Chapter 546: Chapter 414 Confrontation Across the Sea
Caesar also took a special fund that had been preserved for centuries to prevent a repeat of the tragedy when the Gauls sacked Rome in 390 BC.
He eloquently declared that Rome no longer needed this special fund because he had permanently solved the threat of the Gauls.
After resolving the funding issue, Caesar hurriedly led his army to Spain, leaving Mark Antony in charge of Italy.
Although he knew that Mark Antony was not an ideal choice for controlling Rome, there was no politically capable person he trusted by his side. However, since the whole of Italy was under his control, those nobles and financial oligarchs dissatisfied with him dared not act rashly for the time being. Therefore, having the People’s Guardian Antony, his loyal dog, keep watch over Rome was enough.
Vercingetorix, upon learning that Caesar was leading a large army northward heading straight for Gaul, became suddenly tense, thinking his secrets had been exposed.
But soon he got the news: Caesar was heading to deal with Pompey’s army in Spain this time.
The messenger delivering this news to Vercingetorix was a subordinate of Onomabatis, the Commerce Officer of the Nix Kingdom. In recent years, Onomabatis hadn’t just been spending money in Italy buying Gaul slaves but had also planted spies in many significant towns in Italy, and even extended his secret bases as close to Rome as the Port of Ostia, thereby obtaining intelligence for the kingdom.
Vercingetorix eased his mind, but soon he got nervous again.
Caesar had left the Western Fa Province and reached Massilia.
Massilia was a Greek colonial city and had been an ally of Rome for a long time. During his tenure as Governor of Gaul, Caesar showed considerable respect and kindness to this city-state.
But Massilia had close ties with Pompey, shutting its gates tightly and denying Caesar entry.
The people of Massilia also declared to Caesar that they did not understand the complexities of Roman politics and thus decided to remain neutral.
Yet, in reality, they allowed Domitius’s army to enter the port of Massilia by ship.
Alright then, the recently released Amityus brazenly stood against Caesar, and the people of Massilia immediately invited him to command the city defense, preparing themselves for defense.
Caesar was furious at the deceit of the people of Massilia, and considering Massilia as an important port, capturing it could provide strong logistical support to the army fighting in Spain.
However, the walls of Massinia were tall and thick, and it was well-manned, making it difficult to capture in a short time, and time was crucial for Caesar.
Thus, Caesar left a small force under the command of Legion Commander Trebonius to besiege Massilia while he led the main force around the city, heading straight for Spain.
At the same time, he ordered that all tribes in Southern Gaul must dispatch troops to participate in the siege of Massilia and follow the unified command of Trebonius. In the order, he particularly emphasized that the leader of the Avelli Tribe, Vercingetorix, must personally lead the team.
Clearly, Caesar was not entirely assured of Vercingetorix and wanted to test his loyalty.
Having endured so long, Vercingetorix did not wish to let everything fail as dawn was about to break. He not only led his troops to Massilia as quickly as possible but also followed Trebonius’s commands to the letter, causing this Commander to speak highly of Vercingetorix in letters to Caesar.
Caesar arrived in Spain, meeting up with the vanguard troops controlling the Pyrenees Pass. By this time, he had six legions and some auxiliary troops under his command, totaling less than 50,000 men.
Even though Pompey’s army had the numerical advantage, they were locals.
However, the army of Pompey in Spain was commanded by three legion commanders separately. One named Marcus Trentius Varro, a widely respected scholar with many writings (Note: He authored "On Agriculture," published domestically) but not skilled in warfare. The army was mainly commanded jointly by Petreius and Alfrenius. Alfrenius excelled in dance, his military performance mediocre, while Petreius was an experienced veteran, yet due to his low background, he had never independently commanded a large force.
How could these three underlings of Pompey be a match for Caesar? He defeated them completely in just two months, and the remnant troops surrendered to him, bringing the whole of Spain under Caesar’s control.
Upon hearing this news, Massilia also abandoned resistance. Domitius, unwilling to surrender to Caesar, fled by ship.
Meanwhile, Petreius and Avolanus were released thanks to Caesar’s clemency, but their hatred for Caesar did not diminish.
Although Caesar won the war in Spain, he did not feel relieved because his formidable adversary, Pompey, was recruiting heavily in Greece, with his military strength growing day by day.
Therefore, Caesar left Quintus Cassius Longinus in Spain to help him control this newly conquered province.
Like Antony, Longinus was a People’s Guardian, having pledged allegiance to Caesar early on. When serving as Financial Officer, he had served in Spain and was relatively familiar with the situation in Spain.
