The assassins of Caesar thought that getting
rid of him will allow them to restore the republic to what it was before, but it was
too late and the assassination only quickened the process of its destruction leading to
new civil wars. In our previous episode, we have described
how these assassins who called themselves the Liberators, led by Brutus and Cassius
managed to build a huge army in the eastern regions of Rome, however their Caesarean enemies,
the second triumvirate of Octavian, Antony and Lepidus built their own forces and were
on their way to Greece for the final showdown. Indeed, the battle of Philippi would decide
the fate of Rome. But of course, when we say ‘Rome’ here,
we really mean its elites and top level organisation. For those toiling in the various corners of
the empire, all this action was just a sideshow to their own tribulations. We can get more of this usually untold perspective
on Roman history thanks to our sponsor, MagellanTV, and their documentary, The Hidden History
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link in the description. The successors to the Caesarean and Pompeian
party, the Triumvirs and Liberators respectively, both had amassed colossal armies. Many of the Legions on both sides had served
under Caesar. Legions that Caesar had located in the East,
likely including the 27th, 31st, 33rd, 36th and 37th, some of whom had been made of Pompeian
forces after Pharsalus and that had later fought with Caesar at Alexandria and at the
Nile. The triumvirs force, on the other hand, boasted
some of Caesar’s longest-serving Legions including the 6th, 7th, 8th, and Caesar’s
favourite 10th. Caesar’s Legions would thus once again determine
the fate of the Roman Republic near a small town in the province of Macedonia called Philippi. In August 42BC Cassius and Brutus were the
ones who held the upper hand. Their army, though smaller than the total
force that the triumvirs could muster, was roughly the same size as the one the triumvirs
had in Greece. Sextus’ presence in Sicily ensured that
part of the Caesarean fleet would always be pinned, giving Cassius and Brutus naval supremacy
in the area. Moreover, the past decades of Civil War had
effectively drained Italy of much of its money and manpower. Cassius and Brutus, on the other hand, had
plenty of both thanks in part to their campaigns against the Lycians and Rhodians, and also
because the East had suffered far less in the previous wars. Lastly, the presence of Murcus and Ahenobarbus
in the Adriatic meant that the triumvirs supply line was precarious, while Cassius and Brutus’
was well secured. They were confident and prepared their forces
for the campaign. The two began by securing the loyalties of
their Legions, paying them a large amount before even beginning the campaign, particularly
to any Legions that had served under Caesar. Cassius made an impassioned speech to the
men, justifying their war. He defended the assassination of Caesar, saying
that “We could no longer endure that one man…should be a law in places of the laws,
a sovereign in place of a sovereign people, an autocrat in place of the Senate’s authority.” Next, he targeted the triumvirs condemning
their tyrannical actions in Rome calling them “leaders of evil men…who proscribe their
own brothers, uncles and guardians first”. Finally, he addressed the men who had served
under Caesar: “Let it give no concern that he has been one of Caesar’s soldiers. We were not his soldiers then, but our country’s. The pay and the rewards given were not Caesar’s,
but the Republics. For the same reason you are not now the soldiers
of Cassius, or of Brutus, but of Rome”. It was an excellent speech. With their Legions' loyalties ensured, the
Liberators began their march into Greece, but first they needed to pass the Legions
of Decidus in the Corpilian Pass, and Norbanus in the Sapaean. Cassius, in a brilliant strategic move, sent
Tillius Cimber, one of the assassins of Caesar, with one Legion to sail around their position,
making sure he was seen doing so. Once he had landed, he made a huge show of
making a number of camps. Norbanus, fearing that a large force had outflanked
him and that he was in danger of being attacked from two sides, requested Decidus to come
to his position so that they could more strongly hold one position. Decidus agreed, marching quickly to Norbanus. The liberators immediately moved through the
now abandoned Corpilian Pass; their feint had worked perfectly. The Sapaean Pass was now well defended though
and would be almost impenetrable. Fortunately, Rhascupolis knew his land well
and told the triumvirs of a route around the pass. It would take 4 days over difficult terrain,
but with little other option, the Liberators accepted the suggestion. Rhascus, however, was also aware of this pass,
spotted the manoeuvre and warned Norbanus of the threat. Realising that his position was now effectively
useless, Norbanus withdrew his force in the night, marching to Amphipolis. So far, the Liberators had been remarkably
successful, bypassing two extremely strong defensive positions without any losses. Knowing that the main triumvir force would
be somewhere nearby, Cassius and Brutus prepared their force for battle near Philippi in Eastern
Macedonia sometime around September 42BC. They encamped on two sets of hills linking
their two camps with a continuous wall, with an open plain in front of them, forest to
their north, gorges and mountains to their rear in the east, and marsh in the south extending
to the sea. To their south east was the port town of Neapolis,
which was acting as their supply base. It was an excellent defensive position. Antony, learning of their position and eager
