[-55-]Caesar put side the turbulent spirits among them, not all, but as many as were moderately well acquainted with farming and so could make a living,—­and the rest he used.  This he did also in the case of the rest of his soldiers.  Those who were overbold and able to cause some great evil he took away from Italy in order that they might not raise an insurrection by being left behind there; and in Africa he was glad to employ different men on different pretexts, for while he was making away with his opponents through their work, he at the same time got rid of them.  Though he was the kindliest of men and most frequently did favors of various sorts for his soldiers and others, he bitterly hated those given to uprisings and punished them with extreme severity.

This he did in that year in which he ruled as dictator really for the second time and the consuls were said to be Calenus and Vatinius, appointed near the close of the season.[-56-] He next crossed over into, although winter had set in.  And he had no little success when, somewhat later, he made an unlooked for attack on his opponents.  On all occasions he accomplished a great deal by his rapidity and the unexpectedness of his expeditions, so that if any one should try to study out what it was that made him so superior to his contemporaries in warfare, he would find by careful comparison that there was nothing more striking than these two characteristics.  Africa had not been friendly to Caesar formerly, but after Curio’s death it became entirely hostile.  Affairs were in the hands of Varus and Juba, and furthermore Cato, Scipio, and their followers had taken refuge there simultaneously, as I have stated.  After this they made common cause in the war, trained the land forces, and making descents by sea upon Sicily and Sardinia they harassed the cities and brought back ships from which they obtained[82] arms andiron besides, which alone they lacked.  Finally they reached such a condition of readiness and disposition that, as no army opposed them and Caesar delayed in Egypt and the capital, they despatched Pompey to Spain.  On learning that the peninsula was in revolt they thought that the people would readily receive him as being the son of Pompey the Great; and while he made preparations to occupy Spain in a short time and set out from there to the capital, the others were getting ready to make the voyage to Italy. [-57-] At the start they experienced a slight delay, due to a dispute between Varus and Scipio about the leadership because the former had held sway for a longer time in these regions, and also Juba, elated by his victory, demanded that he should have first place.  But Scipio and Cato reached an agreement as being far in advance of them all, the former in esteem, the latter in understanding, and won over the rest, persuading them to entrust everything to Scipio.  Cato, who might have led the forces on equal terms with him or even alone, refused, first because he thought it