Narrative in Eighth Book of the " Gallic War " 2 1 



Marcellus entrusted him with the defense of the state. He may 

 have departed for Campania December 7. 



To follow Schmidt's dates, there were at best but five days, 

 December 25-29, after Curio's arrival at Ravenna, in which a 

 courier must travel from Ravenna to the Aeduan country, a jour- 

 ^bney of nearly 540 m. p. Schmidt himself is our best authority 

 ^^that couriers did not usually make better than 50 m. p. daily.^* 

 Furthermore, the twelfth legion leaving camp January i would 

 have had but twenty-nine days in which to travel the 650 m. p. 

 to Auximum. If four or five days be allowed for rest, the daily 

 march would have been 26 or 27 m. p., an impossible rate for so 

 great a distance. 



Caesar says in B. C, I, 7, 7, that he called out the thirteenth 

 legion initio tunmltus. If he sent for the eighth and twelfth 

 legions at the same time, as Schmidt suggests, with probability, 

 initium tunmltus is to be identified, not with Caesar's receipt of 

 news that Pompeius had arrived in Apulia and had assumed com- 

 mand of the two legions, which Schmidt thinks were quartered 

 there at this time, but, as Nissen^° saw, with intelligence of the 

 commissioning of Pompeius by Marcellus in the suburbs of the 

 city. The legions, too, were doubtless at Capua when Pompeius 

 took charge of them December 10 or soon after; it was here, 

 rather than at Naples, that Cicero met Pompeius on that date.^° 

 Pompeius may have sent the legions into Apulia in December, 

 although this is not at all certain. Whether he himself accom- 

 panied them, if they went at this time, would be another question ; 

 hoc iter, Att. VII, 5, 4, may refer to the recent journey of Pom- 

 peius from Rome to Capua. Although Pompeius seems to have 

 qualified his acceptance of the proffered commission," Caesar 

 could feel fully justified in sending for reinforcements upon learn- 

 ing of the arbitrary procedure of Marcellus and Pompeius. If 

 in the course of the next few weeks negotiations looking to a 

 peaceful settlement of his dispute with Pompeius and the senate 



" Note 80. 



**Ausbr., p. 75- 



*'L. Holzapfel, Beitrage, IV, p. 334, 7. 



^'App., 5. C, II, 31. 



