The Roman Republic might have seemed indestructible,
but its foundation had been under attack for centuries. Political struggle was replaced by civil strife
and military struggle. And this time the stakes were even higher. The time for talk was over; the Rubicon was
crossed. The fate of Rome would now be decided by two
of its greatest generals - Caesar and Pompey. Thanks to Call of War for sponsoring this
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those who sign up through the link in the description! In early January 49BC Caesar crossed the Rubicon
with the 13th Legion, beginning the Great Roman Civil War, a turning point in Roman
history. Following the crossing, Caesar had moved with
his tell-tale swiftness and quickly seized key locations in Northern Italy in a matter
of days. There was little resistance; these cities
had not been garrisoned to defend against any significant force, and there were many
who sympathised with Caesar against Pompey and the Optimates. As he went, he sent orders to his Gallic Legions
for reinforcements to march south and join him. In Rome itself, there was mass confusion described
by Cicero. Pompey may have thought that if Caesar was
to go to war, he would wait for his Legions from Gaul. He hesitated and did not know whether to defend
Rome, abandon the city and fight in Italy, or abandon the peninsula altogether. If Pompey had reacted quickly, he may have
been able to levy enough troops to defeat him, stopping the war before it truly began. However, conflicting reports kept Pompey in
the dark, and he had no idea that Caesar had just one under-strength Legion with him. Pompey could have levied large numbers in
Italy, but only had two full Legions in the area: the veteran 1st Legion and the 15th. Both had recently been handed over by Caesar
to the Senate to fight a planned war in Syria. The 1st, having been raised by Pompey could
be trusted to fight on his behalf, but the 15th was raised by Caesar and its loyalty
was questionable. Most of Pompey’s best Legions were abroad
in either Hispania or the East. Pompey knew he could not risk being trapped
or forced into a battle he wasn’t prepared for. He had the resources of the Republic at his
disposal and could afford to fight a prolonged war. As a result, Pompey made the difficult decision
to abandon Rome. With him went the majority of the Senate,
including the two Consuls. According to Plutarch, abandoning Rome was
an early blow to the popularity of the Pompeian faction. Cassius Dio gives a much more divisive picture
of the Roman mentality, saying that in doing this Pompey had made an enemy of his supporters. Moreover, in the rush to evacuate the city,
the treasury of Rome and the temple treasures were abandoned. For Caesar, this was ideal. With the city and treasure abandoned, he was
content to bypass it and claim it later, focusing instead on trying to catch Pompey, and capturing
other cities in Italy to cut off support for the Pompeians and rally more men to his cause. Despite this fortuitous start, Caesar also
suffered a blow in these early stages of the war. When the Final Act had been passed by the
Senate, the majority of Caesar’s supporters in Rome, including Mark Anthony and Curio,
had fled to join their general. However, one of Caesar’s lieutenants was
not so eager to abandon the Senate's cause: Labienus. Labienus was still in Gaul when Caesar crossed
the Rubicon, and it’s likely that Caesar would have wanted Labienus to march his Gallic
Legions to Italy and join the fight with him there. Instead, Labienus disavowed Caesar, promising
his allegiance to the Senate, and fleeing Gaul with a personal bodyguard to join Pompey. This was a blow to Caesar personally and militarily,
as Labienus was Caesar’s right-hand man and a highly capable general, comparable even
to both Pompey and Caesar, who was familiar with Caesar’s tactics. Despite Labienus fleeing Gaul, Caesar’s
Legions still followed their orders to move towards Italy. Two of the closest Legions, the 8th and 12th,
were already beginning to cross into Italy to support their general. As Caesar continued his push south, Pompey
began to rally the defences around Capua and raise an army in the South. He still had the veteran 1st Legion, the 15th
Legion had remained loyal to him, and he had ordered many cities to raise levies against
Caesar, quickly building his numbers. However, one man, Domitius Ahenobarbus, decided
to take the initiative against Caesar. Counter to Pompey’s orders he took 30 newly
levied cohorts, equivalent to around 3 Legions to Corfinium, an important crossroads town. By the time Caesar reached Corfinium, the
8th and 12th Legion had caught up with him, giving him 3 battle-hardened Legions. Faced with such a formidable force, the Pompeian
levies lost all desire to fight. They implored Ahenobarbus to surrender, and
he reluctantly agreed. Caesar showed clemency to both the levies
and Ahenobarbus. Ahenobarbus was pardoned, but he quickly returned
to Pompey in Southern Italy to continue the fight. The levies, on the other hand, were made to
swear allegiance to Caesar, forming the 15th, 16th and 17th Legions, swelling his numbers
