It was the end of the year 49 B.C.E., and
the Roman Civil War was well underway. Julius Caesar had just successfully pacified
the Spanish provinces in a quick and impressive campaign. But this victory had been soured by losses
elsewhere. At least 3 and a half legions had been destroyed
in North Africa and Illyricum while he was gone. These defeats were humiliating, and Caesar
couldn't afford any more losses like this. Pompey was in Greece, and from the looks of
things, he was assembling a truly massive army. As it became obvious that Pompey was winning
the recruitment game, the political winds began to shift. Many senators who had previously voiced their
neutrality decided to openly side with Pompey. Cicero remained torn. In his opinion, when it came to an utter disregard
for the law, Caesar and Pompey were two peas in a pod. Cicero privately confessed his fear
that no matter who won the war, a military dictatorship seemed the likeliest outcome. After months of uncertainty, Cicero eventually
convinced himself that if there had to be a military dictatorship, it would be better
if it had the nominal support of the Senate. That way, whenever politics returned to normal,
the Senate would be well positioned to pick up the pieces. Cicero reluctantly decided to join the Pompey
and the Senate in Greece. In Greece, Cicero met up with Domitius Ahenobarbus,
who had recently arrived from Massilia after facing off against the Caesarians. Cicero and Domitius were very different kinds
of politicians, but as they talked, it became clear that they agreed on quite a lot. Both men agreed that Pompey had become a lot
more authoritarian since the beginning of the Civil War. It seems that Cicero's fears of a military
dictatorship were entirely justified. Cicero and Domitius agreed to try to curb
this behaviour going forward. While Pompey and the Senate were continuing
to gather strength in the east, Caesar returned to Rome, where he immediately faced a serious
problem. Caesar didn't have the support of the Senate,
so he needed every scrap of legitimacy he could find. Occupying the capital city had helped a lot
in this regard, but now, basic Roman politics were starting to get in the way. See, by custom, that year's consuls were supposed
to supervise the election of next year's consuls. The problem was, Rome's consuls were in Greece
with Pompey, making an election impossible. Without elections, it was hard for Caesar
to argue that this was the legitimate Roman government. Caesar suggested that they let a lowly Praetor
to supervise the elections, but this was an unprecedented request, and Rome's religious
officials struck it down. Marcus Lepidus, one of the few remaining elected
officials in Rome, suggested to the Senate - or what was left of it - that they name
Caesar dictator, an office created to temporarily give one individual full political power. This would allow Caesar to hold elections
himself without the need for the two incumbent consuls. There was barely any Senate to speak of, but
those present went along with Lepidus's request. Without very much fuss, Caesar was named dictator,
and as dictator, he got to personally oversee the elections. You'll never believe who won. Caesar, of all people, would serve as consul
for the year 48, alongside one of his lackeys. Let's take a moment here and just remind ourselves
that the root cause of the Civil War was a disagreement over whether or not Caesar should
be allowed to stand for election. Now here he was, less than a year later, overseeing
his own election as consul. It must've felt pretty good. Eleven days later, Caesar resigned as dictator. As consul, he would not need the dictatorial
powers. Somewhere around this time, Caesar had the
Senate pass a law that finally fulfilled his promise to grant Roman citizenship to the
people of Cisalpine Gaul. This was a long time coming, and a very big
deal. First off, Caesar's legions were disproportionately
from Cisalpine Gaul and the surrounding area. As you can imagine, they loved the fact that
their families and friends had all just been granted citizenship. Any concerns Caesar had about the loyalty
of his legions could be put to bed for the time being. Secondly, with the passage of this law, Caesar
created a whole new voting bloc that was singularly loyal to him. He would have the power to swing elections
for decades to come. With domestic politics under control, it was
time to continue the Civil War. But there was a problem. Italy was under blockade. The land route through Illyricum passed through
a mountain range, which was controlled by the Pompeians, so going that way wasn't really
an option. Caesar needed to figure out how to break the
blockade. There was another problem. Caesar had just enough ships to transport
