pring came, Antony made no move at any
point: the crews that manned the triremes were made up of all kinds of
nations, and as they had been wintering at a distance from him they had
secured no practice and had been diminished in numbers by disease and
desertions; Agrippa also had seized Methone by storm, had killed Bogud
there, was watching for merchant vessels to come to land, and was making
descents from time to time on various parts of Greece, which caused
Antony extreme disturbance. Caesar in turn was encouraged by this and
wished to employ as soon as possible the energy of the army, which was
trained to a fine point, and to carry on the war in Greece near his
rival's supporters rather than in Italy near Rome. Therefore he collected
all his soldiers who were of any value, and all of the men of influence,
both senators and knights, at Brundusium. He wished to have the first to
cooeperate with him and to keep the second from being alone and acting in
any revolutionary way, but chiefly he wished to show mankind that the
largest and strongest element among the Romans was in accord with him.
Therefore he ordered all to bring with them a stated number of servants
and that, except the soldiers, they should also carry food for
themselves; after this with the entire array he crossed the Ionian Gulf.
[-12-] He was leading them not to the Peloponnesus or against Antony, but
to Actium, where the greater part of his rival's fleet was at anchor, to
see if he could gain possession of it, willing or unwilling, in advance.
Consequently he disembarked the cavalry under the shadow of the Ceraunian
mountains and sent them to the point mentioned, while he himself with his
ships seized Corcyra, deserted by the garrisons within it, and came to
a stop in the so-called Sweet Harbor: it is so named because it is made
sweet by the river emptying into it. There he established a naval station
and from there he set out to sail to Actium. No one came out to meet him
or would hold parley with him, though he urged them to do one of two
things,--come to an agreement or come into battle. But the first
alternative they would not accept through distrust, nor the second,
through fear. He then occupied the site where Nicopolis now stands and
took up a position on a high piece of ground there from which there is a
view over all the outer sea near Paxa, over the inner Ambracian Gulf, and
the intermediary water (on which are the harbors near Nicopolis) alike.