It was late in the year 47 B.C.E., and Julius
Caesar had just barely survived the Siege of Alexandria by installing a Roman ally on
the Egyptian throne. He had prevailed against Pompey in the Roman
Civil War a year earlier, but as reality set in it was becoming clear that his victory
was shallower than originally thought. While Caesar was busy in Egypt, the Old Order
in their various forms began to creep back in and fray at his conquests. This fraying allowed three major crises to
emerge. First, an allied foreign king turned against
Rome in hopes of recapturing his father's lost territory. Second, politicians back in Rome were up to
their old tricks, using street violence to push for radical political reform. Third, a recalcitrant Pompeian Faction under
the leadership of Cato had begun the process of rebuilding down in North Africa. It was looking like Caesar would have to win
the Civil War for a second time. But first things first. A foreign king had invaded a Roman province! If Caesar simply ignored this threat, drumming
up political support for anything else would become extremely difficult. So, off to Asia Minor! The king in question was a guy named Pharnaces
of Bosporus, one of the sons of Mithridates the Great. Ever the opportunist, Pharnaces went rogue
during the Civil War and captured a huge chunk of Roman territory. Departing Egypt, Caesar set a breakneck pace
up the Mediterranean coast, foregoing supplies for the sake of speed. Pharnaces knew that Caesar was dealing with
a bunch of crises at once, and so offered Caesar a few minor concessions if he would
just agree to leave him alone. Not only did Caesar reject this offer, but
he rejected any further offers to negotiate. If you remember, he had just given away an
entire Roman province in a negotiated settlement with the Queen of Egypt, so it would be a
pretty bad look if he turned around and did the exact same thing with a foreign invader. There would be no negotiated peace. Caesar advanced further and further into Asia
Minor. Eventually, Caesar and Pharnaces encountered
each other near the town of Zela. The two armies deployed across a steep valley,
each on their own separate hill. This would be the beginning of a weeks or
even months long process where each side would engage in subtle maneuvers in hopes of gaining
a slight tactical advantage. Caesar was uniquely good at this aspect of
warfare, and it's fair to assume that he was walking in there with a fairly detailed game
plan. But Pharnaces had something else in mind. His first move was to have his army advance
straight down the hill and into the valley. We are told that when Caesar saw this, he
burst out laughing. He turned to his advisers and told them that
this was an extremely obvious fake out, and that Pharnaces must think that they were a
bunch of idiots if he thought that some weird aggressive posturing would scare them off
their hill. But when Pharnaces's army reached the foot
of the Roman hill, they didn't turn back. One imagines the smile fading from Caesar's
face. All of his preparation was for naught. The entire campaign would come down to this
moment. The Romans sounded the alarm. The majority of Caesar's army were off in
the distance building the camp, but there were just enough legionaries milling about
to throw together a crude, disorganized line. When Pharnaces's army charged, this line was
there to meet them. The Roman line buckled. For a moment there was panic behind Roman
lines as it looked as if they were going to be completely overrun. Fortunately for the Romans, the moment passed
as legionaries from the camp were able to reinforce the line and stop the bleeding. But now what? The Romans were fighting for their lives and
operating entirely without a plan. Pharnaces had a whole bunch of chariots at
his disposal, which apparently had been kitted out to be used as heavy cavalry. These chariots now began to crash into weak
sections of the Roman line. The Romans had not considered how to counter
attacks like this, and so they had no choice but to ignore the chariots for the time being. The only thing that the Romans really had
going for them was the fact that they were fighting downhill. They basically leaned into this advantage
and began to use brute force to push forward as best they could. As the day wore on, the Romans were able to
push Pharnaces's army all the way down the hill. Suddenly, there was an unexpected breakthrough
on the Roman right. The Roman infantry immediately rushed in to
fill that gap. It wasn't very long before Pharnaces's centre
collapsed as well, which sent the entire army was in full flight. Pharnaces would be dead within a matter of
days. His successors offered Caesar their unconditional
surrender. Everybody - including Caesar - had assumed
that the reconquest of Asia Minor would be a year or years long grind. In the end the entire campaign was over in
something like 5 days. Shocking. But as we've just seen, this victory had very
