Before the Battle of Pharsalus earlier that year, Pompey had been confident of victory. He had certainly proven his formidable military ability in the past. When peers questioned the number of troops the Republic held, Pompey confidently replied, according to Plutarch: “in whatever part of Italy I stamp upon the ground, there will spring up armies of infantry and cavalry.” Yet though willing to fight under the great Pompey, most of his recently mustered legionaries were raw recruits. Whether they could match Caesar’s veterans remained a question.

Caesar, on the other hand, championed realism. He focused on the strengths he held, rather than ones he felt entitled to. Fresh from fighting in Gaul, Caesar commanded an army unmatched in both their skill and in their loyalty to him. Caesar also knew that whereas many of Pompey’s accomplishments were won through classical generalship, Caesar represented a new form of tactical cunning that had gained him victories against outrageous odds. Caesar’s skill would see Pompey defeated and, ultimately, slain on the shores of Pelusium where on 28 September 48 BC he had disembarked seeking refuge.

The Battle of Pharsalus, 48 BC

On 9 August 48 BC, Pompey’s troops met Caesar’s at the Battle of Pharsalus. Caesar’s position was rotten, and both men knew it. His army was approximately 30,000 strong, with a provisions problem resulting from a successful blockade of troops and supplies. Pompey’s army was around twice the size. Pompey positioned himself with the sea behind and mountains protecting his flanks, which meant he had successfully forced his opponent into a desperate corner. Taking no chances, Pompey decided to settle down and starve Caesar out. He needed to win.

So why didn’t he? Sources largely agree that Pompey’s plan was sound, and even Caesar contemplated peace when he realised his situation. Unfortunately for Pompey, when he set off to war he was joined by esteemed figures of the Republic and their counterparts from foreign lands: senators, princes, knights, all exasperated by the slow pace of Pompey’s success. According to Appian, they sought battle, “some by reason of inexperience […] and some because they were tired of the war and preferred a quick decision to a sound one.”

Even Caesar would later write sympathetically about the pressure placed upon Pompey. Yet Pompey’s desire to be liked resulted in him meeting his opponent in open battle: Caesar crushed him. Later the victor would write that he had lost only 230 men in the battle. Pompey lost upwards of 6,000. Pompey fled in disguise to Egypt. Whilst the battle did not end the civil war, it was a decisive victory for Caesar. For many, this was the day the Republic died.

Having smashed the Republic’s army and defeated its top general, Caesar found himself in a position of power. So long as Pompey himself remained active, Caesar knew he would continue to be a dangerous figurehead for his opponents. Caesar therefore made quick in pursuit and set sail for Egypt.

Ptolemaic Egypt

Following the death of Alexander the Great over 270 years before, many of his former generals had established themselves as rulers across the former empire. One such general was Ptolemy, who took control of Egypt and created one of the greatest Greek kingdoms in antiquity. Under his descendants, his dynasty was one of the strongest and most prestigious kingdoms for over a century. By 48 BC, however, much had changed.

At the time of Pompey’s flight, Ptolemaic dynasty had become crippled by internal strife. Rome was also firmly in control of what was essentially a client state. When Ptolemy XII was exiled from his own country, he fled to Rome, indebted to creditors. Pompey had housed the exiled monarch, and thanks to his efforts, helped return Ptolemy to power. So indebted was Ptolemy XII to Rome that Cicero wrote that the Egyptian king had “sacrificed much […] even the very dignity on which the mystique of kingship rested when he appeared before the Roman people as a mere supplicant.”

Egypt had, through Ptolemy XII, become subservient to Rome. Following Pharsalus, it was now Caesar, rather than the Senate, that controlled Rome. Was Egypt now supplicant to Caesar?

Why was Pompey the Great assassinated?

As a result, Pompey’s arrival on Ptolemy XIII’s doorstep left Ptolemy’s advisors in an awkward position.The Egyptians knew that they owed the man. But they also knew that Caesar was in pursuit. Feeling obliged to open their doors to Pompey, yet seeking to align themselves with the winner of the civil war, Ptolemy’s regent – a eunuch named Pothinus – devised a strategy that would win Egypt the favour of Julius Caesar.

