Kitap 1
27
When nearly half the work had been completed by Caesar and nine days had been spent on it, the ships which had conveyed to Dyrrachium the first part of the army and had been sent back thence by the consuls return to Brundisium. On the arrival of the ships Pompeius, either because he was perturbed by Caesar’s siege-works or else because he had originally intended to quit Italy, begins to prepare his departure, and in order to delay with greater ease any sudden attack on the part of Caesar, and prevent his troops breaking into the town at once after his departure, he blocks the gates, barricades lanes and streets, d raws transverse trenches across the thoroughfares, and fixes therein stakes and blocks of wood sharpened at the ends. These he levels over with light hurdles and earth, while he shuts off the approaches and the two routes which led outside the wall to the harbour by planting in the ground huge balks of timber also sharpened to a point. Having made these preparations, he bids the soldiers embark in silence, and places light-armed men, drawn from the reserves, the archers, and the slingers, at intervals along the wall and in the towers. These he arranges to recall at a given signal when all the troops had embarked, and leaves some merchant-vessels for them in an accessible place.