for the fight, merged his force with the 8 Legions of Norbanus and began marching to
Philippi, leaving Octavian, who had been struck with an illness, in Epidamnus. He encamped on the plain, approximately 1.5km
from the Liberators position. It was an audacious move, his position not
having much in terms of natural defences. Nevertheless, he began the construction of
his own fortifications including palisades, towers and embankments. For days, the two armies engaged in minor
cavalry skirmishes, with little effect. Octavian, carried on a litter, arrived at
the battle, assuming command of half the army. A close friend of Octavian’s, Marcus Vispanius
Agrippa, was likely also in this half of the army, though his precise role is unclear. Determined to force an engagement, Antony
marched the army out of camp. Cassius and Brutus also drew their force out
of camp, but reluctant to give up the high ground, they refused to engage. They have the better defensive position and
planned to wait until Antony’s supplies ran out, starving him into submission. Knowing he must force a battle soon, Antony
sent a detachment of his men to discreetly construct a causeway through the marshes in
order to provide a route behind Cassius’ defences. Cassius, upon seeing this, aimed to head off
the causeway by extending his fortifications and building a palisade through the marshes. With a significant part of Cassius’ force
focused on this task, Antony seized the chance to attack on the 3rd October. He mustered his Legions and charged at Cassius’
defences, aiming at the point where the first wall met with this new palisade. It was an incredibly audacious attack, uphill
and under missile fire, but with many of Cassius’ men caught in the midst of constructing the
palisade, Antony’s men were able to break through the defences, storming Cassius’
camp as Cassius’ men tried to rally an organised defence. At the same time, on the other wing, Brutus’
half of the army, charged across the plain to Octavian’s force drawn up in front of
their camp. Brutus had not given this order, and it is
unclear whether the officers under his command had seized the initiative themselves or if
his men, frustrated at seeing their allies losing, had taken it upon themselves to act. Whatever the cause, Brutus’ Legions overpowered
the 4th Legion on Octavian’s flank and turned on the rest, forcing them to retreat back
into their camp. As they did, a general rout began with many
of Octavian’s men being cut down, and Brutus’ Legions streaming into the camp. Octavian’ tent was found empty, and Octavian
would later write that he had been warned in a dream of the attack and escaped. Pliny, far more believably, claims that Octavian
was carried into the marshes where he hid. Either way, Brutus’ men had been hugely
successful, looting the camp and claiming 3 Legion’s eagles in the process. However, Antony had been equally successful. He had repelled charges from the men working
on the palisade in the marches and completely overrun Cassius’ camp, forcing Cassius to
retreat to high ground. His men also looted the camp, before retreating
back to their position. Brutus and Antony’s Legions crossed the
plain at the same time, but due to the distance between them and the huge amount of dust thrown
up by the forces, each assumed that the other were their allies and did not engage. It was only when the two forces made it to
their respective camps that they realised the truth: the first Battle of Philippi had
ended with both sides having won and lost in different areas of the battlefield. According to Appian, the Liberators had lost
around 8,000 men, the triumvirs 16,000. Cassius, on the high ground and seeing his
camp overran, assumed the battle was lost. A group of Brutus’ cavalry rode to his position
to give him the news of their success. However, Cassius instead assumed that they
were enemies who were coming to capture him. Not willing to risk being taken prisoner,
Cassius ordered his freedman Pindarus to kill him. With his death, the Liberator’s army lost
one its most experienced commanders, and total control of the army passed to Brutus. The same day, news reached Antony that a fleet
under the command of Domitius Calvinus that was transporting 2 Legions and supplies across
the Adriatic had been destroyed by the Liberator fleet in the area. Antony’s supplies would be running out soon,
and he needed to force Brutus into a decisive battle. He marched his army out of camp, hoping to
tempt Brutus out from his defences, but Brutus held firm. With his force now weakened from the previous
battle, however, Brutus tried to consolidate his position by making his defensive perimeter
shorter. In doing so, he abandoned a small hill to
the south that Cassius had previously garrisoned. Antony immediately seized upon this small
advantage, sending 4 Legions to take and defend the hill. Over the next few weeks, more and more Legions
were funneled in this direction, constructing a line of defences parallel to the coast. In a similar style to one of Caesar’s favourite
tactics, he had seized upon this small advantage and was using it to slowly make his way into
a position where he could threaten Brutus’ supply line. In response, Brutus made his own fortifications
opposite Antony’s line. In doing so, he effectively negated his previous
strategy of consolidating his position, finding his defensive line being stretched further
and further. Brutus’ officers, wary of their supply line
and being overstretched, became more and more frustrated with him, losing faith in his command
ability. They demanded that he take action and do battle,