On 28 September 48 BC, Septimius, head of the Egyptian army, sailed to Pompey the Great’s ship on a meagre fishing boat with a few military men. Pompey’s wife and advisors sensed trouble; they pleaded with him not to embark on the tiny vessel. Upon boarding and being shown a galling lack of respect, Pompey asked Septimius: “Am I mistaken, or were you not once my fellow soldier?”. Septimius’s response was to nod once soberly, making no reply, according to Plutarch.

Septimius then drove a sword into Pompey. The others on the boat then moved in too with their own daggers to finish the job. Plutarch writes, that, at the moment of assassination, Pompey “[drew] his toga over his face with both his hands, and neither saying nor doing anything unworthy of himself […] endured their blows, having lived for fifty-nine years, and ending his life one day after his birthday.”

Aftermath

Dumping his corpse on the beach, Septimius carved Pompey’s head from his body and brought the decapitated head to Pothinus who made it ready to present to Caesar in a display of loyalty to him. Caesar was greeted with the severed head and signet ring of his opponent. But rather than rejoice, Caesar is supposed to have wept.

In trying to endear themselves to Caesar, the Egyptians had instead deprived Caesar of deciding Pompey’s fate. They had also killed a man close to Caesar’s heart. In granting former opponents clemency, Caesar was able to present himself to the Roman people as a reasonable and judicious figure. Indeed, this was how he had won the public loyalty of several high-profile former opponents, such as Cassius, Cicero, and Brutus (though many would not remain loyal for long). With Pompey’s assassination, Pompey’s men became scattered and Pompey’s sons continued the civil war in place of their father for years afterwards.

Ponthius’ decision to kill Pompey saw him killed as retribution, alongside Septimius, the murderer of Pompey. The assassination placed Caesar firmly in the camp of Ptolemy’s sister: Cleopatra VII. Soon he would fight for her side in an Egyptian civil war against Ptolemy XIII, and for 17 years Cleopatra would rule Egypt. Pompey’s death marked the end of the Republic as Rome had known it. Triumphant in victory, Caesar proclaimed himself Dictator Perpetuo (‘Dictator for life), and began a dynasty that would last until the death of Nero.

Here are 10 facts about Cleopatra, the legendary Queen of the Nile.

1. She was the last ruler of the Ptolemaic dynasty

Although she was born in Egypt, Cleopatra was not Egyptian. Her origins trace back to the Ptolemaic dynasty, a Macedonian Greek royal family.

She was a descendant of Ptolemy I ‘Soter’, a general and friend of Alexander the Great. The Ptolemies were the last dynasty to rule Egypt, from 305 to 30 BC.

After her father Ptolemy XII’s death in 51 BC, Cleopatra became co-regent of Egypt alongside her brother Ptolemy XIII.

Bust of Cleopatra VII – Altes Museum – Berlin

Image Credit: © José Luiz Bernardes Ribeiro

2. She was highly intelligent and well educated

Medieval Arab texts praise Cleopatra for her accomplishments as a mathematician, chemist and philosopher. She was said to have written scientific books and, in the words of the historian Al-Masudi:

She was a sage, a philosopher, who elevated the ranks of scholars and enjoyed their company.

She was also multilingual – historical accounts report her speaking between 5 and 9 languages, including her native Greek, Egyptian, Arabic and Hebrew.

3. Cleopatra married two of her brothers

Cleopatra was married to her brother and co-ruler Ptolemy XIII, who was 10 years old at the time (she was 18). In 48 BC, Ptolemy tried to depose his sister, forcing her to flee to Syria and Egypt.

Upon Ptolemy XIII’s death after being defeated by her Roman-Egyptian armies, Cleopatra married his younger brother Ptolemy XIV. She was 22; he was 12. During their marriage Cleopatra continued to live with Caesar privately and act as his mistress.

