us has in the Latin tongue the meaning
"loss," and so seemed to be very ill-omened for their crossing over to
it.

[-50-] Pompey after taking refuge in this Dyrrachium built a camp
outside the city and surrounded it with deep ditches and stout
palisades. Caesar encamped over against it and made assaults, in the hope
of shortly capturing the palisades by the number of his soldiers: when,
however, he was repulsed, he attempted to wall it off. While he was at
that work, Pompey fortified some points by stakes, cut off others by a
wall, and fortified still others with a ditch, establishing towers and
guards on the high places, so as to render the circuit of the
encompassing wall necessarily infinite and to render an approach
impossible to the foe, even if they conquered. There were meanwhile many
battles between them, but brief ones, in which now one party, now the
other, was victorious or beaten, so that a few were killed on both sides
alike. Upon Dyrrachium itself Caesar made an attempt by night, between
the marshes and the sea, in the expectation that it would be betrayed by
its defenders. He passed inside the narrows, but at that point was
attacked by many in front and many behind, who were conveyed along the
shore in boats and suddenly fell upon him; thus he lost numerous men and
very nearly perished himself. After this occurrence Pompey took courage
and concerted a plan for a night assault upon the circumvallation; as he
was unexpected he captured a portion of it by storm and caused a great
slaughter among the men encamped near it.

[-51-] Caesar in view of this event and because the grain had failed
him,--the entire sea and land in the vicinity being hostile,--and
because for this reason some had deserted, feared that he might either
be overcome while watching his adversary or be abandoned by his other
followers. Therefore he leveled all the works that had been constructed,
destroyed also all the parallel walls, and thereupon made a sudden start
and set out for Thessaly. During this same time that Dyrrachium was
being besieged Lucius Cassius Longinus and Gnaeus Domitius Calvinus had
been sent by him into Macedonia and into Thessaly. Longinus was
disastrously defeated by Scipio and by Sadalus, a Thracian; Calvinus was
repulsed from Macedonia by Faustus, but on receiving accessions from the
Locrians and Aetolians he invaded Thessaly with these troops, and after
being ambushed and then again laying counter-ambuscades co