The whole population was,
of course, filled with exultation and joy at receiving such welcome
proofs that Pompey was successfully accomplishing the work they had
assigned him.
[Sidenote: The pirates concentrate themselves.]
The Italian peninsula and the island of Sicily, which are, in fact, a
projection from the northern shores of the Mediterranean, with a salient
angle of the coast nearly opposite to them on the African side, form a
sort of strait which divides this great sea into two separate bodies of
water, and the pirates were now driven entirely out of the western
division. Pompey sent his principal fleet after them, with orders to
pass around the island of Sicily and the south era part of Italy to
Brundusium, which was the great port on the western side of Italy. He
himself was to cross the peninsula by land, taking Rome in his way, and
afterward to join the fleet at Brundusium. The pirates, in the mean
time, so far as they had escaped Pompey's cruisers, had retreated to the
seas in the neighborhood of Cilicia, and were concentrating their forces
there in preparation for the final struggle.
Pompey was received at Rome with the utmost enthusiasm. The people came
out in throngs to meet him as he approached the city, and welcomed him
with loud acclamations.
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