Kitap 3
49
Now the corn was already beginning to ripen, and the mere hope served to lighten the pinch, because they were confident that they would soon have abundance; and remarks were frequently heard from the men in their talks while on sentry duty that they would feed on bark from the trees before they would let Pompeius slip from their hands. Moreover, they were glad to learn from deserters that though the cavalry horses of the enemy were being kept alive, the rest of their animals had perished, and that the men themselves were experiencing bad health, both by reason of the cramped space and the foul stench from the multitude of corpses and their daily toils, as they were unaccustomed to work, and were,also troubled by an extreme scarcity of water. For all the streams and all the rivulets which ran to the sea Caesar had either diverted or blocked by great works; and as the district was hilly and rugged he had dammed the narrow defiles by sinking piles into the ground and heaping up the earth, so as to keep in the water. So the foe were necessarily compelled to keep to the low and marshy ground and to dig wells, and this labour was an addition to their daily work. These springs, however, were at a considerable distance from some of the forts and quickly dried up in the hot weather. On the other hand, Caesar’s army enjoyed excellent health and an abundant supply of water, and abounded with every kind of provision except grain, and for this they saw a better season daily approaching and a greater hope set before them through the ripening of the corn.
