Caesar's Civil War was the domestic, political strife which took place in ancient Rome between 49 and 45 BC. It was fought between the plebeians (Populares), under Julius Caesar, and the conservative patricians (Optimates), led by Gnaeus Pompey. This conflict was the continuation of the civil war between Sulla and Marius, with the former leading the conservative senatorial patricians and the latter heading the Populares; this armed conflict had taken place between 83 and 81 BC, at the end of which, Lucius Cornelius Sulla seized power by force. Although both Caesar and Pompey had military experience and were deemed good commanders, all of Caesar's legions were battle-hardened as they had fought in the Gallic Wars (the conquest of Gaul); this would lead to the victory of Caesar over Pompey.
Background
During Sulla's civil war, Pompey had sided with Sulla, while Julius Caesar had been forced to escape into exile to avoid being executed since he and his family supported Gaius Marius. Thus Pompey was Julius Caesar's political rival, with different political ideologies. When Sulla resigned and left Rome, Julius Caesar returned to Rome where he would be elected quaestor in 69 BC. In 59 BC, Caesar was elected consul and was sent to govern a Roman province in Gaul (Gallia Narbonensis), from which he would launch a military campaign to conquer all of Gaul. When he was governor and commander in Gaul, Julius Caesar made a secret political alliance with Pompey and Marcus Crassus, both being consul in Rome; this alliance was known as the First Triumvirate.
The death of Crassus in Asia Minor in 53 BC in the hands of the Parthians led to the disintegration of the First Triumvirate. The dissolution of the First Triumvirate was also facilitated by the increasingly strained relations between Caesar and Pompey, each of whom was striving for sole power. The hostility between them was complicated by the acute political struggle between the adherents of patrician senatorial rule (Optimates) and those who favored the plebeians (Populares/common people). Thus, the patricians were led by Pompey, and Caesar headed the plebeians. This old political rivalry was the main cause of the new civil war.
Summary
Caesar's Civil War began in January 49 BC, when Julius Caesar marched on Rome, crossing the Rubicon River (northern Italy) with his legions after his successful military campaign in Gaul. He had decided to move to Rome when he received news about a Senate plot against him to strip him of his command and consulship in Gaul. The Rubicon River marked the boundary between Italy and Caesar's province in Gaul. Since crossing the Rubicon with an army was prohibited, a returning general commanding a legion was considered an attempt to carry out a coup d'etat. This act triggered the ensuing civil war between Caesar and Pompey. When he crossed the Rubicon he pronounced the famous phrase in Latin:'Alea jacta est' (the die has been cast).
When he heard the news that Julius Caesar was marching on Rome with an army, Pompey fled across the sea to Greece. Meanwhile, Caesar seized the treasury in Rome and set up a temporary government, with himself as dictator. Then four years of civil war followed. Before pursuing and defeating Pompey, Caesar went to Hispania (Spain) to quell down Pompey's supporters who had rebelled against Caesar. Then, after a successful campaign, he sailed for Greece, where he decisively defeated Gnaeus Pompey at the Battle of Pharsalus in 48 BC. But Pompey escaped and fled to Egypt, where he was murdered by a King Ptolemy XIII's high ranking officer.
When Julius Caesar arrived in Egypt, Pompey's head was offered to him on a platter by King Ptolemy XIII's regent, who was involved in a war against Cleopatra. However, Caesar sided with Cleopatra and put her on the throne of Egypt. In 46 BC, Julius Caesar defeated the conservative Optimates' forces, under Quintus Scipio, at the Battle of Thapsus in today's Tunisia. The following year, he went back to Spain, where he confronted and defeated Pompey's sons (Gnaeus Pompeius and Sextus Pompeius) at the Battle of Munda in March 45 BC, putting an end to the Civil War. Thus, Julius Caesar became the sole master of the Greco-Roman world.
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| Gaius Julius Caesar, the victor of the civil war. A 16th century marble sculpture by Andrea di Pietro. |