The campaign of Ilerda and defeat of Afranius and Petreius. Gaius Cassius Longinus, who was the moving spirit in the plot to murder him, and Marcus Junius Brutus, the symbolic embodiment of Roman republicanism, were both former enemies. Julius Caesar, in full Gaius Julius Caesar, (born July 12/13, 100? However, it turned out that the Senate had made a disastrous mistake. In doing so, he crossed the river Rubicon, thereby invading Italy and provoking the Second Civil War. Caesar’s famous words, Veni, vidi, vici (“I came, I saw, I conquered”), are his own account of this campaign. After some deliberations, Pompey obeyed the Senate. Thus clemency was probably not just a matter of policy. Many people dispute what the first major battle of the Roman civil war was however these are the most people decide on. If he brought his veteran armies across the river Rubicon in northern Italy, the Republic would be in a state of civil war. Home » Articles » Person » Caesar » Caesar (06), About Pictures Sources Countries Languages Categories Tags Thanks FAQ Donate Contact Articles Stubs. Toward the end of 49 bce, he followed Pompey across the Adriatic Sea and retrieved a reverse at Dyrrachium by winning a decisive victory at Pharsalus on August 9, 48 bce. His physical constitution was unusually tough, though in his last years he had several epileptic seizures. Caesar heard the news in Ravenna, and knew that he had to make a choice between prosecution and rebellion; preferring the dignity of war over the humiliation of a process, Caesar chose to rebel, quoting his favorite poet Menander, "the die is cast" (alea iacta est). $21.10. But even if they were acting on principle, they were blind to the truth that the reign of the Roman nobility was broken beyond recall and that even Caesar might not have been able to overthrow the old regime if its destruction had not been long overdue. Caesar invades Italy, Sardinia, Sicily. Pompey had soon become restive toward his alarmingly successful ally Caesar, as had Crassus toward his old enemy Pompey. In 45 bce he enacted a law laying down a standard pattern for the constitutions of the municipia, which were by this time the units of local self-government in most of the territory inhabited by Roman citizens. By Julius Caesar. Translated by W. A. McDevitte and W. S. Bohn. The Shortest History of Germany: From Julius Caesar to Angela Merkel-A Retelling. The Senate demanded Caesar's First and Fifteenth Legions to be sent to the east. Meanwhile, Crassus still had never completely overcome his … Julius Caesar - Antecedents and outcome of the civil war of 49–45 bce | Britannica Antecedents and outcome of the civil war of 49–45 bce During his conquest of Gaul, Caesar had been equally busy in preserving and improving his position at home. Would Caesar have succeeded in recapturing for the Greco-Roman world the extinct Seleucid monarchy’s lost dominions east of the Euphrates, particularly Babylonia? He found time in the year 46 bce to reform the Roman calendar. to Pompey's death and the start of the Alexandrian War in the autumn of the following year. In 59 bce Caesar had already resurrected the city of Capua, which the republican Roman regime more than 150 years earlier had deprived of its juridical corporate personality; he now resurrected the other two great cities, Carthage and Corinth, that his predecessors had destroyed. Caesar won, along with conservative Marcus Bibulus. Civil War Politics in Rome became increasingly hostile while Caesar was in Gaul. Pharnaces was defeated in a rapid campaign at Zela ("I came, I saw, I conquered", veni, vidi, vici). When he was finally removed, it wasn’t a legal repudiation at the ballot box—it was the grisly assassination of a dictator perpetuus, and the damage … He increased the size of the Senate and made its personnel more representative of the whole Roman citizenry. During his conquest of Gaul, Caesar had been equally busy in preserving and improving his position at home. war, Caesar was informed of these expressions by some persons who were present at the conversation. ), The united army, however, was defeated (7 July), and Caesar had only one option: to march inland, cross the Pindus mountains and defeat Pompey's pursuing army somewhere in Greece on a more suitable place. Curio then obtained on December 1, 50 bce, a resolution (by 370 votes to 22) that both men should lay down their commands simultaneously. After this, Pompey irresolutely veered further and further away from Caesar, until, when the breach finally came, Pompey found himself committed to the nobility’s side, though he and the nobility never trusted each other. These laws were duly passed. In 52 bce, a year in which Pompey was elected sole consul and given a five-year provincial command in Spain, Caesar was allowed by a law sponsored by all 10 tribunes to stand for the consulship in absentia. The outbreak of civil war. ''The Commentaries on the Civil War'' is an account written by Julius Caesar of his war against Gnaeus Pompeius and the Senate. He rushed to Córdoba in Andalusia, where two legions (commanded by Marcus Terentius Varro) surrendered to Caesar (September). If you're behind a web filter, please make sure that the domains *.kastatic.org and *.kasandbox.org are unblocked. In 46 he crushed their army at Thapsus and returned to Rome, only to leave in November for Farther Spain to deal with a fresh