had little to do with Caesar and everything to do with Pharnaces's recklessness. That being said, Caesar was never one to squander
a propaganda opportunity, and so in his next report to the Senate, he wrote an open letter
which simply contained the following words: "Vini, Vidi, Vici." This is usually translated as "I came, I saw,
I conquered." He also had pamphlets distributed in Rome
that pointed out how Pompey's eastern campaigns had taken years, while his had taken days. Cheeky. Caesar had dealt with the first major crisis,
but his work wasn't done. Roman politics were still spinning out of
control, and the Pompeians in North Africa were still gearing up for a brand new Civil
War. It would be impossible for any long term planning
to take place until these issues were dealt with. Caesar set sail for Italy. He had been away for nearly 3 years. Along the way, he decided that his next priority
would be Pompeians in North Africa. The Roman Civil War had already ended once
with Pompey's murder. That probably should have been the end of
hostilities, but for whatever reason, maybe Caesar's inattentiveness, maybe the quality
of the Pompeian leadership, the Old Order was able to reestablish itself in North Africa
and set the stage for a second Civil War. Caesar started to make preparations for a
crossing to North Africa. During this time, Caesar kept himself busy
by issuing instructions to his allies back in Rome. I'm not going to get into Roman politics right
now because if I do we'll all turn into Zardoz skeletons, but we'll circle back to this when
the time is right. One thing that I do need to mention here is
that Caesar had a legion mutiny on him. The reason for this was that Caesar had made
significant promises his oldest legions if they would agree to delay their retirement
until after the Civil War. That had been several years ago. Now, after winning the Civil War, Caesar had
delivered on exactly zero of his promises, and was now gearing up for yet another campaign. They were right to be upset. Caesar went out to meet with the mutineers,
and after an emotional back and forth he told them that for the loyalty over the years,
they were free to retire whenever they wished. This unconditional offer came as a shock to
the mutineers. Caesar followed this up by humbly asking if
they would consider on one last campaign with him. After that, they could retire in peace, and
he would devote the next years of his life to fulfilling every one of his promises. Upon receiving this specific commitment, the
mutineers agreed to go on one last campaign. Time was of the essence. The mutiny had shown Caesar that his most
experienced legions would not tolerate any more dilly-dallying. A plan was hatched to set sail with whatever
legions were ready to go. The rest would just have to catch up whenever
they could. It was customary for the Romans to kick off
a voyage like this with an animal sacrifice. On this occasion, the bull selected for the
sacrifice had an IQ of like a million, and so when it caught sight of the knife it got
all turnt up and was able to break free of its restraints. When the Romans tried to calm the bull down
it zigged and then zagged and then booked it off into the distance, becoming the freest
bull who ever lived. This wasn't a great omen, but whatever. The fleet set sail on schedule. But here's the thing: the Romans were notoriously
bad sailors, and during the crossing ill winds blew the entire fleet wildly off course. After several stressful days at sea, only
a small fraction of Caesar's original fleet remained. When the group caught sight of land, they
decided to make camp on the beach so that the rest of the fleet could track them down. But when Caesar came ashore, his foot got
caught on the lip of the boat and he fell face first onto the beach. Thinking quickly, he bounced to his feet with
his hands full of pebbles and shouted for the benefit of his soldiers: "Africa, I have
hold of you now!" After Pompey's death, the senator Cato seized
control of the Pompeian Faction and pledged to raise new armies and restart the Civil
War in North Africa as soon as possible. Cato was not a military guy, and so he handed
command of the Pompeian army over to a guy named Scipio, who, yes, was a descendant of
that other Scipio from the Second Punic War. In fact, there was a rumour going around saying
that according to prophecy, it was impossible to defeat a Scipio in North Africa. No such prophecy existed, but the rumour persisted
anyway. Caesar was aware that this could be a damaging
piece of propaganda, and so he plucked one of Scipio's distant cousins out of obscurity
and threw him into the military equivalent of middle management. The last major Pompeian that we should be
aware of is Caesar's old right hand man Labienus, who was serving as one of Scipio's officers. What's weird about this is that Labienus was
