Caesar left Rome for Hispania in the spring of 49 BC to secure the province and to defeat Pompey's seven legions that were under the command of Marcus Petreius, Lucius Afranius and Marcus Varro. Marching around the coast of Narbonensis, however, Caesar was stopped at the city of Massilia, where the well fortified town had been bribed into supporting Pompey. Caesar arrived on April 19 with three legions and immediately began to besiege the city, but he didn't dare risk being delayed and allow the Spanish legions to either come to the defense or be transferred to Pompey in Greece. He ordered Gaius Fabius to continue on to the Pyrenees to secure the northern passes with three other legions and focused on the siege. The siege itself would turn into a long affair with mixed results. In all, it would end up taking six long months before the town would finally capitulate in October. By July though, Caesar couldn't afford to waste more time commanding an idle siege and had to move on to