Julius Caesar At War
On January 7, 49 BC, Caesar was asked by the Senate to renounce his ten well-trained legions to the new governor. When he came to know about the demand of the Senate in Ravenna, he chose rebellion over prosecution and decided to fight back. On January 11 in the same year, his thirteenth legion moved forward to Rimini. |
Caesar finally crossed the River of Rubico and conquered Italy. This triggered the deadly Second Civil War in the region. At this time, nine of his legions were still posted in Gaul. The Senate was powerless and not capable of raising armies in Italy to preserve the senatorial constitution. As a result, Caesar became the monarch of Italy, 2 months after the commencement of the Civil War, compelling Pompey and almost all the senators to escape to Greece.
In the month of April, Caesar returned to Rome to establish his own senate that would give sanction to Caesar’s acts. Soon after, he gathered a large number of legions from the neighborhoods of Marseilles and conquered Rhone and the Pyrenees. He fought the famous Battle of Ilerda and emerged victorious over the Spanish army. After his return from Cordoba in Andalusia, he was declared the Dictator of Rome. Meanwhile, Pompey had regained strength in Greece to attack Julius Caesar and conquer Italy. Despite Caesar’s continuous efforts, his navy was trounced and the legions could not be successfully ferried eastwards. For almost six long months, Pompey and Julius Caesar stayed at Dyrrhachium, where they had established large fortresses facing each other. The united army of Caesar and his colonel Mark Antony was finally defeated on July 7.
On August 9, Caesar’s army defeated Pompey in the Battle of Pharsalus. After the Battle, Caesar moved to the eastern province, where he fell in love with Queen Cleopatra of Egypt. He backed her in the famous Alexandrine War against Ptolemy in 47 BC. After defeating Pompey and having pacified Asia and Egypt, Caesar returned to Rome in 47 BC, where he was murdered by the conspirators who feared that he might become the next Roman Emperor.
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