undeniably the better general, but Cato preferred Scipio due to his conservative politics and
his prestigious family name. Cato was also able to solicit the support
of a Roman ally, King Juba of Numidia, who brought his world-class Numidian cavalry to
the Pompeian cause. Back on the beach, most of the scattered Caesarian
fleet had been able to track Caesar down. But there was already a problem. In their haste to cross the Mediterranean,
the Caesarians brought virtually no food with them. This SEEMS like bad planning, and it was,
but the legions had kinda forced Caesar to set sail before the invasion was 100% ready. Food and reinforcements were coming, they
just weren't here yet. In the mean time they would just have to live
off the land. When King Juba of the Numidians became aware
of this weakness, he immediately launched a series of raids along the coast. This activity made foraging virtually impossible. One of these raids has a real "truth is stranger
than fiction" quality to it, so if you'll indulge me for a moment I'll include it here. Caesar's army included a bunch of Gallic cavalry,
and these dudes were sitting around a fire one night, talking, maybe drinking, whatever,
when out of the darkness a North African local approached the fire and began playing the
flute and doing a little dance. The Gallic cavalry dudes were super impressed
by this, and a small crowd gathered to watch the performance. The purpose of the music and of the crowd
was to drown out the sound of hooves. King Juba's Numidian cavalry charged out of
the darkness right into the crowd. Before the Roman camp could respond, the Numidians
slipped away. Raids like this were a daily threat, which
was super frustrating. Caesar decided to change things up by taking
half of his army and marching inland to capture a few North African desert towns. Remember, he didn't necessarily need to defeat
the Pompeians immediately, he just needed to keep his army fed until reinforcements
arrived. Capturing a town or two would accomplish that. A few kilometers into the desert, the Caesarians
noticed a dust cloud coming up behind them. It was the entire Numidian army, under the
command of Caesar's old right hand man Labienus. The Caesarians turned and prepared for the
fight of their lives. Marching inland had been a huge mistake. Labienus had a tonne of cavalry with him,
and he used this to his advantage by having them ride out and occupy all of the hills
surrounding Caesar's position. He knew that Caesar was uniquely good at playing
up small tactical advantages, and with this one move he took that option off the table. Given the size and makeup of Labienus's army,
Caesar's was primarily concerned with being flanked, and so he deployed his infantry in
a long, thin line. Labienus and the Numidians advanced, and as
they did so their cavalry fanned out wider and wider and wider. Only now did it become clear that Labienus
had been hiding his numbers by packing his cavalry tightly together. Caesar was much more badly outnumbered than
he originally thought. Then, Labienus attacked everywhere at once. Infantry in the centre, cavalry on the wings. Caesar's line was already as wide and as thin
as possible, so they were unable to stop the Numidian cavalry on the wings. Before too long, the Caesarians were completely
encircled. Caesar turned every other cohort around so
that they could face attacks from two directions at once. But this didn't do much good. Labienus's cavalry refused to let themselves
get pinned down. They attacked, wheeled, attacked again, threw
javelins, shot arrows, and basically behaved as unpredictably as possible. The Caesarians had no answer to tactics like
this, and as the day wore on his army began to waver. During a break in the fighting, Labienus took
off his helmet and rode up and down the front line. He began to taunt the Caesarian soldiers,
shouting things like: "How is it going, recruit? Don't you boys look dashing. Caesar sure has lead you all into a dangerous
situation. Wish I could help!" Mind you, Labienus would have known many of
these soldiers by name, making these taunts all the more biting. Labienus knew the truth. He was winning the battle. Caesar was losing. It was only a matter of time. Caesar came up with a radical plan. On his signal, he had his legions throw their
javelins and charge in both directions at once. Labienus's encircling cavalry didn't want
to be pinned down, so they wheeled and pulled back. This created an opening. Caesar ordered an immediate withdrawal. But it wasn't that simple. The Caesarians moved as quickly as possible,
but it wasn't long before Labienus's Numidian cavalry caught up with them. Caesar's exhausted legions turned and prepared
to fight their second battle of the day. As Labienus and the Numidians closed in, the
Caesarians went on the offensive. The infantry charged, and refused to let the
Numidians take the initiative. Labienus's Numidian cavalry continued to hit
