Moreover, I do not understand how one could have accused Caesar of intending to seize<hr>
supreme power, because not long before when Pompey had asked him to return the troops he had entrusted to him, Caesar had sent them back without hesitation,<hr>
thus showing that he was not afraid to weaken his own forces or to strengthen those of his opponents, and therefore he had no hidden intentions. So where are the great war preparations<hr>
that Caesar would have undertaken for such a grand project? Where are the alliances he<hr>
would have formed in Rome or in other cities? Where are these vast armies, this<hr>
significant number of war machines for the battles he would have to fight or the sieges he would have to endure? No, Lepidus, Caesar did not benefit from any of these things. When Curio and Mark<hr>
Antony joined him, disguised as slaves, and told him of the mistreatments they had suffered at the hands of Pompey and the alarming plans the latter had in view concerning Caesar and the Republic, he had around him only five thousand infantrymen<hr>
and three hundred horsemen. Lepidus, do you really think these troops were sufficient for a conquest of such magnitude? If Caesar had had this intention, he would undoubtedly have<hr>
raised a stronger army and would have found pretexts to do so. He was too wise to undertake such a task without having long sought the means to succeed. Thus, his crossing at this famous stream, made famous by his passage, was not the result of a premeditated action. It was rather a consequence of his anger, shame, and disappointment, accompanied by a fervent desire to take revenge on his enemy and to annihilate a man who not only wanted to destroy him, but also the Republic. So he left without any premeditation, and with the gods as guides, he became master of Italy in sixty days without spilling the blood of his fellow citizens. Regarding Pompey, his conduct clearly showed that his conscience's remorse made him lose his mind. It was no longer that great Pompey who, when he had only legitimate intentions and served the Republic, demonstrated as much prudence as courage. He lost both at this meeting, for even though he had many more soldiers than Caesar and he was in Rome, as soon as he learned that Caesar had crossed the Rubicon, he hurriedly fled without even taking the time to make sacrifices to the gods to appease this upheaval. Pompey was surprised at the lack of support, his past misdeeds having made this flight difficult for him. In this great chaos, several people lost the respect they always had for him. It is remembered that he had once declared that by stamping his foot on the ground, he would bring up soldiers. This way of speaking, which smelled of tyranny, was reproached to him, and one of the influential men of Rome, seeing his astonishment, said to him with a lot of audacity: "Stamp the ground now to increase your army and face Caesar." His ambition and injustice also condemned him, and the things said against him during this flight clearly show that Pompey was the tyrant and that Caesar was the defender. Indeed, as soon as he arrived in Rome, he treated all the senators humanely,

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