Kitap 1
74
At their departure the soldiers, getting a free opportunity for conversation, come out everywhere, and each one inquires after any acquaintance or fellow-townsman that he had in Caesar’s camp and summons him forth. First they all express gratitude to the others collectively for having spared them the day before, when they were in a state of panic: To your kindness, they said, we owe our life. Then they inquire about the good faith of the general, whether they would be justified in committing themselves to him, and express regret that they did not do so at first, and that they engaged in a conflict with friends and kinsmen. Stirred by such speeches, the men demand a solemn promise from the general for the life of Petreius and Afranius, fearing lest they should seem to have conceived some crime in their hearts or to have betrayed their party. If these conditions are assured they guarantee to transfer their colours at once and send centurions of the first rank to Caesar as deputies to treat of peace. Meanwhile some bring their friends into the camp to entertain them, others are led off by their acquaintances, so that the two camps seemed already fused into one, and many military tribunes and centurions come to Caesar and commend themselves to him. The same thing is done by the Spanish chieftains whom the enemy had called out and were keeping with them in camp as hostages. These sought for their own acquaintances and guest-friends by whom they might severally have an opportunity of being commended to the notice of Caesar. The youthful son of Afranius also pleaded with Caesar through the envoy Sulpicius for his own and his father’s safety. The whole place was full of rejoicing and congratulation, on the one side of those who were deemed to have avoided such perils, on the other of those who were seen to have wrought such achievements without bloodshed; and Caesar in the general estimation reaped a great advantage from his traditional leniency, and his policy met with the approval of all.
