⚪️ DEVOTION “Gnaeus Pompeius devoted himself to a military life, and inured himself to the hardships and fatigues of war, so that in a short time he was acknowledged as an expert in military matters. Casting off all sloth and idleness, he was always, night and day, doing something or other that was useful for the conduct of the war. He was very sparing in his diet, ate his food sitting, and altogether refrained from baths and other such luxurious activities. He allotted fewer hours for sleep than nature demanded, and spent the rest of the night in the concerns of a general, relating to the problems that he faced during the day; so that, by his habitual planning for the uncertain events of war, he became most accomplished in military activities. And therefore, in far less time than another could have prepared himself to take charge of an army that was already raised, in that time he raised an army, trained them, and disciplined them. And when the news of his remarkable exploits was brought to Rome, everybody at first, reflecting upon his youth rather than on his valour, supposed that the messengers were merely exaggerating in their accounts.” Diodorus Siculus

🟢 STARVING THE CAMPANIANS “Fabius Maximus, having laid waste the lands of the Campanians, in order that they might have nothing left to warrant the confidence that a siege could be sustained, withdrew at the time of the sowing, that inhabitants might plant what seed they had remaining. Then, returning, he destroyed the new crop and thus made himself master of the Campanians, whom he had reduced to famine.” Frontinus: The Strategemata

⚫️ THE MARSI WAR BEGINS “The long smouldering fires of an Italian war were now fanned into flame by the death of Drusus. One hundred and twenty years ago, in the consul­ship of Lucius Caesar and Publius Rutilius, all Italy took up arms against the Romans. The rebellion began with the people of Asculum, who had put to death the praetor Servilius and Fonteius, his deputy; it was then taken up by the Marsi, and from them it made its ways into all the districts of Italy. The fortune of the Italians was as cruel as their cause was just; for they were seeking citizen­ship in the state whose power they were defending by their arms; every year and in every war they were furnishing a double number of men, both of cavalry and of infantry, and yet were not admitted to the rights of citizens in the state which, through their efforts, had reached so high a position that it could look down upon men of the same race and blood as foreigners and aliens.” Velleius Paterculus, Roman History

🟡 ABOUT SICILIAN TOPOGRAPHY “Sicily, then, lies towards Southern Italy very much in the same relative position as the Peloponnese does to the rest of Greece. The only difference is that the one is an island, the other a peninsula; and consequently in the former case there is no communication except by sea, in the latter there is a land communication also. The shape of Sicily is a triangle, of which the several angles are represented by promontories: that to the south jutting out into the Sicilian Sea is called Pachynus; that which looks to the north forms the western extremity of the Straits of Messene and is about twelve stades from Italy, its name is Pelorus; while the third projects in the direction of Libya itself, and is conveniently situated opposite the promontories which cover Carthage, at a distance of about a thousand stades: it looks somewhat south of due west, dividing the Libyan from the Sardinian Sea, and is called Lilybaeum. On this last there is a city of the same name. It was this city that the Romans were now besieging. It was exceedingly strongly fortified: for besides its walls there was a deep ditch running all round it, and on the side of the sea it was protected by lagoons, to steer through which into the harbour was a task requiring much skill and practice.” Polybius, histories