Chapter 13 Volume 3 101-112

101．About the same time, Gaius Cassius arrived in Sicily with the Syrian, Phoenician, and Cilician fleets.As Caesar's fleet was divided into two parts, one half under the command of Pubrius Serpicius at Vibo, and the other half at Mesana under the command of Marcus Pomponius.Cassius rushed to Messana with his fleet before Pomponius knew he was there, and when they met Pomponius there was chaos, with neither guards nor soldiers. With no definite order of battle, and aided by a strong favorable wind, he sent some merchant ships, laden with pine wood, grease, hemp, and other inflammable things, to Pomponius' fleet, and burned them to the ground. Of his thirty-five ships, twenty were decked.This action caused such great consternation that, though Messana had a legion garrisoned there, they could scarcely have defended the town, were it not for the stage-horses that happened to be placed along the way at this critical moment, and brought Caesar the victory. news, many thought it was bound to fall.But the news came so timely that the town had to go on guard again.Cassius left there, and then rushed to the side of Serpicius' fleet in Vipo.The fleet of our army was moored on the shore as before, and Cassius, with the help of the wind, sent several merchant ships ready to burn them, and went down the current, so that the wings of our fleet were burned, and five ships were burned. burnt.When the fire spread more and more due to the strong wind, some soldiers who were originally formed by the veterans and stayed as the guards of the ships because they belonged to the sick, were not willing to endure the humiliation, and they boarded the ships automatically and sailed away from the shore. Attacking Cassius' ships, they captured two quinqueremes, Cassius himself was on board one of them, but he was taken by a small boat and escaped.In addition, two triremes were sunk.Soon after, the news of the battle of Thessalia came, and even Pompey's subordinates believed it, because up to this time, they thought it was fabricated by Caesar's emissaries or party members.Knowing these things, Cassius left the region with his fleet.

102．Caesar thought that wherever Pompey might go in his flight, he should put everything aside and pursue him first, lest he should raise another army and start the war again.He tried his best to cover the distance that the cavalry could reach every day, and ordered a legion to take a short cut and follow up.At Amphipolis a proclamation was issued in the name of Pompey, saying: All the youths of this province, whether Greeks or Roman citizens, must assemble and take an oath of enlistment.But no one can guess what Pompey's plan is. Whether it is to divert people's suspicion, to hide his escape plan for as long as possible, or to use the newly recruited man if no one hinders him. Soldiers, trying to defend Macedonia.He himself moored there for the night, calling a meeting of his party at Amphipolis, and collecting money for the necessary expenses.On receiving the news of Caesar's arrival, he left the place, and reached Mytilene a few days later.There he was held back by a storm for two days, and having added some other galleys to his fleet, he proceeded to Silesia, and thence to Cyprus.There he learned that, with the unanimous consent of all the Antiochians, and the Roman citizens who traded there, they had armed themselves to prevent him from going, and sent messengers to all those who were said to have fled to the neighboring towns. and warned them not to come to Antioch, saying that if they went there would be great danger to their lives.Pubrius Lentulus, who was consul last year, and Pubrius Lentulus, another ex-consul, and others, met the same in Rhodes. As was the case, these men fled to this island when they fled with Pompey, and they were not admitted to the port of this town, and when messengers were sent to tell them to leave these places, they departed unwillingly.It turned out that reports of Caesar's arrival had been sent to those towns.

103．Pompeo learned about these situations and gave up the idea of ​​visiting Syria. He took money from tax-paying groups, borrowed money from some private individuals, and stored a large amount of copper coins for soldiers on board.He armed two thousand men.Some came from the slaves of the tax-payers' houses, some he took from the merchants, and some from those of his wing who thought they were fit for the job.Pompey led them to Pelusion.Over there, it happened that the young king Ptolemy was fighting his sister Cleopatra with a huge force.The king, with the help of his own relatives and friends, had expelled her from the throne a few months earlier.Cleopatra's camp was not far from his camp.Pompey sent to the king, and begged him, for the sake of his association and friendship with his father, to allow himself to enter Alexandria, and to use his power to shield the wretched.But those whom he sent, having completed their task as emissaries, began to talk freely with the king's soldiers, encouraging them to show their loyalty to Pompey and not to despise him because he was down.Many of these king's soldiers were formerly Pompey's men, whom Gabinius brought from his army in Syria to Alexandria, and left them again after the war Now the boy king's father, Ptolemy.