half of his army at a time. This meant that he didn't need to just break
the blockade once, he had to break it three times. Greece, Italy, then Greece again. To make matters worse, Caesar's old enemy
Bibulus was in charge of the blockade. There was no way this dude was ever going
to back down. The Caesarians were just gonna have to go
for it. Caesar officially became consul on January
1st of the year 48. Three days later, he set sail. It had been almost exactly one year since
he crossed the Rubicon. Bibulus was not prepared for a winter crossing. And for good reason. Winter crossings were extremely dangerous! At this point in the year Bibulus had most
of his ship safely in harbour. But Caesar knew something that Bibulus didn't. This wasn't a winter crossing. This was an autumn crossing. The Roman calendar drifted every year, and
it was somebody's job to come along every once and a while and manually fix it. Whose job was this? The Pontifex Maximus. Who was the Pontifex Maximus? Julius Caesar. Why hadn't he fixed it? He'd been out of the country for a decade! At this point the calendar was so broken that
it said early January, but it felt more like early October. Bibulus was acting like it was January. Caesar was acting like it was October. It's dangerous to sail in October, but not
impossible. Caesar took that risk. The first half of Caesar's army made the crossing
without incident. By the time the empty ships were on their
way back to Italy, Bibulus discovered what was going on, and mobilized the fleet. Most of Caesar's ships were able to make it
back just in time for Bibulus's blockade to snap shut behind them. This was not how it was supposed to go. Caesar was cut off. This could go really, really bad. Pompey was using the nearby city of Dyrrhachium
as his main supply depot. Now that Caesar was cut off from Italy, he
needed those supplies. Caesar took his tiny half-army and marched
on the city. Pompey immediately responded, and moved to
intercept him. This was not the ideal time for a decisive
confrontation. When Caesar heard that Pompey was coming,
he withdrew to the south, and found a good defensive position near a river. In time, Pompey's army showed up, and encamped
on the opposite side of the river. Pompey didn't want to attack a defensive position,
and Caesar didn't want to give up his defensive position, so the two armies just stared at
each other. Everybody knew that the stranded Caesarians
would run out of food eventually. Their only hope was for the reinforcements
from Italy to show up before that happened. The Caesarians in Italy made several attempts
at a crossing, but were turned back every time. Ancient Roman ships were not really designed
for long voyages, which meant that every 2 or 3 days, crews had to come ashore to gather
food and water. Caesar began sending patrols up and down the
coast with orders to attack these crews on sight, hoping that this would put a strain
on the blockade. It did! Before too long, Bibulus sent his second in
command to negotiate with Caesar. His terms were this: "please allow us to come
ashore and resupply." Caesar was like, "in exchange for what?" Bibulus's man was like, "what?" Caesar was like, "What will you give me if
I do that?" Bibulus's man was like, "I'm not authorized
to give you anything." Caesar was like, "what do you think negotiations
are?" Bibulus's man was like, "what?" Caesar was like, "get outa here." And then Bibulus dropped dead, entering the
history books as the patron saint of idiotic politicians. I mean, I just made that up, but that should
definitely be a thing. The Bibulus Award? Anybody? That one's a freebie. Weeks and then months passed, and still no
reinforcements from Italy. The Caesarian half-army was stranded for the
entire actual winter. In the actual spring, the ships finally slipped
past the blockade, and delivered the reinforcements. The Caesarians were still outnumbered, but
at least now they stood a fighting chance. Of course, having the full Caesarian army
in place didn't change the fact that they were still cut off, with virtually no food. Caesar now attempted to goad Pompey into battle,
but Pompey refused. He knew that Caesar's supply problem only
getting worse, and that the longer he waited the stronger his hand would be. Caesar then surprised Pompey by abruptly marching
away and making a beeline for the supply depot at Dyrrachium. The Caesarians encamped on a hill just outside
the city, with the Pompeians hot on their heels. Caesar had the better position, but he was
also in a bit of a bind. He needed to control this hill, and he also
needed to seize the supply depot. If he attacked the city, the Pompeians would
attack the hill. If he didn't attack the city, his army would
starve. In fact, the situation was getting so bad