She married Mark Antony in 32 BC. Following Antony’s surrender and suicide after being defeated by Octavian, Cleopatra was captured by his army.

The legend goes that Cleopatra had an asp smuggled into her room and allowed it to bite her, poisoning and killing her.

4. Her beauty was the product of Roman propaganda

Contrary to modern portrayals from Elizabeth Taylor and Vivien Leigh, there is no evidence among ancient historians that Cleopatra was a great beauty.

Contemporary visual sources show Cleopatra with a large pointed nose, narrow lips and sharp, jutting chin.

According to Plutarch:

Her actual beauty…was not so remarkable that none could be compared with her.

Her reputation as a dangerous and seductive temptress was in fact the creation of her enemy Octavian. Roman historians portrayed her as a harlot who used sex to bewitch powerful men into giving her power.

5. She used her image as a political tool

Cleopatra believed herself to be a living goddess and was keenly aware of the relationship between image and power. Historian John Fletcher described her as “a mistress of disguise and costume.”

She would appear dressed as the goddess Isis at ceremonial events, and surrounded herself with luxury.

6. She was a popular pharaoh

Contemporary Egyptian sources suggest that Cleopatra was loved among her people.

Unlike her Ptolemaic forebears – who spoke Greek and observed Greek customs – Cleopatra identified as a truly Egyptian pharaoh.

She learned the Egyptian language and commissioned portraits of herself in the traditional Egyptian style.

Profile view of the Berlin Cleopatra (left); The Chiaramonti Caesar bust, a posthumous portrait in marble, 44–30 BC (right)

Image Credit: © José Luiz Bernardes Ribeiro (left); Unknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (right)

7. She was a strong and successful leader

Under her rule, Egypt was the richest nation in the Mediterranean and the last to remain independent from the rapidly expanding Roman Empire.

Cleopatra built up the Egyptian economy, and used trade with Arab nations to bolster her country’s status as a world power.

8. Her lovers were also her political allies

Cleopatra’s relationships with Julius Caesar and Mark Antony were as much military alliances as romantic liaisons.

At the time of her meeting with Caesar, Cleopatra was in exile – cast out by her brother. Caesar was to arbitrate a peace conference between the warring siblings.

Cleopatra persuaded her servant to wrap her in a carpet and present her to the Roman general. In her best finery, she begged Caesar for his help to regain the throne.

By all accounts she and Mark Antony were truly in love. But by allying herself with Octavian’s rival, she helped defend Egypt from becoming a vassal of Rome.

9. She was in Rome when Caesar was killed

Cleopatra was living in Rome as Caesar’s mistress at the time of his violent death in 44 BC. His assassination put her own life in danger, and she fled with their young son across the river Tiber.

A Roman painting in the House of Marcus Fabius Rufus at Pompeii, Italy, depicting Cleopatra as Venus Genetrix and her son Caesarion as a cupid

Image Credit: Ancient Roman painter(s) from Pompeii, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Upon her return to Egypt, Cleopatra immediately took steps to consolidate her rule. She had her brother Ptolemy XIV poisoned with aconite and replaced him with her son, Ptolemy XV ‘Caesarion’.

10. She had four children

Cleopatra had one son with Julius Caesar, who she named Caesarion – ‘little Caesar’. After her suicide, Caesarion was killed under orders by the Roman emperor Augustus.

Cleopatra had three children with Mark Antony: Ptolemy ‘Philadelphus’ and twins Cleopatra ‘Selene’ and Alexander ‘Helios’.

None of her descendants lived to inherit Egypt.

15 March – the Ides of March – was set to be a big day for Julius Caesar, dictator of Rome. He had called a senate meeting for that day: he planned to gather together the most esteemed men in Rome for one final assembly before he left the city and embarked upon his next great military campaign against the Parthian Empire.

But during the meeting, a group of senators oversaw Caesar’s death, stabbing him 23 times. Amongst the conspirators was Decimus Brutus, whom Caesar had considered a trusted friend and ally, and who ultimately led Caesar into the bloody coup.

