Chapter 3

When Caesar reached Hadrumetum, where his opponents had a garrison commanded by C. Considius. Cn. Piso made his appearance there with approximately three thousand Moorish troops, approaching Hadrumetum with his cavalry along the sea coast from Clupea whereupon Caesar paused for a little while in front of the port, waiting for the rest of his ships to assemble, and then landed his army, which numbered at present three thousand infantry and a hundred-and-fifty cavalry. He then pitched camp in front of the town and established himself without molesting anyone, looting being universally forbidden. Meanwhile the occupants of the town manned their battlements with armed troops, and massed in front of the gate to defend themselves: their numbers amounted to the equivalent of two legions. Caesar rode round the town carefully observing the lie of the land, and then returned to camp. Some blamed him for lack of foresight because he had not originally briefed his pilots and captains about what points on the coast they were to make for, and had not, as had been his own habitual practice on previous occasions, issued sealed instructions to be read at a specified time, so that they could all make for a given rendezvous together. But this was by no means an oversight on Caesar’s part; in fact, he surmised that there was no port on African soil where his fleet could run ashore and which he could count on as immune from the enemy’s protection; and failing that, he was on the watch for luck to present him with an opportunity to land.