Hello and welcome to this episode of Epox, where I shall be continuing and starting to finish,

perhaps not this episode, but starting to finish my narrative of the decline and fall of the Roman

Republic. Now, if you remember last time, we left off just where Pompey had lost the Battle of

Farsallus. So let's pick up the narrative right there. Prutarch writes this in his life of

Pompey. Quote, with his infantry routed in this way, Pompey now could conjecture from the cloud

of dust which he saw what had happened to his cavalry, if you remember, his massive advantage

in cavalry had been negated by a special little trick Caesar had pulled and it effectively

lost him the battle, lost Pompey the battle. What thoughts passed through his mind, it would be hard

to say. He looked beside himself and half crazed and seemed utterly to have forgotten that he was

Pompey the Great. Slowly and without saying a word to anyone, he walked

off towards his camp, as in Homer's description of Ajax. That is the giant warrior Ajax at the

siege of Troy. Plutarch gives us a quote about Ajax from Homer, saying, But Zeus the father

enthroned on higher in Ajax stirred up fear. He slung behind his back,

the shield of seven ox-hired strong, and stood amazed and trembled as he peered among the throng.

So just basically a great warrior who has been beaten and brought low. Plutarch goes on. So Pompey

went to his tent and sat down there speechless. Finally, a number of victorious troops,

Caesar's troops, burst into the camp on the heels of the fugitives. And then Pompey said simply,

What? Into the camp too? And without another word, got up, put on clothes suitable to the state of

his fortunes, i.e. not the military dress of a senator or an imperator,

just normal clones, basically, are disguised, and made his escape. The rest of his legions also fled,

and in the camp itself there was a great slaughter of the servants and the men who were guarding the

tents. Only 6,000 soldiers fell, according to Asinus Polio, who fought in the battle on Caesar's side.

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