Book 3
61
And as they were born in a respectable position and were bountifully supplied, and had come with a great retinue and many animals, and were regarded as brave men and had been held in honour by Caesar, and as the occurrence was novel and out of the ordinary course, he conducted them round all his garrisons for purposes of display. For before that time no one, either of foot or horse, had changed sides from Caesar to Pompeius, though men were deserting almost every day from Pompeius to Caesar, and the troops levied in Epirus and Aetolia and from all the regions which were in Caesar’s occupation were going over as a rule in mass. But these men having an acquaintance with everything, whether there was any lack of completeness in the lines of investment, or whether anything was thought lacking by men of considerable experience in warfare, and after observation of the times of occurrences and the distance between localities, and the varying watchfulness at the outposts, according to the diversities of natural temperament or zeal on the part of the several officers in charge of affairs—all these things they reported to Pompeius.
