Gaius Considius Longus Gaius Considius Longus was a Roman politician and general in the last years of the Roman republic . As a commander in Africa , he fought on the Pompeian side in the Roman civil war and was killed by his own retinue in 46 BC as he attempted to escape after Julius Caesar ' s victory at Thapsus . Life . Considius held the praetor ship at an unknown date , not later than 52 BC , and followed it by governing the province of Africa as " propraetor " . During his administration , in 50 BC , he travelled to Rome to seek the consulship , leaving Quintus Ligarius as his representative . When the Roman civil war broke out , he returned to Africa with other supporters of Pompey . He and P . Attius Varus are described as " legatus pro praetore " in an inscription from Curubis ( modern Korba ) , which they fortified : they would have held the office as subordinate commanders first to Pompey , then , after Pompey ' s death in 48 BC , to Metellus Scipio , who succeeded Pompey to command of the senatorial side against Julius Caesar . Considius held Hadrumentum with one legion and took part in successful operations against Caesar ' s general Curio . By the time that Caesar reached Africa , in 46 BC , Considius had increased his troops to two legions and 700 cavalry . Caesar ' s legate Lucius Munatius Plancus tried to negotiate with Considius , sending a captive to him carrying a letter . Considius asked who it was from . On hearing that it was from " the " imperator " Caesar " , he replied " The only " imperator " of the Roman people at this time is Scipio " and ordered his men to execute the captive and send the letters on to Scipio unread . He undertook ineffective operations against Acylla , a town which had gone over to Caesar ' s side . Shortly after this he was in the town of Thysdra ( modern El Djem ) with soldiers and a retinue of gladiators and Gaetulia ns . It was here that he learnt that Caesar had been victorious at the battle of Thapsus . He left the town secretly , attempting to escape to Numidia , ruled by his ally , Juba I . But underway his Gaetulian retinue killed him for the money he was carrying and fled . Family . The " Bellum Africum " mentions a son : Caesar captured him at Hadrumentum after the battle of Thapsus and spared his life . Theodor Mommsen accepted the view of Bartolomeo Borghesi that C . Considius Paetus , a late republican moneyer , was the same person ; but Michael Crawford , in the most recent catalogue of republican coinage says only " the moneyer is a C . Considius Paetus , not otherwise known " . Literature . Primary sources . Our chief source is the anonymous " Bellum Africum " ( " The African War " ) , also known as " De Bello Africo " ( " On the African War " ) , an anonymous account of Julius Caesar ' s African campaign , which supplements Caesar ' s own account of the civil war and seems to have been written by a soldier who had served under Caesar on the campaign . It is usually included in a larger text along with other accounts of the last stages of the civil war , the " Bellum Hispaniense " ( War in Spain ) and " Bellum Alexandrinum " ( War in Alexandria ) . For Considius ' earlier career we have some information from Cicero ' s speech " Pro Quinto Ligario " ( " On behalf of Quintus Ligarius " ) and the ancient commentary to this , first edited by Jakob Gronovius and so known as the " Scholia Gronoviana " , but now generally cited from the edition of Thomas Stangl .