48 B.C. leadership of Achillas, and the citizens at once made common cause with the newly arrived soldiers. Caesar hastily collected his scattered troops, seized the king and his minister, and entrenched himself in the palace and theater. The war fleet, as there was no time to place it in safety, was burned; and the lighthouse island of Pharos was occupied by means of boats. Thus the way was kept cleared for reinforcements. Orders were at once issued to the commandant of Asia Minor and to the nearest subject countries to send troops and ships in all haste. In the streets the insurrection had free course: fighting went on from day to day; but Caesar could not break through to the fresh water lake of Marea, nor could the Alexandrians master the besieged or deprive them of water. The canals from the Nile were spoiled by introducing salt water, but wells dug on the beach furnished a sufficient supply. The besiegers then directed their attention to the sea. The island of Pharos and the mole which connected it with the mainland divided the harbor into a western and an eastern port. The latter, with the island, were in Caesar's power; the former, with the mole, in that of the Alexandrians. The fleet of the latter had been burned, but they equipped a small squadron and attempted, though in vain, to prevent the entrance of transports conveying a legion from Asia Minor. But when, soon after, the besiegers captured the island and compelled Caesar's ships to lie in the open roadstead, his position was indeed perilous. His fleet was compelled to fight repeatedly, and if it should once be defeated he would be completely hemmed in and probably lost. Accordingly he determined to attempt to recover the island. The double attack from the sea and from the harbor was successful, and both the island and the part of the mole nearest it were captured, and henceforward remained in Caesar's hands. But relief was at hand: Mithradates of Pergamus, who claimed to be a natural son of the old enemy of Rome, arrived with a motley army gathered from all the communities of Cilicia and Syria. He occupied Pelusium, and then marched towards Memphis to avoid the intersected ground of the Delta. At the same time Caesar conveyed part of his troops in ships to the western end of Lake Marea and marched around the lake and along the river to join Mithradates. The junction was effected; and the combined army marched into the Delta, where the young king (who had been released by Caesar in the hope of allaying the insurrection) was posted on 48 B.C. rising ground between the Nile and some marshy swamps. Caesar attacked from three sides at once; the camp was taken, and the insurgents were either put to the sword or drowned; among the latter was the young king. The inhabitants met Caesar on his entry in mourning, and with the images of their gods in their hands implored mercy. The conqueror contented himself with granting to the Jews settled in Alexandria the same rights as the Greek population enjoyed, and with substituting for the army of occupation, which nominally obeyed the Egyptian king, a regular Roman garrison of three legions, under a commander nominated by himself, whose birth made it impossible for him to abuse his position-Rufio, the son of a freedman. Cleopatra and her younger brother, Ptolemy, received the crown, under the supremacy of Rome; the princess Arsinoe was carried off to Italy. Cyprus was again added to the Roman province of Cilicia. The Alexandrian insurrection is unimportant in itself, but it compelled the man on whom the whole empire now depended to leave his proper task for nearly six months. In the meantime accident or the ability of individual officers decided matters everywhere. In Asia Minor Calvinus had been ordered, on Caesar's departure, to compel Pharnaces to evacuate the territories he had occupied, especially lesser Armenia. But Calvinus was obliged to dispatch to Egypt two out of his three legions, and was defeated by Pharnaces at Nicopolis. When Caesar himself arrived, Pharnaces promised submission, but took no steps to relinquish his conquests, in the hope that Caesar would soon depart. But Caesar broke off negotiations, and advanced against the king's camp at Ziela. A complete victory was gained, and the campaign was over in five days. The Bosporan kingdom was bestowed upon Mithradates of Pergamus. Caesar's own allies in Syria and Asia Minor were richly rewarded, those of Pompeius dismissed, as a rule, with fines and reprimands. But Deiotarus was confined to his hereditary domain, and lesser Armenia was given to Ariobarzanes, king of Cappadocia. In Illyria there had been warlike operations of some importance while Caesar was in Egypt. The interior swarmed with dispersed Pompeians, and the Dalmatian coast was bitterly hostile to Caesar. But the Caesarian lieutenant, Quintus Cornificius, was able not only to maintain himself, but to defeat Marcus Octavius, the conqueror of Curicta, in several engagements. During the winter Aulus Gabinius arrived to take over the command of Illyria, and soon began 47 B.C. a bold expedition into the interior. But his army was swept away; he suffered a disgraceful defeat during his retreat, and soon afterwards died at Salonae. Finally, Vatinius, the governor of Brundisium, defeated the fleet of Octavius with a force extemporized out of ordinary ships provided with beaks, and compelled him to quit those waters. But the condition of things was most serious in Africa, where the most eminent of the Pompeians had gathered after the defeat of Pharsalus, and had had ample time to reorganize the war on a large scale. The fanaticism of the emigrants had, if possible, increased; they continued to murder their prisoners, and even the officers of Caesar under a flag of truce. King Juba, in whom was combined all the fury of a barbarian and of a partisan, wished even to extirpate the citizens of every community suspected of sympathizing with the enemy, and it was only by the intervention of Cato that Utica itself was saved. It had been no easy task to fill the vacant post of commander-in-chief. Juba, Metellus Scipio, Varus, the governor of the province, all laid claim to it, while the army desired Cato, who was indeed the only man who had the necessary devotion, energy, and authority. But through Cato's own influence the