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''See also:'' Julius Caesar ''See also:'' Pompey The Roman civil war of 49 BC , sometimes called "Caesar's Civil War", is viewed by some as the last conflict of the Roman Republic . It was a series of political and military confrontations between Julius Caesar , his political supporters, and his Legions , against the traditionalist conservative faction in the Roman Senate , sometimes known as the Optimates , backed by the legions of Pompey . Many historians view the war as a logical result of a long process of Political Subversion of the political institutions of the Roman government, starting with the disastrous career of Tiberius Gracchus , and continuing with the Marian Reforms of the legions, the bloody Dictatorship of Lucius Cornelius Sulla , and finally the sway of the First Triumvirate over Rome . Whether or not this is true that such events laid the groundwork, it is clear that it was the ego of Julius Caeser that took advantage of the opportunity put in place by this devolution of Roman political affairs. After a long political and military struggle, between 49 and 45 BC , which would take in battles in Italia , Greece , Egypt , Africa , and Hispania , Caesar finally defeated the last of the traditional faction of the Roman senate at the Battle Of Munda . To some historians the Civil War , and the brief dictatorial rule of Caesar over Rome before his assassination, marks the end of the Roman Republic , and the beginning of the Roman Empire . Whether we chose ''this'' particular moment in history and the point of transition or not, Caesar's civil war and its resulting changes in Roman government, all but swept away the political traditions of the republic. It was a blow that the republic would never recover from. THE POLTICAL/MILITARY SITUATION PRECEDING THE WAR See Also: First Triumvirate The First Triumvirate , consisting of Julius Caesar , Crassus , and Pompey , came to power in 59 BC when Caesar was elected Consul . The Triumvirate reform program was enacted and Caesar got himself appointed Governor of Illyricum and Gaul . After the First Triumvirate ended, the senate supported Pompey, who became sole consul in 52 BC . Meanwhile, Caesar had become a military hero as well as a champion of the people. The Senate feared him and wanted him to give up his army, knowing that he hoped to be consul when his term in Gaul expired. In December 50 BC , Caesar wrote to the senate saying that he would give up his army if Pompey would give up his. The senate heard the letter with fury and demanded that Caesar disband his army at once or be declared an enemy of the people—an illegal bill, for Caesar was entitled to keep his army until his term was up. Two Tribune s faithful to Caesar, Marcus Antonius (Mark Anthony) and Quintus Cassius Longinus vetoed the bill and were quickly expelled from the senate. They fled to Caesar, who assembled his army and asked for the support of the soldiers against the senate. The army called for action. In 50 BC , the Senate, led by Pompey, ordered Caesar to return to Rome and disband his army because his term as Proconsul had finished. Moreover, the Senate forbade Caesar to stand for a second consulship ''in absentia''. Caesar thought he would be prosecuted and politically marginalized if he entered Rome without the immunity enjoyed by a Consul or without the power of his army. Pompey accused Caesar of insubordination and treason. THE CIVIL WAR Crossing the Rubicon On January 10 , 49 BC Caesar crossed the Rubicon (the frontier boundary of Italy) with only One Legion and ignited Civil War . Historians differ as to what Caesar said upon crossing the Rubicon; the two major competing lines are "Alea iacta est" ("The die is cast"), and "Let the dice fly high!" (a line from the New Comedy poet Menander ). This minor controversy is occasionally seen in modern literature when an author attributes the less popular Menander line to Caesar. The march on Rome & the early Hispanian campaign Caesar's march to Rome was a triumphal progress. The senate fled to Capua . Caesar then proceeded to Brundisium , where he besieged Pompey until Pompey fled (March, 49 BC ) with his fleet to Greece . Caesar then set out at once for Spain , which Pompey's legates were holding, and pacified that province. Returning to Rome, Caesar held the Dictator ship for 11 days in early December, long enough to get himself elected consul, and then set out for Greece in pursuit of Pompey. The Optimates, including Metellus Scipio and Cato the Younger, fled to the south, not knowing that Caesar had only his Thirteenth Legion with him. Caesar pursued Pompey to Brindisi um, hoping to restore their alliance of ten years prior. Pompey eluded him, however, and