Julius Caesar and the foundation of the Roman imperial system . CHAPTER XVI. DYRRHACHIUM AND HOEVER would understandthe decisive campaign whichhas made the year 48 landmark in the worldshistory, must first grasp thesituation at its outset geo-graphically and done, he will be ableto pursue the story suffi-ciently in outline, withoutreference to many details which must be omitted inthis chapter. The third book of Caesars Civil Wars,if he is able to read it, will supply these omissions;and he will find no better reading in any militaryhistory, ancient or
Julius Caesar and the foundation of the Roman imperial system . CHAPTER XVI. DYRRHACHIUM AND HOEVER would understandthe decisive campaign whichhas made the year 48 landmark in the worldshistory, must first grasp thesituation at its outset geo-graphically and done, he will be ableto pursue the story suffi-ciently in outline, withoutreference to many details which must be omitted inthis chapter. The third book of Caesars Civil Wars,if he is able to read it, will supply these omissions;and he will find no better reading in any militaryhistory, ancient or modern. Pompeius was in unrestricted command of thewhole eastern half of the Empire, with its militaryand naval resources. His fleets, drawn from Egypt 281. 282 yulius CcEsar. and the Greek ports of the Levant, were cruisingunopposed along the coast of western Greece andEpirus ; his army, reinforced by large and usefulcontingents of archers and light-armed troops fromthe East, was being collected towards the end of in Macedonia, with a view to concentration onthe coast of Epirus opposite to Italy. Here the chiefport was Dyrrhachium, now Durazzo ; and from thispoint ran a great Roman road, the Via Egnatia,across the mountains of Macedonia, and along thecoast of Thrace, to the Hellespont. This road wasthe only land-route from the Adriatic to Asia Minorand the East ; and so long as Pompeius held it in itswhole length, and was master of Dyrrhachium andof the seas, it was practically impossible for Caesar toattack him. He on the other hand might easilyattack or at least blockade Italy, and then proceedto use it as a base of operations for the reduction ofGaul and Spain. / Three facts will here strike the reader: first, thatthe s
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Keywords: ., bo, bookcentury1800, booksubjectcaesarjulius, booksubjectgenerals