However, Caesar was rather helpless in suddenly promoting a middle-ranking Roman official to an important position like Provincial Governor because he had no better candidate.
On the way back to Italy, he received terrible news: Little Curio was killed in battle!
This noble youth, who had been a fervent advocate for Caesar in Rome, was ordered to lead troops to Sicily. He easily defeated the unmotivated Cato, gaining control over the whole of Sicily. Then he led his army to North Africa loyal to Pompey, defeating Pompey’s army first and then, due to underestimation, was ambushed by the King of Nubia, leading to the near-total annihilation of his forces, and he himself died in battle.
Additionally, the army stationed in Illyria Province under the command of Antony’s brother Lucius, which Caesar had appointed, was attacked by Pompey’s forces and forced to surrender due to being vastly outnumbered.
These revelations made Caesar determined to engage in a decisive battle with Pompey as quickly as possible. Only by securing victory could he stabilize the entire situation.
Thus, he hurriedly met with the commanders of the Gaul tribes participating in the siege of Massilia, thanked them for their assistance, generously rewarded them with substantial gifts, and allowed them to return home.
Vercingetorix finally breathed a sigh of relief but outwardly appeared full of gratitude.
Upon arriving in Greece, Pompey mobilized human and material resources in the eastern Mediterranean using his connections in the region, providing his soldiers with pay, provisions, and equipment, and recruited allies and auxiliary troops to strengthen his military. In just over half a year, he had nine legions and some newly recruited forces from Greece and Asia, even acquiring a massive cavalry.
His father-in-law, Metellus, who had already arrived in the Syria Province, was even preparing to bring over two legions stationed in the province to aid him.
Pushed by failure to persuade by letters, Pompey had to engage in a series of diplomatic efforts to ensure the Parthians would not threaten the Syria Province with military action.
Pompey invested a lot of time in training this newly assembled army, even personally drilling with the soldiers. Although he hadn’t fought in a battle for thirteen years, everyone admired his boundless energy, and the army gradually took shape under his strict guidance.
During Caesar’s expedition to Spain, some Senators left in Rome decided to end their neutrality and joined Pompey’s forces.
This included Cicero, who was unwilling to remain idle any longer, and yet did not want to participate in the Senate activities controlled by Caesar. Coupled with his deep-seated affection for Pompey, he eventually decided to flee to Greece.
Upon returning to Italy, Caesar first went to Rome to participate in the election for the next year’s Governor.
According to Roman political tradition, the current Governor was responsible for presiding over the elections. However, both Governors had gone to Greece, so Caesar had Legal Officer Libidus appoint him as Dictator to preside over the election, as there was precedent for this.
Caesar naturally succeeded in being elected as the Governor for the next year.
Simultaneously, he utilized his powers as Dictator to enact a series of laws, such as recalling those exiled by Pompey’s special court two years prior, except for Milo. He also restored full political rights to the descendants of Sula’s persecuted enemies. Furthermore, he reduced the high debts of indebted citizens.
This series of measures won him some popular favor.
However, Caesar soon resigned as Dictator and rushed to Brindisi.
His army had already gathered there, totaling twelve legions, and most of them were fully manned, giving him a force of sixty or seventy thousand men, twice as many as before, thanks to Vercingetorix not launching a massive Gallic rebellion which meant his forces suffered no major losses.
Yet, he still faced the same difficulties as before, lacking enough transports to ferry the gigantic army across the sea to Greece in one go.
Moreover, Pompey had assembled a powerful fleet of about five hundred warships, along with numerous smaller ships for reconnaissance, stationed on the East Adriatic Coast, ready to intercept Caesar’s transports at sea.
This fleet was commanded by Bibulus, who had previously served as Municipal Officer and Governor alongside Caesar, and had excrement thrown on him by Caesar’s supporters at a public rally, causing him to refrain from appearing in public in Rome. Bibulus harbored numerous grudges against Caesar and strictly oversaw the fleet, patrolling the Adriatic Sea day and night, vowing to give Caesar a harsh lesson.
And Caesar’s side only had a dozen or so warships, completely incapable of battling Pompey’s fleet at sea.
In the face of such a dire situation, Caesar seemed to have no solution.
For several months in a row, he remained in Brindisi, taking no action.
As time progressed into the new year (48 BC, the twenty-fourth year of the establishment of the Nix Tribe), January being winter, the weather was quite cold, in accordance with Roman military tradition, winter usually meant resting troops, and because there had been no movement at Brindisi for months, Bibulus’s fleet also became less vigilant.