Page "Battle of Pharsalus" Paragraph 13

Caesar knew this would be his last stand as they had run out of supplies and with no lines of retreat they would be at Pompey's mercy and likely slaughtered if they lost the battle.

This " nothing to lose " mentality was played up by Caesar to his men as he explained that defeat meant nothing less than death.

Caesar also deployed in three lines but could only set them to six men deep if he was to match the length of Pompey's line.

Like Pompey he was protected by the river on his left allowing him to position all his cavalry to the right as a counter.

As was typical of Caesar he gambled and began discreetly thinning his already depleted ranks of men then repositioned them as a fourth line to support his cavalry against the inevitable assault by the much larger Pompeian cavalry.

Caesar himself commanded the cavalry, he posted the notorious tenth legion on his right under Sulla, with the undermanned eighth and possibly the ninth on his left under Antonius.

In the center he designated Domitius as the commanding officer.

According to his accounts, he had 80 cohorts on the battlefield, about 22, 000 men.