t of
the senators joined Pompeius at Brundisium, whence they intended to sail
for Greece.

Perhaps only a poet could interpret what was happening, in this time, in
the mind of Pompeius. Lucan thus describes it:

_The Last Phase: the 'Shadow of a Mighty Name'_

You fear, Magnus, lest new exploits throw past triumphs into the
shade, and victory over the Pirates be eclipsed by the conquest of
Gaul; your rival is spurred on by the habit of continuous
enterprise and a success too proud to take the second place; for
Caesar will no longer endure a greater nor Pompeius an equal.
Which of them appealed more righteously to civil war, we are not
permitted to know. Each has the support of a mighty judge; the
gods approved the cause of the conqueror, Cato of the conquered.
They were not, indeed, equally matched. Pompeius was of an age
already failing in decay, and during the long repose of peace and
civil life had forgotten the practice of command; eager to be on
the lips of all, lavish in his gifts to the mob, swayed by the
breath of the people's will, and flattered by applause in the
theatre that he built. Careless, too, of gaining fresh stores of
strength, and relying over much on earlier success, he stands the
shadow of a mighty name; like an oak that, towering in some
fertile field, bears spoils offered by the people of old and
votive gifts of their leaders; no longer cleaving to the earth by
stout roots, it is kept upright by its own mere weight, and
thrusting leafless branches through the air, gives no shade save
from the naked trunk. Yet, though it rocks and soon will fall
before the first blast from the east, though around it so many
forest trees raise their stems unshaken, it is worshipped alone.

Lucan, _Pharsalia_, i. 121-43.

First in leaving Rome and then in leaving Italy Pompeius made fatal
mistakes. Caesar was soon master of Italy, almost without bloodshed.
Within the year he had reduced Spain and Sicily, the Roman granaries,
after severe fighting; built a fleet and sailed for Greece. There he
tried to induce Pompeius to meet him and so come to a settlement.
Pompeius refused.

He believed that his army was stronger than Caesar's. He and all his
friends were full of bitterness, and quite sure of victory. They had,
indeed, every advantage on their side, in numbers and supplies, and
could afford to wear Caesar down by a waiting policy. This was
Pompeius's ow