the Caesarians with javelins and arrows, but were forced to pull further and further back
as the Caesarians continued to advance. During this onslaught, Labienus was probably
thrown from his horse and injured. The Caesarians abruptly turned and began their
second withdrawal of the day. Labienus was probably no longer in command,
and whoever succeeded him chose to let the Caesarians go. Some historians criticize this decision, but
bear in mind that the other half of Caesar's army was only a few kilometers away. If the Numidians chased Caesar all the way
back to the coast, they would almost certainly run into them. Much better to just take the win and let them
go. Labienus had just defeated his old friend
in open battle. The myth surrounding Caesar's skill as a general
had been forever tarnished. Labienus must have been pretty happy with
himself. The Caesarians returned to the coast exhausted,
demoralized, hungry, and unsure as to what to do next. So long as Labienus continued to patrol the
desert, any further inland incursions would be impossible. Months passed. The Caesarians spent this time huddled in
a defensive crouch on the coast. The only thing that kept them from starving
was the fact that they found a hidden food stockpile belonging to a nearby town. Otherwise, the military dynamic remained unchanged. No word on the reinforcements from Italy. Over this period, a daily ritual developed
where Scipio would deploy for battle just outside the Caesarian camp, and Caesar would
decline the offer. Caesar feared that an attack may happen at
any time, and in desperation brought all of his sailors down off the ships and pressed
them into the infantry. You might be asking yourself why Scipio didn't
attack at this time. There's a good reason. Scipio's basic military strategy said that
a stalemate in North Africa was basically as good as a victory. The Pompeians correctly assessed that Caesar's
political support was shallow, and believed that a prolonged North African campaign would
shatter Caesar's reputation and allow Pompeian politicians to reassert themselves back in
Rome. Say what you will about Scipio, but his strategy
was coherent. At long last, those reinforcements from Italy
showed up. Two additional legions, bringing Caesar's
total up to rough parity with Scipio at 8 legions apiece. Caesar was still technically outnumbered if
you counted King Juba's 4 additional legions, but at least now Caesar could now get out
of his defensive crouch. Caesar surprised Scipio by marching off and
seizing a set of nearby hills. Labienus kept up the pressure by launching
a series of hit and run cavalry raids. The pressure worked, because after a day or
so Caesar abandoned the hills and advanced on a nearby town in hopes of restocking on
food. Scipio wisely put his army in between the
Caesarians and the town, and Caesar was forced to pull back. The Caesarians were running out of options,
and the Pompeians were slowly tightening their grip. But Caesar was in for some luck. Two more legions arrived in North Africa,
bringing his total up to 10. Now, Caesar began to behave much more aggressively. Both armies deployed on favourable ground,
but neither side wanted to be the one to initiate battle. The Caesarians turned and marched away. The Pompeian army followed. Finally, Caesar and his legions approached
the coastal city of Thapsus and began building siege equipment. It's unclear how serious Caesar was about
actually storming the city, but he knew that the threat of doing so might push Scipio into
attacking. The Pompeians closed in. Scipio encamped on the west. King Juba encamped on the south. Caesar would have to attack one of these positions
if he wanted to withdraw again. The two armies deployed opposite each other. Each side occupied favourable ground, and
just like before, each wanted the other to attack first. Scipio and King Juba and Labienus deployed
with infantry in the centre and cavalry on the wings. King Juba controlled 60 war elephants, and
Scipio placed these in front of the line near the wings. These elephants would pose a unique challenge
for the Caesarians. The Pompeians had a significant cavalry advantage,
which made it was pretty obvious where most of the action would be. Caesar moved his strongest and most experienced
legions to the wings. In fact, there was a lot of internal debate
over who would get the honour of facing off against the elephants. In the end Caesar tapped the veteran Fifth
Legion, who had served under him in Gaul, and put them on elephant duty on each wing. For most of the day, the two armies just stared
at each other. Whoever attacked first would be at a slight
disadvantage, and nobody wanted to take that risk. There are several different version of what
happened next. It all had to do with Caesar's veterans. Remember, Caesar had promised that this would
be their last campaign. For months they had suffered humiliation after