104．Knowing these things, then, those relatives and friends of the king, who were regents because of the king's youth, may have been out of fear, as they later said.Fear that Pompey, after seducing the royal army, will further occupy Alexandria and Egypt, and may also be out of contempt that he is now out of power, because usually when a person is in trouble, even friends turn against each other .These people apparently responded generously to the messengers he had sent, inviting him to come to the king, but a conspiracy was arranged among themselves to send a man of extraordinary boldness, Archie, the king's steward. Lars and a legionary commander, Lucius Septimius, went to kill Pompey.Pompey was greeted very courteously by them, and because Septimius had served as a centurion under him during the pirate war, he had some acquaintances, so he was led to a ship accompanied by some of his own people. The boat was slain there by Achillas and Septimius.Lucius Lentulus was also captured by the king and killed in prison.

105．When Caesar arrived in Asia, he found that Titus Ampius was trying to steal the money from the temple of Diana in Ephesus, so he summoned all the senators of the province to ask They prove the total amount of the sum.But Caesar's arrival interrupts his plans and he slips away.In this way, Caesar saved the wealth of Ephesus for the second time.It is also agreed that, counting down the days, it was the day when Caesar won the battle. At Elis, the statue of victory that was enshrined in front of the statue of Minerva originally faced the statue of Minerva, Suddenly he turned his face towards the gate and entrance of the temple.On the same day, at Antioch in Syria, twice the clamor of a great procession and the sound of bugles was heard, causing the citizens to rush to the city in arms.The same thing happened to Ptolemys.At Pergamon, in that part of the temple which was so secret and hidden that no one but the priests could enter it, which the Greeks called the "forbidden zone," the sound of war drums was heard.And in the Temple of Victory in Tralles - where they once enshrined a statue of Caesar - they can point you to a palm tree that passed through the paving stones that very day Cracks, growing out of the rammed roadbed.

106．After Caesar stayed in Asia for only a few days, he heard that Pompey had been seen in Cyprus, so he guessed that Pompey must have been asking for help because of his friendship with the kingdom of Egypt and other connections there. Egypt rushed.He also went to Alexandria, taking with him a legion which he had commanded to follow him from Thessalia, and another which he had summoned from Achaia under Quintus Zifius, the lieutenant-general. Legion, with eight hundred cavalry, ten ships from Rhodes and a few ships from Asia.Of these legions, there were only about 3,200 men, and the rest were either wounded in battle, or hard labor and long journeys, and did not keep up with the ranks.But Caesar, confident of the prestige of his victories, did not hesitate to go with this meager reinforcement, thinking that for him everywhere would be equally safe.He learned of Pompey's death in Alexandria.There, as soon as he landed, he heard the shouts of the soldiers the king had left there to guard the city, and saw them hurrying towards him, for the consul's flag was held high before him. Ax and stick, all the masses felt that the king's authority was being flouted.When the commotion subsided, the assembled crowd continued for several days.Riots continued and many soldiers were killed in various parts of the city.

107．Seeing these things, he ordered several other legions, adapted from Pompey's troops, to be brought to him from Asia.He was compelled to stay here because he himself was facing headwinds called monsoons which prevented ships from sailing out of Alexandria.At the same time he considered that disputes among the descendants of the royal family concerned the people of Rome and himself as consul, especially his own duties, since in his previous consulship he had passed the decrees of the assembly of citizens and the senators. According to the resolution of the court, an alliance was made with the deceased old Ptolemy.Therefore, he expressed his pleasure to see King Ptolemy and his sister Cleopatra both disband their armies and come to him to settle disputes by law and not to fight each other.

108．Because the king was young, his guardian, a eunuch named Pothinus, presided over the state affairs.At first he murmured and expressed his anger among his friends that his king should be summoned to plead his cause.Afterwards, finding some among the king's courtiers to agree with his plan, he secretly summoned troops from Pelusim to Alexandria, and put at the command of all these troops was Achillas, whom we have already mentioned.Pothinus encouraged and flattered him with his own and the king's promises, and informed him by letters and messengers what he wished him to do.In the will of Ptolemy the elder king, the eldest of his two sons and the older of his two daughters were designated as heirs.In the same will, Ptolemy the Elder, in the name of all the gods, and in the name of the treaty he signed at Rome, demanded that the Roman people make his will come true.A copy of this will was brought to Rome by his emissaries to be deposited in the treasury, but it was not possible to put it in due to the state's troubles, so it was deposited with Pompey.Another copy of the same remains, sealed and kept in Alexandria.

