Hello, and welcome to the history of Rome, episode 44, Caesar Triumphant.

Last time, we left Caesar in a somewhat precarious position, sorry about that Caesar, on the

far side of the Adriatic with only half his army.

The rest of Caesar's men had been turned back by the naval blockade led by Biblis, who

died denying the second half of his old enemy's army an easy crossing.

Pompey, with his well-supplied and much larger army, now numbering some 45,000, humming

along nicely, he made no attempt to attack Caesar right away, even with the latter's

army at half strength.

He knew that Caesar was in a rotten position, and would soon discover that food for his

men and horses would be hard to come by in this hostile country.

Let the rebels starve.

In the last case scenario, they eventually surrendered, and no more Roman blood is spilled.

Worst case scenario?

They refused to give up, and Pompey's well-fed army crushes Caesar's exhausted and starving

troops.

The smart play was definitely to wait.

The contrasting styles of the two generals could not be more apparent during the coming

campaign in Greece.

Pompey was careful, methodical, and well-organized.

He had no need to take risks, because time and numbers were both on his side.

Caesar, on the other hand, was flying by the seat of his pants, making it up as he went,

and taking wild risks every step of the way.

...