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“Some one may say, however, that he has many allies and much wealth. But how have we been wont to conquer the inhabitants of the continent of Asia? The famous Scipio Asiaticus can bear witness, or the fortunate Sulla, or Lucullus, or Pompey, or my father Caesar, or you yourselves, who vanquished the supporters of Brutus and Cassius.

Such were Caesar’s words. After this he formed a plan to let them slip by, intending to fall upon them in the rear as they fled, for he hoped on his own part that by swift sailing he should speedily capture Antony and Cleopatra, and expected that then, when they had made it clear that they were attempting to run away, he could in consequence of their act win over the rest without fighting.

And when they set sail at the sound of the trumpet, and with their ships in dense array drew up their line a little outside the strait and advanced no further, Caesar set out as if to engage with them, if they stood their ground, or even to make them retire. But when they neither came out against him on their side nor turned to retire, but remained where they were, and not only that, but also vastly increased the density of their line by their close formation,

Caesar checked his course, in doubt what to do. He then ordered his sailors to let their oars rest in the water, and waited for a time; after this he suddenly, at a given signal, led forward both his wings and bent his line in the form of a crescent, hoping if possible to surround the enemy, or otherwise to break their formation in any case.

Antony, accordingly, fearing this flanking and encircling movement, advanced to meet it as best he could, and thus reluctantly joined battle with Caesar.

The struggle was not of a similar nature on the two sides, but Caesar’s followers, having smaller and swifter ships, would dash forward and ram the enemy, being armoured on all sides to avoid receiving damage. If they sank a vessel, well and good; if not, they would back water before coming to grips,

Therefore on both sides alike the conflict took on the greatest variety and was waged with the utmost bitterness. For Caesar’s men damaged the lower parts of the ships all around, crushed the oars, snapped off the rudders, and climbing on the decks, seized hold of some of the foe and pulled them down, pushed off others, and fought with yet others, since they were now equal to them in numbers;

As the fight continued equal, Caesar, at a loss what he should do, sent for fire from the camp. Previously he had wished to avoid using it, in order to gain possession of the money; but now that he saw it was impossible for him to win in any other way, he had recourse to this, as the only thing that would assist him.

When Caesar’s forces saw the situation, they at first refrained from approaching the enemy, since some of them were still able to defend themselves; but when the fire began to destroy the ships, and the men, far from being able to do any harm to an enemy, could not even help themselves any longer, they eagerly sailed up to them in the hope that they might possibly gain possession of the money, and they endeavoured to extinguish the fire which they themselves had caused.

Such was the naval battle in which they engaged on the second of September. I do not mention this date without a particular reason, nor am I, in fact, accustomed to do so; but Caesar now for the first time held all the power alone,

There were various important contingents that had already escaped; of these the Romans fled to Antony and the allies to their homes. The latter, however, no longer fought against Caesar, but both they and all the peoples which had long been subject to Rome remained quiet and made terms, some at once and others later.

Caesar now punished the cities by levying money and taking away the remnant of authority over their citizens that their assemblies still possessed. He deprived all the princes and kings except Amyntas and Archelaus of the lands which they had received from Antony,

and he also deposed from their thrones Philopator, the son of Tarcondimotus, Lycomedes, the king of a part of Cappadocian Pontus, and Alexander, the brother of Iamblichus. The last-named, because he had secured his realm as a reward for accusing Caesar, he led in his triumphal procession and afterwards put to death.

As for the senators and knights and the other leaders who had aided Antony in any way, he imposed fines upon many of them, slew many others, and some he actually spared. In this last class Sosius was a conspicuous example; for though he had often fought against Caesar and was now hiding in exile and was not found until later, nevertheless he was saved.

Likewise one Marcus Scaurus, a half-brother of Sextus on his mother’s side, had been condemned to death, but was later released for the sake of his mother Mucia. Of those who were punished, the Aquilii Flori and Curio were most talked about, the latter because he was a son of that Curio who had once been of great assistance to the former Caesar,