that around this time the Caesarians were reduced to eating animal feed. So Caesar needed to somehow discourage the
Pompeians from attacking the hill. He ordered his men to begin building a wall. Pompey was like, that's an amazing idea! His whole plan was to starve the Caesarians
into submission, so he began building his own wall to prevent them from escaping. It was now a race. Whoever was faster at building a wall would
be able to circle around the other army and block them in. Over the next days and weeks, both sides sent
raids to disrupt the other's construction. In time, Caesar's wall stretched over 31 kilometres,
while Pompey's was a little under 28. Caesar was winning the race, barely. Caesar's slight wall advantage allowed him
to cut off Pompey's water supply. Now, even though Caesar's men were starving,
Pompey was the one under time constraints. He began probing Caesar's walls, looking for
weaknesses. Without warning, Pompey attacked a section
of Caesar's wall with 4 or 5,000 men. There were only 700 Caesarians in the immediate
area, and reinforcements were several kilometres away. These 700 Caesarians fought ferociously, and
we're told that literally every one of them had sustained an injury by the time the reinforcements
got there. Yet somehow, they held onto the wall. The Pompeians pulled back. As the days passed, the raids got more and
more intense. Eventually, Pompey caught a break. Two Gauls from Caesar's army defected over
to his side, and outlined the weaknesses in Caesar's defenses. This was Pompey's chance. He launched a nighttime attack against the
section of the wall near the coast with 25 or 30,000 men. This time, the Pompeians broke through the
wall, overwhelming the Caesarians and causing them to flee. Marc Antony brought up reinforcements and
stopped the bleeding by setting up a secondary line of defence, but the damage was done,
and the Pompeians had successfully captured an important section of the Caesarian wall. These two lines of fortification had actually
shifted a bunch over time, and Pompey used his victory as cover to seize one of Caesar's
abandoned forts in No Man's Land. Caesar thought that this was a serious tactical
mistake. This fort was far from the action, which would
make it difficult to reinforce. He sent a group to attack the fort along a
circuitous route so the Pompeians wouldn't see them coming. It worked. The Pompeians were oblivious until the moment
the Caesarians attacked. They burst through the walls pretty easily,
only to discover, RUH ROH, the Pompeians had built a secondary set of walls inside the
fort. Now the Caesarians were sandwiched between
two sets of walls, and as the fighting intensified, things started to go badly. Some of the Caesarians had the idea to circle
around and attack the fort from the other side. They disengaged from the main battle and began
looking for a door. However, in the heat of battle they got kinda
turned around, and instead found themselves following the 28 kilometre Pompeian wall away
from the battle. By this time the Pompeians were able to get
their act together and counterattack. Now, it was the Caesarians who found themselves
isolated. The whole thing had backfired. Pompey ordered his cavalry to circle around
and attack the lost Caesarians. They broke and fled. The Caesarians at the fort saw their men fleeing
in the distance, and assumed that the entire battle had been lost. They too panicked and tried to flee. However, these guys were still sandwiched
between the two walls of the fort. There was a bottleneck, which caused pandemonium. Caesar tried to stop the route, but he couldn't. Things got so desperate that one of his own
men tried to kill him with a spear! Caesar's bodyguards were there and saved his
life. In the aftermath of the Battle of Dyrrhachium,
Labienus, Caesar's old second in command who was now serving under Pompey, made a point
of going to visit the Caesarian prisoners. He condemned his former brothers-in-arms as
traitors to the Republic, and personally made sure that each and every one of them was put
to death. Labienus was all in, apparently. Caesar had been defeated. He was out of food, out of options, and had
no choice but to attempt to withdraw. He was surprised when Pompey didn't try to
stop him. He told his advisers that "the enemy would
have won today, if they were commanded by a winner." After their victory at Dyrrhachium, many of
Pompey's advisors argued that they should take this opportunity to sail to Italy and
retake Rome. Pompey disagreed, arguing that a withdrawal
would make it look like he was afraid to fight Caesar, which is a weird thing to say after
winning a battle, but whatever. Besides, Pompey argued, Caesar's army was
weak and growing weaker. If he stayed, the decisive killing blow would
come later this year. Patience. The opportunity for that decisive killing