outbreak of resistance, which he crushed on March 17, 45 bce, at Munda. Julius Caesar The Civil War Audiobook MP3 CD NEW SEALED. As for Pompey, his growing jealousy of Caesar had led him so far toward the nobility that he could not come to terms with Caesar again without loss of face. Only guesses are possible, for Caesar’s assassination condemned the Romans to another 13 years of civil war, and Rome would never again possess sufficient manpower to conquer and hold Babylonia. He then crushed Pompey’s army in Spain. The Civil Wars By Julius Caesar. He had been out of Rome for six months. The mistake wasn't in letting the situation get that far, but in that they believed the Roman and Italian people would rally to defend the Republican system. After picking up several legions in the neighborhood of Marseilles, Caesar crossed the Rhône and the Pyrenees with the legions VI, VII, VIIII, X, XI, XIV, XXVIII, XXIX and XXX, and defeated the Spanish army in the Battle of Ilerda, not far from modern Barcelona (2 August). 8. The Civil Wars has been divided into the following sections: Book 1 [145k] Book 2 [83k] Pompey was successful: in 52, he was elected "consul without colleague" and yielded almost dictatorial authority. And would Rome’s hitherto inexhaustible reservoir of military manpower have sufficed for this additional call upon it? On 10 January 49 BC, Roman general Julius Caesar defied an ultimatum set to him by the Senate. Pompey defeated Caesar in 48 BC at the Battle of Dyrrhachium, but was himself defeated much more decisively at the Battle of Pharsalus which marked the victory of Caesar and was the turning point of the war. When he entered Rome, a city where he had not been for ten years, Caesar pardoned instead of massacred his enemies and created a new Senate, which would authorize Caesar's acts (April 49). $19.99. Cicero acted vigorously against Marcus Antonius since he belonged to the group of senators which were committed to ending every relation with Caesar supports and civil war. Crassus was then eliminated by an annihilating defeat at the Parthians’ hands in 53 bce. The first triumvirate and the conquest of Gaul, Antecedents and outcome of the civil war of 49–45. Next day Marcellus (without authorization from the Senate) offered the command over all troops in Italy to Pompey, together with the power to raise more; and Pompey accepted. The actual question of substance was whether the misgovernment of the Greco-Roman world by the Roman nobility should be allowed to continue or whether it should be replaced by an autocratic regime. Caesar's death resulted in a long series of civil wars that ended in the death of the Roman Republic and the birth of the Roman Empire. The issue was whether there should or should not be an interval between the date at which Caesar was to resign his provincial governorships and, therewith, the command over his armies and the date at which he would enter his proposed second consulship. Fully aware of the momentous nature of his decision, Caesar ignored the warning and began to march south on Rome. It is probably at this early stage of the war, that constituted the Sixteenth legion. Gaius Julius Caesar (13 July 100 - 15 March 44 BCE), Roman statesman, general, author, famous for the conquest of Gaul (modern France and Belgium) and his subsequent coup d'état. But almost to the page, it is simply a description of the tactics, happenstances and results of battle after battle. I think it needless to say any thing here, in opposition to those who pretend, that the following Commentaries, concerning the Civil War, were not penned by Caesar himself. on the banks of the Rubicon, Julius Caesar faced a critical choice. Now, Pompey was ready to return to Italy to attack Caesar. How Julius Caesar Started a Big War by Crossing a Small Stream In 49 B.C. The election was sordid—even Cato, with his reputation for incorruptibility, is said to have resorted to bribery in favour of one of Caesar's opponents. When Caesar was in Gaul and organized the conquered territories, Pompey and Crassus tried to enlarge their power too. Caesar obeyed, but discovered that the legions were never employed in Syria. The boy's body was found in the Nile (27 March) (text). “Et tu, Brute” (“You too, Brutus”) was Caesar’s expression of his particular anguish at being stabbed by a man whom he had forgiven, trusted, and loved. Caesar pursued Pompey from Thessaly to Egypt, where Pompey was murdered by an officer of King Ptolemy. Caesar had the support of the people and Pompey had the support of the aristocrats. Caesar then returned to Rome, but a few months later, now with the title of dictator, he left for Africa, where his opponents had rallied. Caesar had not hesitated to commit atrocities against “barbarians” when it had suited him, but he was almost consistently magnanimous in his treatment of his defeated Roman opponents. The issue was brought to a head by one of the consuls for 50 bce, Gaius Claudius Marcellus. He later went to Egypt, where he became involved in the Egyptian civil war and installed Cleopatra on Egypt’s throne. He was also generous in granting Roman citizenship to aliens. This was precisely what Caesar feared, and he tried to sent his veterans across the Adriatic: the legions V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI, XII, XIII, XIV, XXVII and another legion were gathered at Brundisium (modern Brindisi).