even further, and reducing Pompey’s without a battle even being fought. He immediately sent these men to prepare for
an invasion of Sicily and Sardinia whilst he continued south. Caesar’s leniency at Corfinium gained him
popularity across Italy, ensuring that there would be no popular uprising against him on
behalf of Pompey, and he was able to raise a further 3 Legions, the 18th, 19th and 20th,
as he marched. Pompey now had to change his plan. He knew that he would no longer be able to
fight Caesar in Italy any time soon. He abandoned his plan of fighting Caesar in
the South, and instead marched his force to Brundisium, preparing to evacuate from the
peninsula. He would go across the Adriatic and into Greece,
where Legions from the East, battle-tested and loyal, would join him, and he would be
able to muster even more men from allies and cities of the East. Moreover, he had numerous legions in Hispania,
and with their help could have encircled Caesar in Italy. But first, he had to escape. Caesar needed to move fast. If he could catch Pompey in Southern Italy,
he would be able to corner and defeat him, much as had happened to Spartacus decades
earlier. As he pursued Pompey into the South, he continuously
sent envoys, insisting he would step down from command if Pompey would do the same. All such offers were refused: Pompey legally
had the authority to command armies, and Caesar was a criminal. The time for negotiations was long gone and
it is likely Caesar himself knew this, so the envoy's true intention was likely to continue
to buy him favour with the populace as he continued to chase the Senate. In early March, Caesar and his 6 Legions caught
up with Pompey at Brundisium. By the time that Caesar arrived, Pompey had
already managed to transport half his force across the Adriatic. Caesar wasted no time, immediately besieging
the city and beginning construction of a breakwater across the harbour to block it. In response, Pompey built large towers on
merchant ships that could fire down on Caesar’s engineers to hamper their progress. The strategy was effective, and Caesar’s
engineers were unable to complete the breakwater in time. Pompey’s navy returned from Greece and,
at night, Pompey was able to evacuate his remaining force from the city. Once in Greece, Pompey marched to Thessalonica. He established his base, levying new Legions
and sending envoys to all the client kings he had made in the East, gathering Roman Legions
and foreign soldiers alike to his banner. Meanwhile, he sent subordinates to Sicily,
Sardinia and North Africa, the three key grain suppliers of Rome. Pompey would mobilise forces from across the
world to effectively besiege the whole of Italy, cutting off the grain supplies and
starving Caesar into submission. It had taken Caesar just 3 months to force
Pompey out of Rome and take Italy. Despite this, Caesar’s initial plan to capture
Pompey and the Senate in the process, ending the war quickly, failed. With Pompey’s escape, and with no ships
to pursue him, the chance for any quick resolution disappeared. Caesar began preparing for a prolonged war. He first marched on Rome, entering in a triumph. Quickly, he convened what was left of the
Senate in Rome, professing his ambition to save the Republic and declaring Pompey an
enemy of the state. He also plundered the treasury and temples
of Rome, allowing him to fully equip the 6 newly acquired Legions, and issued orders
for ships from all the provinces loyal to him to gather at Brundisium. These ships would take at least a year to
muster though, and Caesar could not linger for long. He realised that he could not risk being trapped
in Italy and resolved to secure his western flank. Spanish Legions had a significant number of
Pompey’s best soldiers and posed a threat to Gaul. Furthermore, with Pompey in the East, the
Spanish Legions, though well trained, were in Caesar’s words “an army without a leader”. Caesar would attack Pompey’s force in the
west individually, attempting to defeat them in detail before turning to Pompey. To achieve this, he sent one of the newly
raised Legions, the 16th, under his Legate Valerius to Sardinia, and two Legions, likely
the 15th and 17th, under Curio to Sicily. Together, they were to take control of the
islands and then push into Africa, securing the grain supply. Sardinia was currently held by Cotta on behalf
of Pompey, and Sicily by Cato. Cotta had no real force to speak of, and as
soon as the citizens of Sardinian capital of Caralis heard that Valerius was en route
with a Legion, they ejected Cotta, seeing no sense in attempting to resist the Caesareans. Cotta fled to Africa, and Valerius quickly
took control of the province. Cato in Sicily had attempted to make better
preparations, raising levies across Sicily, but had also not been provided with any Legions
by Pompey. He too saw a fight against two Legions with
his levies as a fruitless task, also deciding to abandon the province, joining Pompey in
Greece. With the islands taken without any resistance,
Valerius and Curio gathered their force in Sicily and prepared for the attack on Africa. Meanwhile, Caesar, after spending less than
