"He has done what?!?!?!"

This was Pompeius's reaction to hearing that the men of Antonius were ransacking the city, looking for Porcia.

"This drunken lunatic is going to start a rebellion!"

Pompeius thought to himself. This had become a race for glory; the glory of finding a kidnapped Roman matron. He had a decision to make. He could follow Antonius's lead and let his men loose in the city, he could try to stop Antonius wrecking the city or he could try something else.

After mulling over the size of his force, Pompeius came to a decision. He split his force into two equal parts. The first with two Roman cohorts, an allied cohort and the 100 Roman cavalry would patrol outside the walls to prevent the kidnappers escaping by land. The other two Roman cohorts, allied cohort and 100 allied cavalry would patrol the harbour in case the pirates tried to escape by sea. Also, Magnus placed his fleet on alert.