Caesar, accordingly, compelled as I have said to carry on warfare even in winter did not try to attack Corduba—­it was strongly guarded—­but turned his attention to Ategua, a city in which he had learned that there was an abundance of grain.  Although it was strong, he hoped by the size of his army and the sudden terror of his appearance to alarm the inhabitants and capture it.  In a short time he had palisaded it off and dug a ditch round about.  Pompey, encouraged by the nature of the country and thinking that Caesar because of the winter would not besiege the place to any great extent, paid no heed and did not try at first to repel the assailants, since he was unwilling to injure his own soldiers in the cold.  Later on, when the town had been walled off and Caesar was in position before it, he grew afraid and came with assistance.  He fell in with the pickets suddenly one misty night and killed a number of them.  The ungeneraled condition of the inhabitants he ameliorated by sending to them Munatius Flaccus.  The latter [-34-] had contrived the following scheme to get inside.  He went alone by night to some of the guards as if appointed by Caesar to visit the sentries, asked and learned the pass-word:—­he was not known, of course, and would never have been suspected by the separate contingents of being anything but a friend when he acted in this manner:—­then he left these men and went around to the other side of the circumvallation where he met some other guards and gave them the pass-word:  after that he pretended that his mission was to betray the city, and so went inside through the midst of the soldiers with their consent and actually under their escort.  He could not, however, save the place.  In addition to other setbacks there was one occasion when the citizens hurled fire upon the engines and palisades of the Romans, yet did no damage to them worth mentioning; but they themselves by reason of a violent wind which just then began to blow toward them from the opposite side fared ill:  for their buildings were set afire and many persons perished from the stones and missiles, not being able to see any distance ahead of them for the smoke.  After this disaster, as their land was continually ravaged, and every now and then a portion of their wall would fall, undermined, they began to riot.  Flaccus first conferred with Caesar by herald on the basis of pardon for himself and followers:  later he failed of this owing to his resolution not to surrender his arms, but the rest of the natives subsequently sent ambassadors and submitted to the terms imposed upon each.