[1] Having pushed through Italy in an attempt to reach Pompey and detach him from the Republican leadership, he was unable to prevent them taking ship at Brundisium and fleeing to Epirus.

[7] By this point Africa was held by Attius Varus, who, after fleeing from Auximum during Caesar's march through Italy,[8] had made his way to Utica.

He found the province in a state of limbo, as the propraetor, Considius Longus, had finished his term as governor and had returned to Italy, and his designated successor, Aelius Tubero, had not yet arrived.

[5] To further cement his position in Africa, Varus relied on the support of King Juba of Numidia, a client state, whose father owed his position to Pompey, while Juba himself had a personal grudge against Curio,[9] because, as plebeian tribune, Curio had once proposed a law that would have converted Numidia into a Roman province.

[5] In the interim, Curio had crossed into Sicily, forcing out a leading Republican senator, Marcus Porcius Cato, who fled Syracuse on April 23, 49 BC to join Pompey in the east.

[7] With the opposition in Sicily suppressed with no fighting,[10] Curio decided to remain there, wanting to hear of developments in Spain before committing himself to the African campaign.

Leaving the infantry there with Rebilus, he took his cavalry and rode northward to scout out a camp near Utica, the Castra Cornelia,[13] situated on a hill to the west of the town.

[14] Turning south, he noticed a stream of fugitives fleeing to the safety of Utica's walls, and he decided to attack the crowds to instil panic.

The two forces clashed and the Numidians, unused to close quarters fighting, were repulsed, losing 120 men in the process, as the remainder of the troops retreated to the town.

[15] The next day he ordered his forces to march towards Utica, but instead of heading towards the Castra Cornelia which he had spied out for his camp, he decided to take the offensive and placed himself on a ridge to the south-west of the town.

[15] He urgently sent out his cavalry to impede the Numidian advance, while he impatiently recalled his legionaries from the trenches and began to line them up in battle formation.

[19] Eventually Varus ordered the Numidian cavalry, with support from lightly armed auxiliaries, to cross the valley.

[21] False reports from Utica about Juba's strength caused him to drop his guard, leading to the Battle of the Bagradas River.