humiliation at the hands of Labienus and others, and now, retirement was one decisive battle
away. They were grumpy and impatient. The veterans on Caesar's right attacked without
orders. Later they would claim that they detected
a weakness in Scipio's line, but I don't buy it. It's worth mentioning here that one account
claims that Caesar suffered from a seizure earlier in the day and spent several hours
recovering in his tent. If this happened it would explain some of
the miscommunication going on here. Caesar suffered from seizures for his entire
life, but this is the only instance where his condition may have directly impaired his
ability to command. When Caesar discovered that his right had
moved to attack he ordered the veterans to get back in line, but these orders were ignored. The right made contact with the enemy, and
more and more neighbouring units moved in to help. It quickly became clear to that the battle
could not be stopped. Caesar ordered an all-out attack and rode
forward to personally take command of the endangered right. Scipio's elephants charged. Caesar's legions had trained for this, and
opened up holes in their line so that the elephants could pass through unharmed. The Fifth Legion was waiting, spears in hand,
just behind the Caesarian line. Their only job today would be to face this
elephant charge head-on. The battle dragged on for hours. The veterans on Caesar's left and right repulsed
Labienus's cavalry again and again and again. The Fifth Legion held their own against the
elephants, but one source describes a horrific scene with elephants throwing soldiers with
their trunks and stomping on anybody who fell to the ground. Nightmare stuff. Hours passed, and the sun began to set. Bloodied and bruised, the Fifth Legion threw
one last volley of javelins, which at last caused the war elephants to panic and flee. What followed was absolute chaos. The elephants crashed straight into the Pompeian
line, causing it to crumble. Those who held their ground quickly fell under
a renewed push from Caesar's legions. The Caesarians then descended into what can
only be described as a killing frenzy, where many thousands of disarmed Pompeian prisoners
were murdered on the spot. Caesar frantically issued orders telling the
legions to leave the prisoners alone, but these were just outright ignored. Caesar completely lost control of his army. By the time the madness passed, virtually
no prisoners were left alive. In the days that followed, Scipio and King
Juba of the Numidians would take their own lives. Labienus, ever resourceful, was able to escape
with some survivors and set sail for Spain, where he vowed to continue the fight. But of course, Labienus and Scipio were not
the leaders of the Pompeian Faction. That man was Cato, who was headquartered in
the nearby town of Utica. When Cato learned of the resounding Pompeian
defeat at Thapsus, he took his own life. The details surrounding Cato's death have
been highly romanticized, which I don't want to play into here. However, this incident would become famous
within Caesar's lifetime, so I should mention it in passing. Cato stabbed himself in the stomach, inexplicably
survived, and then later ripped open his stitches and disemboweled himself with his own bare
hands. It was a gruesome death. With the passing of Cato, the Roman Civil
War ended for a second time. Although Labienus and others Pompeians survived,
it's safe to say that for the first time, Caesar was in full control of Roman territory. He was finally free to return to the city
of Rome and begin the hard work of forging a lasting piece. If such a thing was even possible.
I think it's so cool to think about the human aspect here.
Caesar personally convinced a legion, 5,000 real men, to sail to Africa and fight for him.
The Pompeiin army was 72,000 men strong. They couldn't wed so they weren't married, but they each had brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers. Can you imagine what kind of confidence you'd have to inspire, to lead more fighting men than you could fit in an NFL stadium, in orderly lines alongside war elephants, to meet the most renowned military mind of their generation on the field?
FINALLY!
I love the tactical elephant drawings
I love this guy's videos. However, now when I think about ancient Rome, I picture coloured squares and rectangles running around, conquering stuff :D
Did Caesar pay the veterans in the end?
I'm so glad this guy is going through all of Caesar's campaign at this point. I'm hoping we get into his death here within the next couple months. Around fantastic video though!
Ever been defeated so hard that your two most trusted friends instantly killed themselves and then you ripped out your own stomach?
It is absolutely insane how much staff happened in such a short amount of time
Additionally, amazing video once again!
Awwww yeah, when the beat drops at the end I lose my shit every time.