Caesar made an astonishing 27-day route-march to Hispania where he defeated Pompey's lieutenants. Campaigns in Greece and Africa At Brundisium Caesar collected a small army of about 15,000 men and slipped across the strait to Epirus. On July 10 , 48 BC he met Pompey at Dyrrhachium but lost 1,000 veterans and was forced to fall back and begin a long retreat southward, with Pompey in pursuit. Near Pharsalus , Caesar camped in a very strategic location. Pompey, who had a far larger army, was persuaded to attack Caesar but was routed in an exceedingly short engagement. The Egyptian dynastic struggle See Also: Cleopatra VII Pompey fled to Egypt , where he was murdered by an officer of King Ptolemy XIII . In Rome in the meantime, Caesar was appointed Dictator , with Mark Antony as his Master Of The Horse ; Caesar resigned this dictatorate after eleven days and was elected to a second term as consul with Publius Servilius Vatia Isauricus as his colleague. He pursued Pompey to Alexandria , where he camped his army and became involved with the Alexandrine civil war between Ptolemy and his sister, wife, and co-regnant queen, the Pharaoh Cleopatra VII . Perhaps as a result of Ptolemy's role in Pompey's murder, Caesar sided with Cleopatra; he is reported to have wept at the sight of Pompey's head, which was offered to him by Ptolemy's chamberlain Pothinus as a gift. In any event, Caesar defeated the Ptolemaic forces and installed Cleopatra as ruler, with whom he fathered his only known biological son, Ptolemy XV Caesar , better known as "Caesarion". Caesar and Cleopatra never married. The war against Pharnaces See Also: Pharnaces II of Pontus After spending the first months of 47 BC in Egypt, he went to Syria , and then to Pontus to deal with Pharnaces II , a client-king of Pompey's who had taken advantage of the Romans being distracted by their civil war to oppose the Roman-friendly Deiotarus and make himself the ruler of Colchis and lesser Armenia . At Nicopolis he defeated what little Roman opposition Caesar's Asian lieutenant Domitius Calvinus could muster. He had also taken the city of Amisus which was a Roman ally, made all the boys Eunuch s and sold the inhabitants to slave traders. After this show of strength against the Romans, Pharnaces drew back to suppress revolt in his new conquests. However, the extremely rapid approach of Caesar in person forced Pharnaces to turn his attention back to the Romans. At first, recognizing the threat, he made offers of submission, with the sole object of gaining time until Caesar's attention fell elsewhere; but Caesar's speed brought war quickly, and battle took place near Zela (modern Zile in Turkey), where Pharnaces was routed with just a small detachment of cavalry. His victory was so swift and complete that Caesar himself, in a letter to a friend in Rome, famously said of the short war “ Veni, Vidi, Vici ” (“I came, I saw, I conquered”) - indeed, for his Pontic triumph, that may well have been the label displayed above the spoils. Pharnaces himself fled quickly back to the Bosporus, where he managed to assemble a small force of Scythia n and Sarmatian troops, with which he was able to gain control of a few cities. However, a former governor of his, Asandar, attacked his forces and killed him. The historian Appian states that he died in battle; Dio Cassius says he was captured and then killed.) The later campaign in Africa: the war on Cato In the same year he set out for Africa , where the followers of Pompey had fled, to end their opposition led by Cato . Thence, he proceeded to Africa to deal with the remnants of Pompey's senatorial supporters. He quickly gained a significant victory at Thapsus in 46 BC over the forces of Metellus Scipio (who died in the battle) and Cato the Younger (who committed suicide). The second Hispanian campaign: end of the war See Also: Battle of Munda Nevertheless, Pompey's sons Gnaeus Pompeius and Sextus Pompeius , together with Titus Labienus , Caesar's former propraetorian legate ('' Legatus Propraetore '') and second in command in the Gallic War, escaped to Hispania. Caesar gave chase and defeated the last remnants of opposition in the Munda in March 45 BC . During this time, Caesar was elected to his third and fourth terms as consul in 46 BC (with Marcus Aemilius Lepidus ) and 45 BC (without colleague). AFTERMATH OF THE WAR
CHRONOLOGY
BIBLIOGRAPHY REFERENCES IN ANCIENT LITERATURE Caesar's propaganda He was very concerned to present the war as just and not a crime against the state as his enemies said.
Other works about the civil war historically attributed to Caesar, but whose authorship is doubted, are:
In later literature See Also: Pharsalia MODERN FICTIONALIZED ACCOUNTS
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