decision fell upon Scipio, as the officer of highest standing; nevertheless it was Cato alone who confronted the insolent claims of King Juba, and made him feel that the Roman nobility came to him, not as suppliants to a protector, but as to a subject from whom they were entitled to demand assistance. With Scipio the king carried his point, that the pay of his troops should be charged on the Roman treasury, and that the province of Africa should be ceded to him in the event of victory. The The senate of the "three hundred " again appeared, and filled up their ranks from the best or wealthiest of the equites. Warlike preparations went forward with great activity. Every man capable of bearing arms was enrolled, and the land was stripped of its cultivators. The infantry numbered fourteen legions, of which four were legions of King Juba armed in the Roman manner. heavy cavalry, consisting of Celts and Germans who arrived with Labienus, was sixteen hundred strong, to whom must be added Juba's squadron, equipped in the Roman style. The light troops were mostly Numidians, and very numerous, javelin men, and archers mounted or on foot. Lastly there were 120 elephants, and the fleet of fifty-five sail under Varus and Octavius. Money 47 B.C. was provided by the self-taxation of the senate, which included many very wealthy men; huge stores were accumulated in the fortresses, while the open towns were denuded of provisions. An evil star seemed to preside over the African expedition of Caesar. Not only was it delayed by his long absence in Egypt, but the preparatory measures which he set on foot before leaving for Egypt miscarried. From Spain, Quintus Cassius Longinus had been ordered to cross into Africa with four legions, and to advance against Numidia in conjunction with Bogud, king of western Mauretania. But in this army were many native Spaniards, and two of the legions had formerly been Pompeian. Difficulties arose, which were only aggravated by the unwise and tyrannical conduct of the governor. A formal revolt broke out, and was only repressed on the disavowal of Longinus by the respectable Caesarians and on the interference of the governor of the northern province. Gaius Trebonius, who arrived in the autumn of 47 B.C. to supersede Longinus, everywhere received obedience; but meanwhile nothing had been done to hinder the enemy's organizations in Africa. Still more serious difficulties occurred among the troops collected in southern Italy for the African campaign. The majority of these consisted of the old legions which had "founded Caesar's throne in Gaul, Spain, and Thessaly." They were spoiled by victory and disorganized by their long repose in Italy. The tremendous demands made on them by their general had thinned their ranks to a fearful extent, and had left in the minds of the survivors a secret rancor which only wanted an opportunity to break forth. The only man who had any influence over them had been absent, almost unheard of, for a year; and when orders to embark for Sicily arrived the storm burst. The men refused to obey unless the promised presents were paid to them, and threw stones at the officers sent by Caesar. The mutineers set out in bodies to extort fulfillment of the promises from the general in the capital. Caesar ordered the few soldiers in the city to occupy the gates, and suddenly appeared among the furious bands, demanding to know what they wanted. They exclaimed, "Discharge." Their request was immediately granted. As to the presents promised on the day of triumph, as well as the lands destined for them, though not promised, Caesar added, they might apply to him on the day when he and the other soldiers should triumph; in the triumph itself they could not of course participate, they having been previously discharged. 47 B.C. 66 The men were not prepared for this turn of affairs. They had demanded discharge in order to annex their own conditions to their service if refused. They were ashamed, too, at the fidelity with which the imperator kept his word, even after they had forgotten their allegiance, and at the generosity with which he granted more than he had promised. When they realized that they must appear as mere spectators at the triumph of their comrades, when their general addressed them no longer as "comrades," but as burgesses (quirites)-a name which destroyed, as it were, at one blow the whole pride of their past soldierly career-when they felt once more the spell of the man whose presence had for them an irresistible power, they stood for a while mute and undecided, till from all sides a cry arose that the general should once more receive them into favor, and again permit them to be called Caesar's soldiers. After a sufficient amount of entreaty Caesar yielded; but the ringleaders had a third cut off from their triumphal presents. History knows no greater psychological masterpiece, and none that was more completely successful. Thus again the African campaign was delayed. When Caesar arrived at Lilybaeum the ten legions destined for embarkation had not nearly arrived, and the experienced troops were the farthest distant. However, Caesar sailed on December 25, 47 B.C., with six legions, five of which were newly raised. Storms prevented the enemy's fleet from obstructing their passage, but the same storms scattered Caesar's fleet, and he could not disembark near Hadrumetum more than 3000 men and 150 horsemen. He got possession of the two seaports of Ruspina and Little Leptis, and kept his troops within entrenchments, and ready at a moment's notice to reëmbark if attacked by a superior force. But the remaining ships arrived soon afterwards, and on the following day Caesar made an expedition with three legions into the interior to procure supplies. He was attacked by Labienus, who had nothing but light troops; and the legions were soon surrounded. By deploying his whole line, and by a series of spirited charges, Caesar saved the honor of his arms and made good his retreat; but had not Ruspina been close at hand, the Moorish javelin might have accomplished the same result as the Parthian bow at Carrhae. Caesar would not again expose his soldiers to such an attack, and remained inactive till his veteran legions should arrive. In the interval he tried to organize some force to counterbalance the Hist. Nat. III 24 |