« Dio 49.5 | Dio 49.6 | Dio 49.7 | About This Work »
6Caesar, now, was sending urgent messages to Agrippa to come to the aid of his soldiers in Sicily, and these troops meanwhile were being besieged. And when their provisions began to fail them and no rescuing force appeared, Cornificius, their leader, became afraid that if he stayed where he was he should in the course of time be compelled by hunger to yield to his besiegers; 2and he reflected that while he tarried there in that same spot none of the enemy would join issue with him, because he was superior in heavy-armed troops, but if he should leave his camp in any direction one of two things would happen—either he would overpower the enemy, if they joined battle with him, or, if they declined battle, he would retire to a place of safety, get a supply of provisions, and obtain some help from Caesar or from Agrippa. 3Therefore he burned all the vessels that had been left over from the sea-fight and had been cast up beside the entrenchments, and set out as if to proceed to Mylae. Both cavalry and light-armed troops attacked him from a distance, not daring to come to close quarters, and proved exceedingly troublesome to him; 4for they would not only attack whenever opportunity offered but would also quickly retreat again, whereas his men, being heavy-armed, could not pursue them in any case owing to the weight of their armour, and moreover were endeavouring to protect the unarmed men who had been saved from the fleet. Consequently they were suffering many injuries and could inflict none in return; for, in case they made a rush upon any of them, they would put them to flight, to be sure, but not being unable to carry their pursuit to the end, they would find themselves in a worse plight during their retreat, since by their sortie they would become isolated. 5However, it was during their march forward and especially when they had rivers to cross that they suffered their greatest hardships; for their foes hemmed them in as they hurried along in small groups, as is natural in such a march, and in disorder, and kept raining fatal blows upon them as they chanced to expose themselves, and hurling their missiles at them whenever they stumbled into swamps or flowing streams and were being checked in their course or else swept down stream.
« Dio 49.5 | Dio 49.6 | Dio 49.7 | About This Work »