Here’s the story of how, and why, Decimus Brutus helped bring about the death of Julius Caesar.

The Death of Caesar, Jean-Léon Gérôme, 1867.

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain

Caesar’s grand plan

At the time of the assassination, Caesar was planning a vast military campaign. Backed by his legionaries, Caesar’s first objective was to subdue the Dacians in present-day Romania. His armies would then march further east, across the Hellespont into Asia, following in the footsteps of Caesar’s hero Alexander the Great.

Caesar’s ultimate goal was a campaign of vengeance against the Parthian Empire, east of the Euphrates River. He aimed to avenge the disastrous defeat that his former rival/colleague Marcus Licinius Crassus had suffered against the Parthians just over a decade earlier, at the catastrophic Battle of Carrhae: a crushing defeat, where the Parthians had destroyed seven legions in a day and had seized several precious Roman standards.

Caesar’s planned Parthian expedition was set to be a massive military venture. Finally, here was Caesar’s chance to march east, to the wealth-laden lands of Babylonia and Susiana. Here was his chance to follow in the footsteps of his great hero Alexander. For 3 years, if not for longer, Caesar expected to be away, fighting in the east. Hundreds of miles away from Rome and the Central Mediterranean.

As the sun rose on 15 March 44 BC, the beginning of Caesar’s greatest military venture to that point in his career was only days away. But first, Caesar had to attend this senate meeting.

The omens begin

On the morning of 15 March, Caesar was at home. And it’s here that we have the first of many ‘bad omens’ that have come to dominate the Ides of March story.

According to the later Greek writer Plutarch, one of Caesar’s first actions of the day was to offer a series of animal sacrifices. The previous night Calpurnia, Caesar’s wife, had a nightmare. She had dreamt that something terrible would befall Caesar that day if he ventured to the senate meeting. One version has Calpurnia envisaging their house collapsing. Another has her holding Caesar’s murdered body in her hands. She begged Caesar to postpone the meeting.

Concerned by Calpurnia’s distress, Caesar arranged for his seers to conduct the necessary sacrifices, hoping for a favourable sign from the Gods for the upcoming meeting. But the sacrifices failed to reassure him. In fact, they did quite the opposite. Sacrifice after sacrifice returned unfavourable omens.

But it wasn’t just these sacrifices that seemingly portended ill-fortune for Caesar on the Ides of March. Over the preceding days, our sources include a whole host of other foreboding, fantastical omens predicting Caesar’s demise. One story has a small bird, called a king-bird, enter the Theatre of Pompey carrying a laurel wreath in its mouth. Only for the king-bird to be subsequently attacked, and killed, by a large group of pursuing birds.

The Romans loved to have terrible omens precede infamous moments in their history; the fantastical bad omens that supposedly targeted Caesar, in the run-up to 15 March 44 BC, are great examples of this.

Whatever the truth among all of these troubling signs, Caesar ultimately decided that he would not attend the senate meeting that day (he was also slightly unwell). He would stay at home on the 15 March.

But that wasn’t the end of the matter

Enter Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus, better known as Decimus Brutus. Decimus was one of Julius Caesar’s closest allies. A leading military subordinate and a personal friend of the dictator. For years, Decimus has proven his loyalty to Caesar, having served with Caesar throughout both the Gallic and Civil Wars.

Politically too, Decimus’ career looked set to thrive under Caesar’s authority. Already Caesar had selected Decimus to receive the consulship in 42 BC. The consulship was one of the highest positions in the Roman Republic at that time, below Caesar himself. Caesar rated Decimus very highly. He had even named Decimus in his will.

Decimus reaped the rewards that friendship with Caesar offered. He visited Caesar often and had even dined with him the previous night. Over dinner, the two had discussed what kind of death was best. Caesar had said that he favoured a sudden death…

It was after Caesar had decided to stay at home on 15 March that Decimus intervened. Approaching Caesar, Decimus hoped to change the man’s mind. He hoped to persuade Caesar to think again and to still attend this vital meeting. He told Caesar not to be daunted by these bad omens and to ignore the pleas of Calpurnia.

