Generals, however, are prone to magnify the military grandeur of their exploits by overrating the strength with which they had to contend, and under-estimating their own.

We are therefore to receive with some distrust the statements made by Caesar and his partisans; and as for Pompey's story, the total and irreparable ruin in which he himself and all who adhered to him were entirely overwhelmed immediately after the battle, prevented its being ever told.
[Sidenote: Appearance of Pompey's camp.] [Sidenote: Pompey's tent.] In the rear of the plain where Pompey's lines were extended was the camp from which the army had been drawn out to prepare for the battle.

The camp fires of the preceding night were moldering away, for it was a warm summer morning; the intrenchments were guarded, and the tents, now nearly empty, stood extended in long rows within the inclosure.

In the midst of them was the magnificent pavilion of the general, furnished with every imaginable article of luxury and splendor.

Attendants were busy here and there, some rearranging what had been left in disorder by the call to arms by which the troops had been summoned from their places of rest, and others providing refreshments-and food for their victorious comrades when they should return from the battle.