There had been a solemn taking of
oaths again. Labienus swore that he would not return to the camp except as
a conqueror; so swore Pompey; so swore Lentulus, Scipio, Domitius; so
swore all the rest. They had reason for their high spirits. Pompey had
forty-seven thousand Roman infantry, not including his allies, and seven
thousand cavalry. Caesar had but twenty-two thousand, and of horse only a
thousand. Pompey's position was carefully chosen. His right wing was
covered by the Enipeus, the opposite bank of which was steep and wooded.
His left spread out into the open plain of Pharsalia. His plan of battle
was to send forward his cavalry outside over the open ground, with clouds
of archers and slingers, to scatter Caesar's horse, and then to wheel
round and envelop his legions. Thus he had thought they would lose heart
and scatter at the first shock. Caesar had foreseen what Pompey would
attempt to do. His own scanty cavalry, mostly Gauls and Germans, would, he
well knew, be unequal to the weight which would be thrown on them. He had
trained an equal number of picked active men to fight in their ranks, and
had thus doubled their strength. Fearing that this might be not enough, he
had taken another precaution. The usual Roman formation in battle was in
triple line. Caesar had formed a fourth line of cohorts specially selected
to engage the cavalry; and on them, he said, in giving them their
instructions, the result of the action would probably depend.
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