Civil Wars

At the same time Lentulus, who had been sent to Andriace, the seaport of the Myreans, broke the chain which closed the harbor and ascended to Myra. As the inhabitants obeyed his commands, he collected money in the same way as at Patara and returned to Brutus. The confederation of Lycia sent ambassadors to Brutus promising to form a military league with him and to contribute what money they could. He imposed taxes on them and he restored the free Xanthians to their city. He ordered the Lycian fleet, together with his own ships, to set sail for Abydus, where he would rendezvous with his land forces and await Cassius, who was coming from Ionia, so that they might cross over to Sestus together. When Murcus, who was at Peloponnesus lying in wait for Cleopatra, learned that her fleet had been damaged by a storm on the Libyan coast, and saw the wreckage borne by the waves as far as Laconia, and knew that she had returned home with difficulty and in ill health, he sailed for Brundusium in order that he might not be idle with so great a fleet. He came to anchor at the island lying opposite the harbor, and prevented the remainder of the enemy's army and supplies from passing over to Macedonia. Antony fought him with the few war-ships that he had, and with towers mounted on floats, whenever he sent out detachments of his army on transports and was favored by a strong wind from the land, in order that they might not be captured by Murcus. As he fared badly he called for help from Octavius, who was contending on the water with Sextus Pompeius along the coast of Sicily for possession of that island.

With Pompeius the situation was as follows. Being the younger son of Pompey the Great, he was at first disregarded by Gaius Cæsar in Spain as not likely to accomplish anything of importance on account of his youth and inexperience. He roamed about the ocean with a few followers, committing piracy and concealing the fact that he was Pompeius. When larger numbers joined him for the purpose of pillage, and his force became powerful, he revealed his name. Presently those who had served with his father and his brother, and who were leading a vagabond life, drifted to him as their natural leader, and Arabio, who had been deprived of his ancestral kingdom, as I have related previously, came to him from Africa.[*](See Sec. 54.) His forces being thus augmented, his doings were now more important than robbery, and as he flew from place to place the name of Pompeius spread through the whole of Spain,[*](kai\ o)/noma tou= *pomphi/ou . . . peri/qeonto/s te kai\ meqiptame/nou. Mendelssohn suggests, in place of the second clause, perie/qei e)pio/ntos te.) which was the most extensive of the provinces; but he avoided coming to an engagement with the governors of it appointed by Gaius Cæsar. When Cæsar learned of his doings he sent Carinas with a stronger army to fight him. Pompeius, however, being the more nimble of the two, would show himself and then disappear, and so he wore out his enemy and got possession of a number of towns, large and small.

Then Cæsar sent Asinius Pollio as successor to Carinas to prosecute the war against Pompeius. While they were carrying on the same kind of warfare, Cæsar was assassinated and the Senate recalled Pompeius. The latter came to Massilia and there watched the course of events at Rome. Having been appointed commander of the sea with the same powers that his father had exercised, he did not yet come back to the city, but, taking what ships he found in the harbors, and joining them with those he had brought from Spain, he put to sea. When the triumvirate was established he sailed to Sicily, and as Bithynicus, the governor, would not yield the island, he besieged him, until Hirtius and Fannius, two men who had been proscribed and had fled from Rome, persuaded Bithynicus to surrender Sicily to Pompeius.

In this way Pompeius possessed himself of Sicily, and thus had ships, and an island lying convenient to Italy, and an army, now of considerable size, composed of those whom he had before, and those who had fled from Rome, both freemen and slaves, or those sent to him by the Italian cities which had been proclaimed as prizes of victory for the soldiers. These cities dreaded a victory of the triumvirs more than anything else, and whatever they could do against them secretly they did. The wealthy citizens fled from a country that they could no longer consider their own and took refuge with Pompeius, who was near by and greatly beloved by all at that time. There were present with him also many seafaring men from Africa and Spain, skilled in naval affairs, so that Pompeius was well provided with officers, ships, troops, and money. When Octavius learned these facts he sent Salvidienus with a fleet to come alongside of Pompeius and destroy him, as though it were an easy task, while he passed through Italy himself with the intention of joining Salvidienus at Rhegium. Pompeius advanced with a large fleet to meet Salvidienus, and a naval engagement took place between them at the entrance of the straits near the promontory of Scyllæum. The ships of Pompeius, being lighter and manned by better sailors, excelled in swiftness and skill, while those of the Romans, being of great tonnage and size, labored heavily. When the usual rush of waves through the straits came on, and the sea dashed hither and thither under the influence of the current, the ships of Pompeius suffered less than their adversaries, because they were accustomed to the agitation of the waters; while those of Salvidienus, being unable to maintain their position firmly, or to work their oars, or manage their rudders, by reason of their inexperience, were thrown into confusion. Accordingly, about sunset, Salvidienus was the first to give the signal of retreat. Pompeius withdrew also. The ships suffered about equally on both sides. Salvidienus retired to the port of Balarus, facing the straits, where he repaired what was left of his damaged and wasted fleet.

When Octavius arrived he gave a solemn promise to the inhabitants of Rhegium and Vibo that they should be exempt from the list of prizes of victory, for he feared them on account of their nearness to the straits. As Antony had sent him a hasty summons, he set sail to join the latter at Brundusium, having Sicily and Pompeius on his left hand; and postponing the conquest of the island for the time being. On the approach of Octavius, Murcus withdrew a short distance from Brundusium in order that he might not be between Antony and Octavius, and there he watched for the passage of the transports that were carrying the army across from Brundusium to Macedonia. The latter were escorted by triremes, but a strong and favorable wind having sprung up they darted across fearlessly, needing no escort. Murcus was vexed, but he lay in wait for the empty ships on their return. Yet these returned, took on board the remainder of the soldiers, and crossed again with full sails until the whole army, together with Octavius and Antony, had passed over. Although Murcus recognized that his plans were frustrated by some fatality, he held his position nevertheless, in order to hinder as much as possible the passage of the enemy's munitions and supplies, or supplementary troops. Domitius Ahenobarbus[*](This was the son of Cæsar's enemy of the same name who was killed during the retreat of the Pompeians from the field of Pharsalus. Ahenobarbus is a Latin surname meaning bronze-beard, the equivalent of Barbarossa. The codices contain an amusing series of blunders here. One manuscript has *domi/tios o( a)oino/baros (Domitius not heavy with wine), another *domi/tios a)hnoba/rbaros (Domitius, the bronze barbarian), four others have *domi/tios d' h)=n o( ba/rbaros (Domitius was a barbarian).) was sent by Brutus and Cassius to coöperate with him in this work, which they deemed most useful, together with fifty additional ships, one legion, and a body of archers; for, as the triumvirs did not have a plentiful supply of provisions from elsewhere, it was deemed important to cut off their convoys from Italy. And so Murcus and Domitius, with their 130 long ships and a still greater number of small ones, and their large military force, sailed hither and thither harassing the enemy.