Julius Caesar - From Rubicon to Rome January 49 BC Following a successful three-year campaign in Gaul, Julius
Caesar camps in Ravenna with his 13th Legion Gemina, while nine
of the legions are still under his command on the other side of the Alps. After months of growing tensions and negotiations between him and Pompey
Magnus who had the support of the Senate, Caesar awaits the next move of
his political opponents. Back in Rome, on the 7th of January, the Roman Senate
convenes outside the city and carries a motion declaring Julius Caesar a public
enemy and appoints Pompey to organize the defense of Italy. At this point
Pompey's main legions were camped in Spain and Greece and his only available
troops at hand consisted of two veteran legions camped in southern Italy, legions
that were sent back home by Caesar the year before at the Senate request. Unsure of the allegiance of those legions as they fought under Caesar in
Gaul for years Pompey orders the levy of fresh troops
across Italy. In Ravenna news on the Senate's decision arrives to Caesar. Faced with a choice between prosecution and rebellion, Caesar mobilizes his
Legion and sends orders to his other legions in Gaul to follow as soon as
they can and three days later, on the 10th of January starts his march
southwards crossing the Rubicon River becoming in effect a rebel against the
Roman Senate. According to Suetonius, Caesar quoted his favorite poet Menander
with the famous phrase Alea iacta est, although this particular moment is
nowhere mentioned in Caesar's own writings. On the 11th of January Caesar
easily captures Ariminum, as the city offered no resistance and joins his side. In the following days, with Ariminum in his hands , Cesar decides to divide his
army in order to advance and secure more territory. Between the 12th and 14th of January, out of the 10 cohorts that comprised his Legion,
five are sent at the command of Mark Anthony to move westwards and capture Arretium. The city surrenders without a fight and
take Cesar's side in the war. At the same time three other cohorts are sent
southwards across the Adriatic coast to capture the cities of Pisaurum,
Fanum, and finally Ancona, each garrisoned with one cohort only as all three cities
welcomed his troops and offered no resistance. Caesar himself remained in a
Ariminum with the last two cohorts of his Legion. The entire region fell to his
sight willingly and in a matter of days he secured the whole area between
Ravenna, Arretium and Ancona. This swift advance of Caesar's troops and the lack
of any resistance from the local garrisons in northern Italy caused
confusion and panic in Rome. Pompey, having his soldiers still stationed far
in southern Italy while other troops still being levied, realizes that he has
no real means to defend the city. On the 17th of January he decides to abandon
Rome and heads to Capua along with the Roman senators in order to check the
levies in the city and to get close to his main army from Apulia. In an attempt
to gain some time he also sends a message to Ariminum informing Caesar
that he is open to negotiations in order to find a peaceful solution.
Caesar receives the message and replies asking Pompey to hold the levies he
started across Italy and demanded a meeting so they can mediate the issue.
While he was still in the Ariminum news arrived that inhabitants of Iguvim
are supportive to his cause. Cesar decides to send his two remaining
cohorts there along with the one from Pisaurum. Few days later they secure the
city, again with no resistance met as the local garrison fled.
According to his own account as he was confident on the loyalty of the people,
Caesar sees no need to further garrison those cities and recalls all the cohorts
of his 13th Legion to form up at Ancona, preparing to continue the advance
southwards into the Picenum region. His new target was the city of Auximum. In Capua, Pompey receives the reply from
Caesar and sends back a final message agreeing to Caesar's term with the
condition that he withdraws from all the cities he captured and retreats to Gaul,
terms that obviously Caesar had no reason to accept. Most likely both sides
sent the message exchange with no real intentions of a diplomatic success but
as a way of gaining time and delaying his opponent. Pompey leaves Capua
continuing his route towards the region of Apulia where his main army was
located. He sends his trusted officer Vibulius
Rufus to Picenum to check the loyalty of the inhabitants of the region. At this point no one really knows what
Pompey's plans are as Cicero describes. His continuous retreat southwards and
lack of response adds to the confusion on the Republican side. In Corfinium,
Domitius, the person appointed by the Senate to succeed Caesar as the governor
of Gaul, unhappy with the lack of reaction of Pompey, decides to take
matters into his own hands. Domitius starts to raise local troops on his own
in order to make a stand and block Caesar's advance at Corfinium. Meanwhile
in Ancona, Caesar with his only legion reformed starts his advance towards Auximum. Hearing of his approach, the city's leaders convince the local garrison to abandon the city in order to avoid a siege. The garrison commander
agrees and withdraws from the city with his 10 cohorts, planning to head south
towards Pompey. The column is intercepted by the
advanced cohorts of Caesar and a small skirmish takes place as the Pompeian
troops refused the battle and flee. Most soldiers deserted and a small part
switch sides and join Caesar's ranks. Auximum falls around the 28th of
January and after thanking it's inhabitants for their actions, Caesar
continues his way in Picenum securing the region, slowly heading
towards Asculum, the main city in the area. On the way he is joined by one of
his legions returning from Gaul, the 12th Legion With his army effectively
doubled to 20 cohorts, Caesar closes in on Asculum. The commander of the local
garrison, a ten cohorts force, also decides to evacuate the city and retreat
southwards to Pompey's troops. On the way most of his soldiers desert
him and flee into the region. The few cohorts remaining in his possession are found by Vibulius Rufus, the officer sent in Picenum by
Pompey. Rufus was accompanied by a small force he collected from the local
garrison's and levies in the area. He added the remaining cohorts from Asculum
to it's force, assembling in total a small army of 13 cohorts. Caesar meanwhile
occupied the city of Asculum and camped there for a day, before continuing his
march towards Corfinium. Knowing that Caesar is closing in,
Rufus quickly marches with his army southwards in order to join with
