Narrative in Eighth Book of the " Gallic War" 19 



appears, further, to be no reason for doubting that Petronius^* 

 preserves an historical fact in bringing Caesar into Italy on his 

 second journey by the Little St. Bernard. From B. G., VIII, 55, 

 I, we know that Caesar received the news of Pompeius's commis- 

 sion after arriving in Italy. It is also certain from the same chap- 

 ter that the news came to him before he arrived at Ravenna ; for, 

 however brief the lost portion of Bk. VIII, Caesar's arrival at 

 Ravenna was surely recorded. Caesar therefore met the courier 

 at some point between the Little St. Bernard and Ravenna. Sue- 

 tonius furnishes the information that Caesar held the usual pro- 

 vincial assizes before going to Ravenna. "'^ Since the assizes 

 would naturally be held in the larger towns, and since Caesar 

 would naturally come down the Aemilian road on his way to 

 Ravenna, he is not likely to have been farther east than Bononia 

 when the courier found him. Immediately upon receiving the 

 news of Marcellus's act, we may imagine, Caesar sent the same or 

 another courier on to the eighth and twelfth legions with orders 

 to march. We have to account, then, for the virtually uninter- 

 rupted journey of a courier from Rome to the Aeduan country. 

 The distance from Rome to Matisco via Bononia, Placentia, and 

 the Little St. Bernard, was 750 in. p. or more. Unless a courier 

 made unusual speed he would require at least fifteen days to travel 

 this distance.^** If he arrived at Matisco the evening of December 

 17, causing the twelfth legion to break camp December 18, he 

 must have left Rome not later than the morning of the 3d. The 

 sources are unanimous in representing the suburbs of Rome as the 

 scene of the delivery of the sword to Pompeius. The incident 

 can not be dated later than December 2. 



According to O. E. Schmidt's reconstruction of the chronology 

 of events at the close of the year 50, Pompeius, who had been at 

 Naples for some time past, received his commission from Mar- 

 cellus there about December 13.*^ Upon learning that Pompeius 



'''Sat., 122, 1. 144 ff. ; Desjardins, Geographic de la Gaule romaine, 



I, P- 74- 

 " lul. 30. 



"^ Brief w., p. 201 ff. 

 "^ Ibid., pp. 14-15, 96-100. 