a month in Rome, took the newly raised 18th and 19th and began his march to Spain, leaving
Mark Anthony in charge of Rome and the 8th, 12th and 13th Legions in Italy to recover,
with the 20th ready to support Curio if needed. Caesar himself aimed to march through Gaul
to Spain and meet 7 of his Legions along the way. However, Ahenobarbus, who had previously attempted
to stall Caesar at Corfinium, had already been dispatched by Pompey to Gaul and he was
currently on his way to the city of Massilia, an important city on the route to Spain. Caesar arrived at the city before Ahenobarbus
sometime in early April, but found the gates already closed and the Massilians preparing
their defences, calling on local tribes for help and collecting in grain. Caesar attempted to negotiate with the Massilians
who, perhaps stalling for time, stated their neutrality in the war. However, once Ahenobarbus did arrive they
became more proactive, attacking nearby shipping in order to bolster their supplies. With their force numbering approximately 8,000
men, this could have developed into a prolonged siege, something Caesar simply did not have
the time for. He needed to be in Spain, not bogged down
in a siege in Gaul. As such, he left the 3 legions with Trebonius
in control, while Decimus Brutus, who had proved his knack for naval command against
the Venetii, was to command 12 ships. Caesar then continued to Spain with a bodyguard
of approximately 900 cavalry. Another Legate of Caesar’s, Fabius, had
been sent with 3 Legions in advance to make a foothold in Spain, taking control of the
Pyrenean passes. Soon another 3 legions from Gaul, as well
as auxiliaries, joined them. Caesarion forces would have been approximately
25-30,000 legionaries, 5,000 auxiliaries and 6,000 cavalry, all veterans of the Gallic
Wars. Now united, they began to push past the Pyrenees
and into the Iberian peninsula. The Pompeian forces in Spain were just as
formidable. Spain had been assigned to Pompey as his province
to govern, but he had left this responsibility to three of his Legates: Marcus Varro was
more a scholar than a soldier, but Lucius Afranius and Marcus Petreius each had almost
30 years military experience behind them, as well as experience fighting in Iberia during
the Sertorian Wars. Afranius and Petreius would take 5 Legions
plus auxiliaries to confront Caesar, while Varro would defend Further Spain with two
Legions as a reserve. In total, by Caesar’s account, Afranius
and Petreius commanded approximately 27,500 legionaries, 8,000 auxiliaries, and perhaps
10,000 cavalry. The Pompeian forces had encamped in a strong
position on high ground on the west side of the River Sicoris, just outside the hilltop
town of Ilerda which controlled a stone bridge - a key access point into the peninsula. When Fabius arrived with Caesar’s Legions,
he saw that crossing the bridge would be nigh impossible given the Pompeians strong position,
and so constructed two new wooden bridges across the river, 6km apart, and also encamped
on the western bank. As the Pompeians had arrived beforehand, they
had already stripped the western bank of most supplies, forcing Fabius to send foraging
parties across the bridges to the eastern bank. These foraging parties and their escorts often
skirmished with the Pompeian cavalry, but there was no major conflict. However, on one of these occasions, Fabius
sent two Legions across to the east bank to forage, with a strong cavalry escort to follow
and protect the foraging parties, when a sudden storm swept in, destroying the bridge nearest
to the Fabian camp. The cavalry was stuck on the western bank,
with the Legions and foraging party on the eastern bank. Afranius wasted no time in seizing upon such
an opportunity, immediately sending 4 Legions and all his cavalry across the stone bridge
to attack the beleaguered Caesareans. The Caesarean Legions were well trained and
experienced, quickly forming a defensive square on high ground with the foraging party in
the center. Heavily outnumbered, the Caesarean forces
held their formation while being assaulted from all sides by Pompeian infantry and cavalry. Despite their discipline, it would only be
a matter of time before the formation broke and the soldiers were slaughtered. Fortunately, Fabius had also reacted quickly
to the situation, sending another 2 Legions across the river via the second bridge 6km
away. Upon their arrival, the Pompeians broke off
their attack, not wanting to wholly commit without their full force. They returned to camp, allowing the Caesareans
to make an orderly retreat back to theirs. The sources do not give us an idea of how
many casualties the Caesareans sustained, but it is likely given the situation that
they would have been significant, and certainly more than the Pompeians. A couple of days after this engagement, sometime
in June, Caesar arrived at the camp with his bodyguard. Fabius, despite the prior engagement, had
fulfilled his duties well; he had pushed through the Pyrenees, established a foothold, and
kept Afranius in place until Caesar arrived. Nonetheless, Caesar quickly took control of
the situation, finishing the repairs on the first bridge started by Fabius and then going
