The dead of Pharsalos sleep sound; but more than a century ago their battlefield began to walk; and since Leake a dozen scholars in succession have found it in as many different places, over an area of forty miles by ten.
I must apologise for introducing yet another claimant theory, but I have at least aimed also at reducing the total by the abolition of one or two of its wilder predecessors. I propose, then, to summarise the ancient evidence, to state and criticise the theories based on it, and to conclude with a new attempt at solution, checked by walking over the plains of Pharsalos.
Far the first, then, among our authorities stands of course Caesar himself (Bellum Civile, III. 81–98). After the occupation of Gomphoi and Metropolis, all the states of Thessaly, except Larissa, had declared for him. Accordingly, ‘having found a convenient position in the Thessalian plain,’ he sat down there to wait for Pompey and the final decision. A few days later Pompey marched south to Larissa and joined Scipio. When next heard of, their army is encamped opposite Caesar on a hill.