blow came one month later, near the city of Pharsalus. I made a thing entirely devoted to the Battle
of Pharsalus, and I'll link to at the end of this. But basically, here's what happened: Pompey deployed next to a river. The main attack would take place on his left,
with Domitius Ahenobarbus commanding the infantry and Labienus commanding the cavalry. Two capable commanders, each with experience
fighting with or against Caesar. Pompey's plan was let Caesar come to him,
and then spring his trap. When the two armies clashed, Labienus lead
a cavalry charge on the left. Caesar had anticipated something like this,
and had built up infantry reserves on that side, including an extra line of spearmen
hidden behind his lines. Labienus's cavalry charged right into the
spearmen. The cavalry fell into a full route, at which
time Caesar pushed forward with all of his reserves. Domitius tried to hold the line, but the Pompeian
cavalry in full flight, and he was outnumbered. In time, his infantry also began to flee. Some say that Domitius died fighting, and
others say that he was stabbed in the back as he was fleeing. After the fall of Pompey's left, the rest
of the army didn't stand much of a chance. The centre collapsed, and then the right,
and then it was all over. Caesar was victorious. Cicero and Cato and a bunch of Rome's most
prominent politicians were back at camp, waiting to hear how the battle went. When they got the news, they were devastated. Cato suggested making Cicero the new leader
of the Pompeian faction. It made sense. As an ex-Consul, Cicero was one of the highest
ranking politicians present. Unlike Pompey, Cicero politically savvy, and
unlike Pompey, Cicero had a good (ish) relationship with Caesar. When Cato and Cicero were having this discussion,
were they thinking of a negotiated settlement? We don't know. This whole period contains a lot of interesting
"what ifs," but this is my favourite. Cicero turned him down, saying that the Civil
War was essentially over, and that he intended to return to Rome and influence the peace. Remember Cicero's justification for joining
the Pompeians in the first place. If there was going to be a military dictatorship,
it would be better if it had the nominal support of the Senate. If Cicero returned to Rome, maybe he could
make sure that the Senate retained its power. Cato didn't agree with Cicero's reasoning,
but respected his decision. Cato decided to lead the Pompeians to North
Africa, where they would continue the fight. The two men said their goodbyes. They would never see each other again. Pompey didn't go with the rest of the Pompeians. Instead, he boarded a ship, and set sail for
Egypt. The Egyptian Pharaoh owed Pompey a massive
favour, and maybe, if he was nice, that favour would come in the form of a shiny new army. Nearly two months later Pompey arrived in
Egypt. After a good deal of waiting around, he was
granted an audience with the Egyptian Pharaoh. A small boat came to pick him up. The crew greeted him in Latin, but when Pompey
tried to make small talk, nobody responded. Unsettling. When the boat hit the shore Pompey stood up. The guy behind him stood up as well, drew
a sword, and stabbed him in the back. There was a brief struggle, but Pompey fell,
pulling his toga over his face with his last breath. The Romans considered this a dignified way
to die. Pompey Magnus was dead. Many believed that the Civil War was over. Caesar now wielded unrivaled political power,
but it remained an open question what he would do with it.
I am entirely addicted to these videos. They are the right combination of fun and educational.
I wonder how many history teachers use these videos in class to show the advanced tactics they had during these times.
"HE WAS A CONSUL OF ROME!"
Someone needs to make a playlist of his videos in chronological order. I'm always confused where the next video lands in the timeline of Caesar.
I hope he continues this series with Augustus.
RIP Bibulus he died as he lived, disappointingly
I kinda wish we could get a series on all the locations not colored in as the Roman empire. These places seem incredibly interesting. Were they unconquerable? Were they headed by kings that paid tributes to the Romans for independence? What kinda of people lived there? Was geography in their favor? How did they last being completely surrounded by the Romans, places like that section at the top of Spain or the bottom of modern day Turkey.
Holy shit, I never realized that Caesar used the Roman calendar's drift (i.e. no leap years) to his strategic advantage. It's a bad idea to cross during the winter, but only he realized it wasn't actually winter because the calendar had drifted. That's absolutely brilliant.
Nice
Does anyone know why the Egyptian Pharoah killed Pompey?