Spain November 46 September 45
Cassius had proved both corrupt and incompetent as governor of Spain, alienating both his own troops and the local population. By the time he was replaced by Caius Trebonius, the situation was almost beyond redemption and the new governor was expelled by mutinous soldiers. Pompey's elder son Cnaeus arrived and was rapidly acclaimed as commander of the rebellious legions. He was soon joined by other Pompeians, including his brother Sextus and Labienus. A huge army of 13 legions and many...
Blitzkrieg the Italian campaign JanuaryMarch 49
The suddenness of Caesar's advance surprised and unnerved his opponents, just as he had intended. Pompey left Rome in the second half of January, declaring that it could not be defended. He was followed by most of the magistrates, including the consuls, who left in such haste that it suggested panic. Many Romans were still uncertain about just how firmly committed each side was to fighting, and this open admission of military weakness made many wonder whether Pompey could really be relied on to...
Secondary sources
Adcock, E, The Roman Art of War under the Republic, 1940. Bishop, M., and J. Coulston, Roman Military Equipment, 1993. Le Bohec, Y., The Imperial Roman Army, 1994. Brunt, P., The Fall of the Roman Republic, 1988. Dupuy, T., The Military Life of Julius Caesar, 1969. Fuller, J., Julius Caesar Man, Soldier and Tyrant, 1965. Gelzer, M., Caesar, Politician and Statesman, 1968. Gilliver, C., The Roman Art of War, 1999. Goldsworthy, A., The Roman Army at War, 100 BC-AD 200, 1996. Goldsworthy, A.,...
Veni vidi vici the Zela campaign
It was not until late May or early June that Caesar finally stirred himself to move. There was bad news from Syria, and he sailed there with Legio VI, leaving the rest of his army to garrison Egypt. After the suicide of Mithridates of Pontus, his son Pharnaces had been left with only a small fraction of the old kingdom of Pontus. Seeing the disorder caused within the empire by the Civil War, Pharnaces decided to seize once more the lost territory, and invaded the old heartland of Pontus....
Primary sources
The Civil War is well documented by the standards of ancient conflicts, but there remain many gaps in our knowledge. The best account is provided by Caesar's War Commentaries in three books covering 49-48, supplemented by separate accounts of the Alexandrian War, African War and Spanish War written by his continuators. The identities of the latter are unknown, but all appear to have been officers who served with Caesar and witnessed at least some of the events they described. All of these...
Caesars centurions
No personal account written by an ordinary soldier or junior officer survives for the Civil War. In the surviving narratives only a handful of men from the ranks are even mentioned by name, usually because they performed some conspicuous act of heroism. We know that soldiers were primarily recruited from the poorer classes. In normal circumstances most, if not all, were volunteers, but during civil wars many were probably unwilling conscripts. Soldiering had become a career, but the wages were...
Curio in Africa springsummer 49
Curio occupied Sicily without fighting, and then crossed with three legions to Africa, where the governor, Publius Attius Varus had declared against Caesar. The latter was supported by the Numidian King Juba, who commanded a large, if sometimes unreliable army. Curio had little military experience -none at all of high command - and was considered brilliant but unreliable by most contemporaries. His army consisted of troops originally raised by the Pompeians who had This carved stone relief from...
Lesion against lesion
Rome's civil wars split the state into factions, and the army with it. Since there were no ethnic, ideological or social differences between the rival sides, it was inevitable -even more than in any other civil war - that the organisation, tactical doctrine and equipment of their armies was virtually identical. The main strength of the Roman army lay in the legions, units with a paper strength of about 5,000. In theory the legions were recruited only from Roman citizens, but during the civil...
An army without a leader the Spanish campaign AprilAugust 49
The main Pompeian army in Spain was at Ilerda modern L rida commanded by Lucius Afranius and Marcus Petrius. Between them they had five legions, 80 cohorts of Spanish auxiliaries - a mixture of both close- and open-order infantry - and 5,000 cavalry. The other two legions, again supported by auxiliaries, remained far to the west in Further Spain under the command of Marcus Terentius Varro. To face the force at Ilerda, Caesar was able to muster six legions, along with 3,000 cavalry of various...
he First Triumvirate
For nearly two years Sulla ruled as dictator with absolute power and only laid this down when he went into voluntary retirement. Before he did so, Sulla attempted to restore the Senate's position within the Republic, confirming its traditional powers and filling it with his supporters. He passed a law that was intended to prevent army commanders from following his own example and using their legions outside their own provinces without permission. The career pattern cursus honorum followed by...