on the offensive. Leaving just 500 men in the first Fabian camp,
Caesar marched the rest of his force nearer the town of Ilerda, offering battle to Afranius. Afranius did bring his force out of camp,
but held them on the high ground refusing to attack. He was no fool, and would not sacrifice his
strong position so easily. Seeing that Afranius would not be drawn into
a pitched battle, Caesar deployed his Legions in three lines just 200m from Afranius’
camp. The first two acted as a screen whilst the
backline dug trenches as the start of a fortified camp. The plan worked, and Caesar’s force was
able to retreat behind these defences for the night. The next day, he expanded on the defences,
assigning one Legion to each side of the camp, the other 3 acting as a defensive line. Afranius tried to use his force to harass
the workers, but Caesar’s 3 defensive Legions were able to prevent them from doing any real
damage. With the camp now fully fortified, Caesar
ordered the 500 men and baggage from the Fabian camp to join him in the new camp. Caesar soon noted a mound between Afranius’
camp and Ilerda, and determined to take and fortify it, thereby cutting off Afranius from
the supplies in the town. Starving out an enemy by such tactics was
a favoured strategy of Caesar, and he had tried something very similar at Gergovia against
Vercingetorix. Gathering 3 legions, the 9th, 14th and likely
the 10th, he drew them up for battle. Caesar first sent the vanguard of the 14th
to charge the mound, hoping to take it quickly and hold it while the rest of Caesar’s Legions
followed up in good order. However, Afranius was quick to react, sending
his own force to charge the mound. Afranius’ men gained the top first and with
the advantage of the high ground, forced the men of the 14th to retreat back to their standards. Afranius reinforced his men and attempted
to push his advantage, chasing Caesar’s men and beginning to push the now shaken 14th
Legion on Caesar’s right flank. Caesar himself notes how fiercely Afranius’
men fought. Long campaigns against Iberian tribes had
made these men battle-hardened and fierce fighters, who fought in a looser formation
than Caesar’s Legions. Caesar’s right flank began slowly giving
ground, the 14th attempting to retreat to higher ground. Seeing his line on the brink of breaking,
Caesar ordered the 9th legion to support his right flank, pushing back the Pompeian forces. The Pompeians quickly retreated to a stronger
defensive location, taking up positions on the high ground outside the walls of Ilerda. The 9th Legion, thinking the Pompeians were
routing, pursued them, but quickly found themselves caught in a precarious situation. The slope of the hill that Ilerda was situated
on was narrow, funneling the 9th, and exposing them to a hail of missiles from the Pompeians
on the high ground. The fighting was bitter, with each force sending
reinforcing cohorts to refresh the front lines. For 5 hours the two forces struggled on the
slope below the town. In a last bid to salvage the situation, Caesar
ordered his infantry to charge the lines, pushing over the crest of the slope and forcing
the Pompeians against the walls of the city. With the crest of the slope gained, Caesar’s
cavalry was finally allowed room to maneuver, and charged between the forces, allowing Caesar’s
Legions to retreat in good order to their camp. In Caesar’s account, he portrays this as
a draw, saying 70 of his men died, with 600 wounded, compared to 200 Pompeiians dead. The reality is that Caesar lost the day. Given the situation that Caesar’s Legions
were fighting in and their need to retreat, it is far more likely that Caesar’s men
suffered more casualties. Moreover, Caesar had failed to take the mound
as he had originally hoped. Instead, by the end of the day, the Pompeians
held and fortified the mound. This was Caesar’s first fight against other
Roman Legions. He had underestimated them, overcommitted
his forces, and paid the consequences. Caesar’s situation then continued to worsen. A second storm brought a huge flood down the
river, destroying both the bridges constructed by himself and Fabius. Caesar was cut off from his supply line, and
the supplies he did have were dwindling. Afranius, on the other hand, had an abundance
of supplies he had collected in Ilerda prior to Fabius’ arrival, as well as control of
the Ilerdan stone bridge. Caesar did have supplies and almost 6,000
auxiliary reinforcements of archers and cavalry en route from Gaul, but with control of the
bridge, Afranius was able to send 3 Legions to attack them, killing 200 and forcing the
rest to make camp on high ground. For the time being, the situation for Caesar
was precarious. His army had, so far, had the worst of the
fighting, was running low on food, and was cut off from reinforcements. Afranius even sent messages to Varro, declaring
the war to be almost won. However, if there was one person who could
turn such a disaster into a victory, it would be Caesar, and in the next episode we will
learn how he found a way out of this predicament. The sponsor of this video Call of War allows
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