When, in 49 b.c., Caesar marched some of his troops south into Italy, and thus precipitated the civil war between himself and Pompey (cf. the episode in Lessons 117-125), Pompey was taken by surprise, and retired into Greece. In the decisive battle of Pharsalus, fought there in the following year, Caesar gained the first advantage, driving the Pompeians back to the shelter of their ramparts.
Caesar, Pompēiānīs ex fugā intrā vāllum compulsīs, nūllum spatium perterritīs darī oportēre existimāns, mīlitēs cohortātus est ut beneficiō Fortūnae ūterentur castraque oppugnārent. Quī, etsī magnō aestū fatlgātī —— nam ad merīdiem rēs erat perducta —— tamen ad omnem labōrem animō parātī, imperiō paruērunt.
Castra ā cohortibus, quae ibi praesidiō erant relictae, īndustriē dēfendēbantur, multō etiam ācrius ā Thrācibus barbarīsque auxiliīs. Nam quī ex aciē refūgerant mīlitēs, et animō perterritī et lassitūdine cōnfectī, missīs plērīque
