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As Gnaeus marched, his army either took or destroyed anything of value in the way of food and supplies, including setting small farms and villages to the torch, making it easy to follow their progress by the lines of smoke rising in the air. When Gnaeus reached Urso, the citizens welcomed him, despite the oaths of their elders to Caesar to be loyal to our general. I understand why the citizens of Urso flipped back and forth so; it’s hard to say “no” to a man with a sword in his hand. Nonetheless, it rankled. Gnaeus immediately put his army to work, using the same tactic of taking anything that might be of value to us, stripping the countryside of all usable timber. About six miles east of Urso was another fortress called Munda, situated on the highest of a series of hills that overlooked the plain between the town and fort. Gnaeus built his camp at the foot of the hill on which the fort sat, on the other side of a small stream that bisected the plain. We were approaching from the east, making camp for the night just a few miles away from the plain. The next morning, on the 17th of March, we were about to break camp and move to a better position, when the scouts assigned to watch the Pompeians came galloping in to inform Caesar that finally it appeared that Gnaeus was ready to risk all on one throw of the dice and do battle. He was forming up his army on the plain outside of his camp, so Caesar decided that it was time to end things with Gnaeus once and for all. The red standard was raised outside the Praetorium, followed by the bucina calls summoning the Centurions. Knowing that something was going on, but not knowing what, I passed the order for the men to stop breaking down their tents to don their armor and weapons while I went to the Praetorium.
“Pompey is offering battle, and I believe that this time he means to fight,” Caesar announced as soon as we had all gathered in the forum.
He was standing on a makeshift rostrum, having already donned his scarlet cape, a sure sign that he planned on accepting the challenge. Caesar went on to give us our order of battle, putting us on the right, with the 5th on the left, placing the tirones of the 3rd next to them. Next to us was the 7th, with the men of the 6th occupying the center, along with the 21st and 30th. There was really nothing much for Caesar to say; we all knew what the stakes were, and what needed to be done, so we hurried away to prepare our men for what lay ahead.
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With an army as veteran as ours, it did not take long for us to shake ourselves out into the three-line formation in front of our camp. Across the plain, the ranks of Pompey’s troops were just dark lines at the top of the hill on which the enemy camp was built. This hill was part of a small group of hills, the largest on which Munda was built. Once the men were in their spots and settled down, there were a few moments of delay while we waited for Caesar to make his appearance at the head of the army to give his speech. I took the opportunity to speak to the men, something that I did not normally do, but I had the feeling that we were at the true and final ending of what had become a four-year struggle, and it was happening literally days before the enlistments of the men of the 10th were set to expire.
“I truly believe that this is our last battle,” I said to the assembled men, and I could see that while there were some who looked hopeful, just as many had an expression of disbelief and doubt at my words. Ignoring these men, I continued, “Our time together is almost up and it’s been a long, hard and bloody road that we’ve traveled. Look to your right, and to your left.” I waited as the men did so before speaking again. “Those faces you gaze at are more familiar to you than even your most loved members of your families. Some of you don’t even remember what your mothers and fathers look like. I know this is true because I’ve heard more than one of you say as much around the fires. But for every face that you see, for every man that's here, we can all think of men who are missing, and there are almost two of the missing for every man that's standing here today.” I paused as I felt a lump forming in my throat, and I could see that most of the men were similarly affected, so I knew that I had to finish quickly before I unmanned myself in front of them. “Fight for them today, just as you fight for the man who is standing beside you. Remember them,” I finished, then quickly turned about to face to the front so that the men could not see the tears forming in my eyes.
The silence was thick in the air for a moment before someone started beating his javelin against his shield. In a couple of heartbeats, the rest of the men joined in, destroying the silence with the sound of a few thousand men honoring the dead in their own way. Caesar appeared at the head of the army riding Toes, his cloak billowing behind him as he trotted along the front of the army so that the men could see their general. A rolling cheer followed his progress as he started at the opposite end from where we were standing, then headed towards us. The men were still beating against their shields when Caesar drew near, whereupon they began shouting his name, adding to the din. He pulled Toes up in front of us, then sat there looking out over the men, his face set in what I recognized as his command face; regal, with a touch of arrogant contempt for the enemy. The men, even after all that had gone on between them and Caesar, still loved him, in much the same way a boy in his teen years can simultaneously hate and love his father. They had known nothing but victory with Caesar, and he had made every one of us richer than we had ever dreamed, even if men like Didius had pissed most of their fortunes away. More importantly at that moment though, was the fact that we had always won under his command, and we held no thought that this day would be any different. He let the men demonstrate their affection for several moments before he lifted his hand for silence, though it took a bit longer than normal for the men to fall quiet, causing some of the Centurions to lash out with their vitus.