a demand to which Brutus reluctantly gave in to saying “You have chosen to fight…you
have forced me to battle when I would conquer otherwise”. He drew his army out of their fortifications
and prepared for battle in the classic Roman formation of triple lines, placing himself
on the right wing. He also placed more Legions on his right wing
than in his centre and left, stretching the Legions on the left to prevent them being
surrounded. He was effectively hoping to mimic his Legion’s
success in the previous battle by crushing one flank, and then turning on the rest. Antony and Octavian eagerly also drew out
their own forces in a triple axis with Antony on the left and Octavian on the right, their
Legions evenly distributed throughout. There was little manoeuvring or strategy to
the battle, both sides crashing into one another. With veterans on both sides, the fighting
was particularly brutal. Brutus was slowly winning the fight on his
wing, gradually pushing Antony’s back. At the same time though, Octavian’s men,
outnumbering their opponents, were also winning, forcing Brutus’ left flank to retreat step
by step. Whichever flank broke first would decide the
battle. In the end, it was Brutus’ left, overstretched
and outnumbered, that collapsed first. The first line broke and then the second,
triggering a mass rout of the entire left wing. Octavian’s men pressed their advantage,
some storming the camp, others falling upon Brutus’ center and other wing. Brutus’ men, finding themselves almost surrounded,
began to break around him. Brutus was able to cut his way out with four
Legions, retreating to nearby high ground, but the battle had been decisively lost. Seeing his death or capture at the hands of
his enemies as certain, Brutus ordered his friend Strato to kill him. We do not know the number of casualties either
side, though the tough infantry dominant fighting may mean that they were high on both sides. What is known is that the entirety of the
Liberator army that had survived the battle surrendered to Antony and Octavian, the Legions
being divided between the two. Alongside Brutus, many other influential Pompeians
had also died in the battle. Marcus Cato, son of the famous rival to Caesar,
died fighting heroically to buy time for Brutus to escape and was reportedly found surrounded
by many dead enemies. Antony had also made it a priority of his
cavalry to chase the routing enemy, capturing or killing whichever officers and other influential
men they could. Cimber, one of the assassins of Caesar, was
likely one of these men killed. Philippi marked the end of the Liberators. Out of the main ringleaders of the conspiracy
against Caesar, all were gone. Decimus Brutus had been killed by Gallic chieftains
on Antony’s orders, Trebonius had been executed by Dolabella, and Cassius and Brutus were
now both also dead. Cassius had been buried somewhere near Thasos
in secret by Brutus, who had been worried that a public funeral would dishearten the
men. As for Brutus, Suetonius claims that Antony
beheaded his body, planning to display the grisly trophy in front of a statue to Caesar,
but that it was lost in a storm crossing the Adriatic. Suetonius is somewhat known for his exaggeration
and tall tales, however, and other sources say that Antony treated the body with respect,
covering the body in purple, burning it in the Roman custom and sending the ashes back
to Brutus’ wife. While much later sources tend to vilify Cassius
and Brutus, the Roman sources were often rather torn by the two. On the one hand, they had betrayed and murdered
Julius Caesar a man who was already deified and would be further lauded during the Empire
as the ancestor of the first Emperors. On the other, the two were viewed as brave,
virtuous men who had genuinely believed that they had done what was necessary to defend
their country. Though Cassius was the assassin who arguably
had the most personal reasons for hating Caesar, he had also been a man of principles and was
eulogised by Brutus as “the last of the Romans”. He had fought alongside Pompey, had refused
to fight against Pompeians where he had later been taken into service under Caesar, and
genuinely considered Caesar a threat to the Republic. The most active member of the conspiracy,
it is probable that the assassination of Caesar may well have never happened without him,
for better or worse. Appian, in his account, points out how extraordinary
it was that the two could win over even ex-soldiers of Caesar, and motivate them to fight against
both Caesar’s right-hand man and his son. This should suggest to us that Brutus and
Cassius had not been alone in thinking that they truly had the Republic’s best interest
at heart. At the same time, Appian cannot excuse the
assassination and views Brutus and Cassius as tragic figures divinely punished by the
gods for their sacrilege in attacking Caesar. The resistance against the triumvirs would
continue without Brutus and Cassius, but in Appian’s words none would hold “the same
glory…as attended Brutus and Cassius”. The Liberators had been destroyed at Philippi,
but the Pompeian cause overall still persisted. Sons of some of the original leaders such
as Sextus Pompey and Quintus Labienus, son of the prolific Labienus who had served under
Caesar, still resisted the triumvirs. More importantly, the destruction of the Liberators
put Antony, Octavian and Lepidus as the undisputed masters of the Roman world. The three men, who had previously been allied
out of common cause, would soon find themselves in conflict with one another. Rome’s Civil Wars would continue. And if you don’t want to miss any episodes,
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