arms on a certain day, he should be declared an enemy.  Upon the consuls putting the question, whether they were of opinion that Pompeius should dismiss his troops, and again, whether Caesar should, very few voted in favour of the former question, and all but a few voted in favour of the latter; but when Antonius[517] on his side moved that both should dismiss their troops, all unanimously were in favour of that opinion.  Scipio made a violent opposition, and Lentulus, the consul, called out that they needed arms to oppose a robber, and not votes, on which the Senate broke up and the Senators changed their dress as a sign of lamentation on account of the dissension.

XXXI.  But when letters had come from Caesar by which he appeared to moderate his demands, for he proposed to surrender everything else except Gaul within the Alps and Illyricum with two legions, which should be given to him to hold till he was a candidate for a second consulship, and Cicero the orator, who had just returned from Cilicia and was labouring at a reconciliation, was inducing Pompeius to relent, and Pompeius was ready to yield in everything else except as to the soldiers, whom he still insisted on taking from Caesar, Cicero urged the friends of Caesar to give in and to come to a settlement on the terms of the above-mentioned provinces and the allowance of six thousand soldiers, only to Caesar.  Pompeius was ready to yield and to give way; but the consul Lentulus would not let him, and he went so far as to insult and drive with dishonour from the Senate both Curio and Antonius, thus himself contriving for Caesar the most specious of all pretexts, by the aid of which indeed Caesar mainly excited the passions of his men, pointing out to them that men of distinction and magistrates had made their escape in hired vehicles in the dress of slaves.  For, putting on this guise through fear, they had stolen out of Rome.

XXXII.  Now Caesar had about him no more than three hundred horse and five thousand legionary soldiers; for the rest of his army, which had been left beyond the Alps, was to be conducted by those whom he sent for that purpose.  Seeing that the commencement of his undertaking and the onset did not so much require a large force at the present, but were to be effected by the alarm which a bold stroke would create and by quickly seizing his opportunity, for he concluded that he should strike terror by his unexpected movement more easily than he could overpower his enemies by attacking them with all his force, he ordered his superior officers and centurions with their swords alone and without any other weapons to take Ariminum, a large city of Gaul, avoiding all bloodshed and confusion as much as possible; and he intrusted the force to Hortensius.[518] Caesar himself passed the day in public, standing by some gladiators who were exercising, and looking on; and a little before evening after attending to his person and going into the mess-room and staying awhile with those who were invited to