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Message: <blockquote data-quote="mmadsen" data-source="post: 282915" data-attributes="member: 1645">Afranius and Petreius need grain to feed their troops, but the port of Tarraco (now Tarragona), where Pompey's fleet could supply them, is a week's march away.  Nearby Ilerda (Lerida), that they just left, doesn't have much grain, but it's close.  They march toward Ilerda.Caesar's troops harry them.  They only make it four miles before they set up a new camp and slaughter their baggage animals for food.  Caesar builds his own camp two miles away and starts surrounding their camp with earthwords -- not so different from how he surrounded Vercingetorix in Alesia.The Pompeians strengthened their defenses and watched the Caesarians work for three days until, at about three o'clock in the afternoon, General Afraniusled his whole army out of camp and formed his units up in battle order....Caesar marched out with his legions and formed up facing Afranius....There the two armies stood, staring at each other in silence, with Spaniard unwilling to fight Spaniard and neither side prepared to make the first move, until the sun went down.Ooh, the tension!The two armies then marched back to their respective camps.Wow.Caesar isn't in any hurry to kill Romans -- or to be accused of killing Romans -- to he takes his time, knowing Afranius has to surrender.Caesar didn't have long to wait.  The next day, August 2, Generals Afranius and Petreius sent envoys to Caesar, seeking a peace conference.  But they wanted the conference to be out of the hearing of their men.  Caesar would only agree to discuss their surrender out in the open, within earshot of the troops...Clever.  Caesar, of course, grants lenient terms to the rank-and-file troops.  They even shout their approval.What I didn't immediately understand was why he merely disbanded the Pompeian units.  They were obviously getting along well with his men.  Well, here's why:On August 4, the men of the 4th and 6th Legions, now disarmed, wer formally discharged by Julius Caesar and told to go home.  The men of both legions had been due for their discharge this year anyway, so this suited them just fine.</blockquote>

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