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32Meanwhile Caesar, too, with a few men suddenly came up unexpectedly, not only to Pompey’s followers, but even to his own soldiers. For he had employed such speed in crossing over that he appeared to both his adherents and his opponents before they had even heard that he was in Spain at all. 2He hoped by this very circumstance and by his mere presence to alarm Pompey and in particular to lure him from the siege; for most of his army had been left behind on the road. But Pompey, thinking that one man was not much superior to another and feeling full confidence in his own strength, was not seriously alarmed at the other’s arrival, but continued to besiege the city and kept making assaults upon it just as before. 3Hence Caesar left there a few troops from among those who had arrived first and set out himself for Corduba, partly, to be sure, in the hope of taking it by betrayal, but chiefly in the expectation of drawing Pompey away from Ulia through fear for this place. 4And so it turned out in the end. At first Pompey left a part of his army in position, and going to Corduba, strengthened it, and then, as Caesar did not resist his troops, put his brother Sextus in charge there. 5After this he failed to accomplish anything at Ulia. On the contrary, when a certain tower had fallen, and that not shaken down by his own men either, but broken down by the crowd that was making a defence from it, a few who rushed in fared badly; 6and Caesar, approaching, lent assistance secretly by night to the citizens, and marched against Corduba again himself, putting it under siege in turn. Then at last Pompey withdrew entirely from Ulia and hastened to the other town with his entire army, accomplishing the desired result. For Caesar, learning of it in time, retired, as he happened to be ill. 7Afterwards, when he had recovered and had taken charge of the additional troops who had followed on after him, he was compelled to carry on warfare even in the winter; for, being housed in miserable little huts, they were suffering distress and running short of food.
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