Domitius at Corfinium. Domitius raised on his own a force of 20 cohorts
from the neighboring area. Around mid-february Rufus arrived at the city,
handing him his 13 cohorts which placed Domitius in charge of 33 cohorts,
more than three legions available to defend Corfinium. Informed that Caesar
is on the way to the city, Domitius dispatches five cohorts to destroy the
bridge over a small river located a few kilometers north of the city, in order to
delay his advance. As Caesars force of two legions was
marching towards the bridge, his forward cohorts arrived just in time and crossed
the bridge, routing the Pompeian troops after a small skirmish. With the bridge
captured and still intact, Caesar starts his march across the river
towards Corfinium. At this point Domitius realizes the opportunity of a
victory for the Pompeian side as the city of Corfinium is located in a
valley surrounded by mountains, Caesar was in a very precarious strategic
position. Domitius writes a letter to Pompey, urging him to send troops on his assistance, pointing out that Caesar could easily be trapped between the two armies and the mountains surrounding the area. Waiting for Pompey's answer, Domitius prepares for the siege, ordering his troops inside the city, placing them along the walls. Fortifications are built and ballistas are placed on the walls in order to oppose resistance to Caesar until Pompey would arrive to reinforce
and attack Caesar's position from the rear. With his army across the river,
Caesar builds a camp close to the city walls, waiting in a defensive position as
he could not start a siege being outnumbered by the defenders. After a few days, Caesar receives word that the population of Sulmo, a city located 10
kilometers southeast of Corfinium decided to join his side. He dispatches Mark Anthony with five
cohorts of the 13th Legion to check the situation of the city. According to Caesar's own description as soon as the inhabitants of Sulmo observed his
troops approaching, they open the gates welcoming them while the local garrison
of seven cohorts willingly surrendered ready to join his side. Mark Anthony headed back to the camp along with the new seven cohorts. They returned in the
same day and Caesar added the new troops to his own and uses them to further
strengthen his camp. A few days later, more reinforcements arrived. His eighth
Legion and along with 22 new cohorts levied from Gaul. This increased Caesar's army to almost five legions in total. Having his enemy outnumbered, Cesar
decides to finally start the siege of Corfinium. The newly arrived troops are
sent on the other side of the city and ordered to build a camp there. With the two camps built, Caesar orders
the construction of siege earthworks and palisades around the walls, enclosing the
city. As the constructions were almost finished, an emissary gets to Corfinium
with the reply from Pompey. He declined Domitius's proposition and ordered him
in return to evacuate Corfinium with his troops in order to join Pompey's main army in Apulia. With the city surrounded by Caesar's fortification, this
was not an option for Domitius, who hides the message from his men and
starts a plan to escape alone from the city . The troops however find out of
their leader's intentions and after consultations between them, decided to
seize their commander. Later that night they sent envoys to Caesar's camp, announcing that they are ready to switch side and surrender their commander. Fearing that his own troops might plunder the city if the Pompeian
garrison opened the gates during nighttime, Caesar postponed his answer
until the next day and ordered his cohorts to deploy in very close order
around the earthworks, so no one can escape from the city. The following morning Caesar accepted the surrender of the Pompeian legions and ordered them to take the oath of allegiance to himself. Caesar also
releases Domitius as a sign of goodwill and peacefully occupied the city. The siege of Corfinium can be considered a turning point in the Italian campaign,
as Julius Caesar was placed in a precarious position in front of the city,
with a small force of two legions facing three enemy legions in the city with the
possibility of being potentially encircled by a secondary Pompeian force. Instead, only 7 days later, he captured the city and left the area with a force
of almost 9 legions in total. The 3 legions captured at Corfinium were sent to Sicily to secure the area and Caesar prepared to continue his march followed by a six Legion force. When news of the fall of Corfinium
reached Pompey in Luceria he realized that the tide of war had changed and
decided not to fight in Italy and starts organizing a general retreat to Greece. He gathered all the forces at his disposal and march from Luceria to Canusium and from there to the port of Brundisium, ordering the remaining
troops scattered in Apulia to meet him there, in order to evacuate Italy. Caesar, realizing his intentions, also starts his march towards Brundisium, the
campaign thus becoming a race to the sea. Pompey reaches Brundisium around the 4th
of March with Caesar's army following close behind. The fleet at his disposal
could not carry all his troops, so only the Roman senators and a part of his
army embarked and set sail to Dyrrachium, while Pompey remained with 20
cohorts to defend the city until the fleet returns for him. Five days later, on the 9th of March, Caesar reaches Brundisium and
besieges the city. With no fleet at his disposal, Caesar's attempts of trapping the port fails. After nine days of engagements, on
the 17th of March, the Pompeian fleet returns, allowing Pompey to escape to
Greece with his twenty cohorts. The escape of Pompey meant the civil war was not over yet, as he still had loyal legions available in Spain. In the following weeks,
Caesar headed to Rome and consolidated his political situation in Italy, before
heading over to Spain later on that year. His campaign in Italy lasted less than
three months from the crossing of the Rubicon, starting with one Legion only as
a rebel against the Republic, Caesar managed to bring down the Senate and
Pompeian forces, combining marching speed, the element of surprise and political
persuasion, as most of the cities willingly fell at
his approach and virtually no battles took place during the campaign.
This is amazing but it must be SO hard to execute as a small channel. Create a good script, then record the audio, and now do the ANIMATION (Imho the harderst part) and then cut it vegas/premiere. Just wow...
This is great work, I really hope they come out in a more serial nature, as I could get addicted to following these stories.