OF CAESAR⅛ TACTICS.
in cases when a quick resolution was necessary and his forces
were not yet assembled, he always ventured upon a battle with
the part of his forces which was ready to act, in order to gain
a firm footing, until all his forces should be collected. This
principle he followed in his passage to Illyricum, and after-
wards also in going to Egypt and Africa. One of the features
of a truly great general is the ability to calculate the magnitude
of what he ventures to undertake, and how much he can effect
with the means he has. Thus Caesar appeared unexpectedly
with a small squadron at Oricum, an Epirot or Greek town,
on the southern frontier of Illyricum, in the corner of the
Acroceraunian Gulf. Here he landed ; and after taking
possession of the place, he immediately set out towards
Apollonia, which opened its gates to him; for his mere name
was the great herald that went before him, and no one sus-
pected that he had come over with only a few thousand men.
There he established himself: an attempt upon Epidamnus or
Dyrrhachium, however, did not succeed so easily, for Pompey
hastened from his winter quarters, and endeavoured to repel
or surround Caesar with his numerous forces. As Caesar’s
orders that the troops should immediately follow him from
Italy, where they were assembled, had not been obeyed, he
was in great difficulty, and he himself attempted to cross over
that dangerous and stormy part of the sea in a small boat of
twelve oars: he struggled for a whole day against storm and
waves; but the thing was impracticable. The immediate
execution of the orders he had given to his officers was of
the utmost consequence; but Gabinius despairing of its
possibility disobeyed them. He hesitated at first, and then
commenced his march round the Adriatic; but at Salonae in
Dalmatia he fell in with M. Octavius, and was defeated.
M. Antony, however, succeeded in passing close by the fleet
of Bibulus, and with the loss of only a few ships reached the
eastern coast of the Adriatic. Bibulus had been taken ill and
died soon afterwards.
Although his forces were still very inferior to those of
Pompey, Caesar advanced towards Dyrrhachium, and ventured
to besiege Pompey, by forming lines of eɪreumvallation around
the place. This was an undertaking which Pompey could not
much care about, as he received his supplies from the sea,
while Caesar, who had no such means of providing for his
caesar’s defeat at dyrrhachium.
61
army, was obliged to forage in the neighbouring country. He
tried to bring the war to a close at Dyrrhachium, but was unsuc-
cessful ; and when he made an attack upon the place, he was re-
pulsed with considerable loss. Pompey at that moment shewed
resolution : he gained a part of the line of fortifications which had
been constructed by the besiegers, and thus destroyed the block-
ade. Caesar’s loss on that day was very great; his soldiers began
to despond, and he himself nearly despaired of success. The sol-
diers were suffering fɪom extreme want of food, and lived upon
grass1 and roots. Caesar himself afterwards said that he had
not only been beaten on that day, but that Pompey might
have decided the victory, if he had known how to follow up
his success. This opinion is quite correct; but Pompey had
become old and dull, and had lost the power to justify the
enormous pretensions he still made.
After this catastrophe, Caesar could not continue the war at
Dyrrhachium ; and he now ventured upon an expedition which,
if it had failed, would have been mentioned among rash and
inconsiderate acts, such as, for example, the expedition of
Charles XIT. of Sweden to Pultowa. He broke up from
Dyrrhachium and went to places where he could reckon upon
no one, and where he had to conquer every inch of ground.
Pompey undoubtedly expected that Caesar would return to
Illyricum, and there join his Othertroops: but, far from doing
this, he marched towards the lofty mountains between Epirus
and Thessaly, and advanced irresistibly as far as the town of
Gomphi in Thessaly, which closes the pass from Janina to
Thessaly. Gomphi was taken by storm, and the soldiers now
recovered their confidence and refreshed themselves with the
rich booty. The destruction of this town induced all the
Thessalians to surrender, and Caesar obtained provisions in
abundance. Pompey ought now to have returned to Italy : the
number of his troops far surpassed that of his enemy ; and if he
had had any judgment he would have made himself master of
Italy, particularly as he knew that a portion of the legions in
Spain, which had been formed out of the troops of Afranius
and Petreius, had revolted against Caesar. If Pompey had at
that time established himself, with his fleet, in Italy, Caesar
, Grass must be taken here in its widest sense, meaning salad. In the south,
people frequently live upon bread and salad, with some vinegar and oil, and the
poor of those countries aie perfectly satisfied and happy with this food. Caesar’s
troops of course had no oil or vinegar. — N.