109．When Caesar was dealing with these matters, he especially hoped that he could mediate this royal dispute as a mutual friend and arbitrator of both parties.At this time, news suddenly came that the king's army and all his cavalry were marching towards Alexandria.Caesar's troops were so small that if he had to fight a decisive battle outside the city, he could not believe that they would be able to fight it.The only way left was to hold on to his position in the city, while figuring out Aguilas' plan.He therefore ordered all his subjects to be armed, and encouraged the king to send some of his most powerful friends as messengers to Achillas, and to state his intentions.The king therefore sent to Achillas Dioscorides and Serapion, both of whom had been envoys to Rome, and who had great influence over Ptolemy the Elder.When these two men came before Achillas, he ordered them to be captured and killed, before he could hear them and understand why they had been sent.Among them, one was picked up by his friends shortly after being wounded, pretended to be dead and taken away, and the other was killed.After this incident, Caesar tried to keep the king in his own hands; because he knew that the title of Renmin had a great appeal in the hearts of the people, so that it would appear to people that the war was not fought by the king but by the king. It was launched privately by a small group of bad guys or bandits.

110．The troops on Aguilas' side, no matter in terms of number, background, or combat experience, cannot be underestimated casually.For there were twenty thousand armed men under his command, among whom were the soldiers of Gabinius, who, accustomed to the life and debauchery of Alexandria, had completely forgotten the name and discipline of the Romans. , married wives there, and many had children by them.To these were added robbers and brigands gathered from Syria, the province of Cilicia, and other neighboring regions, and many condemned criminals and fugitives joined them.All our own fugitive slaves could find not only a safe hostel in Alexandria, but also a reliable source of livelihood if they registered to enlist in the army.If any one of them was caught by the master, the soldiers would unite to rescue him, for they were all guilty of the same crime, and to protect their fellows from violence was to protect themselves from the same dangers.According to the old tradition of the Alexandrian army, these people are accustomed to demand the execution of royal officials, plunder the property of the rich, surround the king's palace to increase sales, and even the person on the throne can be driven away by them. Call that.In addition, there were two thousand cavalry.The days of these men have been spent in the many wars of Alexandria, who restored the old Ptolemy, who killed the two sons of Bybulus, who fought the Egyptians, this is them experience of war.

111．Achilles relied on these troops of his, despised Caesar's meagerness, and took all Alexandria except that part which Caesar held with force.On the first charge he tried desperately to break into Caesar's quarters, but Caesar blocked his advance by placing his troops in the streets.At the same time, there was also a confrontation at the port, which led to far more serious fighting.Because at the same time, there are sporadic troops fighting in several streets on one side, and a large number of enemies are trying to seize warships on the other.Fifty of these ships had been sent to support Pompey, returning after the battle of Thessalia.They were quadremes and quinqueremes, and all furnished and equipped with every requisite of navigation.In addition, there are twenty-two warships that have always served as guards in Alexandria Harbor, all of which are also equipped with decks.If they seized these ships and deprived Caesar of his fleet, they would gain control of the port and the whole coast, cutting off Caesar's supplies and reinforcements.The combat, therefore, was fought with such cruelty that it was inevitable that either side should decide its quick victory, and the other's safety.But Caesar succeeded, and burned all those ships, and some that were in the docks, because he could not defend such a vast area with his meager force.He immediately sent his army to the island of Pharos in ships. 112．There is a very tall lighthouse on this island called Pharos, which is a very amazing building, and its name comes from this island.This island is just opposite the city of Alexandria, forming a harbor, but it is connected to it by a narrow road like a bridge. breakwater.There are some Egyptian dwellings on the island, and a village about the size of a town, and it is their habit to plunder, like pirates, any ship which, through carelessness or a storm, has strayed a little from its course.Furthermore, due to the narrow channel here, if these people living in Pharos do not agree, no ship can enter the harbor.Caesar was much troubled by this, and while the enemy was engaged in fighting, he landed an army there, took Pharos, and placed a garrison upon it.Thanks to these measures provisions and reinforcements could be safely brought to him by ship.For he has sent envoys to all the neighboring provinces to demand reinforcements from them.In another part of the city, the two sides parted ways after a close encounter, with neither defeated.The reason is that the place is too small, and not many people died on both sides.Caesar built a fortification around the most necessary strongholds at night.In this part of the city there is a small part of the palace, to which Caesar was originally brought as his personal residence.Attached to this house was a theatre, which was also used as a fortified fortress, with access to the harbor and other docks.In the following days, he gradually raised these fortifications.Let them be like walls against the enemy, lest they be forced to fight against their will.Meanwhile, the youngest daughter of King Ptolemy, wishing to fill the vacated throne, ran out of the palace to join Achillas, and began to preside over battles with him.But soon there was a quarrel between them over leadership, which increased the rewards of the soldiers, as both sides tried to please the soldiers with greater sacrifices.While these things were happening among the enemies, Pothinus, regent of the kingdom and guardian of the little king, who lived in the part of the city occupied by Caesar, was sending messengers to Achillas to urge him not to relax his efforts. , nor be discouraged when his messengers were denounced and arrested, and he himself was killed by Caesar.This is how the Battle of Alexandria began.