In no uncertain terms, Decimus basically told Caesar to pull himself together. After all, it was Caesar who had called the senate meeting. Hundreds of the most esteemed men in the empire were awaiting his arrival. He should not insult them by now deciding not to attend. Besides, in only a few days Caesar was set to leave Rome for the foreseeable future, as he set forth on his great eastern venture. He must attend the meeting, Decimus stressed.

Decimus’ persuasions worked. Calpurnia’s pleas were ignored. Decimus, a man that Caesar considered amongst his closest allies, had convinced Caesar to ignore the warnings and to attend the meeting. For Caesar, this trust in Decimus was a fatal mistake.

The assassination of Julius Caesar, painted by William Holmes Sullivan, c. 1888

Image Credit: via Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain

En route to the meeting

Five hours into the day, Caesar was en route to the senate meeting. But still, the warnings kept coming. As Caesar was making his way along the streets towards the awaiting senators, several of our sources include foreboding tales. They state how various people tried to warn Caesar of the plot against him. Suetonius, for instance, stated that someone handed Caesar a note with information about the plot. But Caesar merely added it to the bundle of petitions he already held in his left hand, planning to read it later.

And then there was Spurinna, the soothsayer made famous by Shakespeare. Days before the Ides of March, Spurinna had warned Caesar to “be on his guard against great peril on the Ides of March.”

This warning, as you might have guessed, was the inspiration for Shakespeare’s famous line, ‘beware the Ides of March’. As he was making his way towards the senate meeting, Cassius Dio has Caesar spot Spurinna. Caesar jokily said to Spurinna how the Ides had come and that he hadn’t suffered any harm. Spurinna replied how, yes, the Ides had come. But they had not yet gone.

Caesar pressed on, undeterred by these ‘en-route warnings’. Soon he and his entourage arrived outside the agreed senate meeting location. The old senate house had recently burned down, and construction of a new senate house was currently underway. In the meantime, the Senate was using the curia (meeting hall) of the Theatre of Pompey for its meetings.

Ancient ruins of Pompey’s Theatre in Rome, at the Largo di Torre Argentina square where Julius Ceasar was murdered.

Image Credit: Shutterstock

Caesar arrived outside the theatre. According to Appian, as soon as Caesar stepped down from his litter a certain senator approached him. The senator’s name was Popilius Laena. Just before approaching Caesar, Laena had called out Marcus and Cassius to their faces, revealing that he knew of their plot. Laena himself was not one of the conspirators. It is fascinating therefore to imagine the horror, the sheer terror, that supposedly gripped the conspirators as they watched from a distance as Laena conversed with Caesar, worried that Laena would reveal all. Fortunately for them, he didn’t.

Fact or fiction, this tale is another good example of all these stories that have come to surround Caesar’s ill-fated trip to the Theatre of Pompey on the Ides of March. And more would follow.

The meeting

Before entering the meeting room, Caesar oversaw another sacrifice with the priests. He hoped for a more auspicious sign. Once again, however, he was to be disappointed. Again and again, our earliest source Nicolaus of Damascus claimed, the indications from the gods were unfavourable. Ultimately, Caesar had enough. Once again, he pondered postponing the meeting. But once more, Decimus intervened.

Just as he had earlier in the day, Decimus convinced Caesar to ignore these foreboding signs. He played on Caesar’s ego, the dictator’s pride, basically telling Caesar that he was so great that his good fortune would trump any bad omens. Besides, several hundred senators had gathered: they were only metres away and were expecting to see Caesar.

If Caesar was concerned for his safety, then Decimus may also have reassured him by pointing out that he had his own private ‘security force’ nearby. This force was a group of gladiators, owned by Decimus, which he had stationed at the theatre earlier that morning. Caesar, once again, was persuaded. He entered the meeting room, his disloyal friend Decimus close by.

We might overlook Decimus Brutus today, thanks to the minor role he plays in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. But make no mistake, his deception – his role in the conspiracy – was the keystone of the whole plot.

But the encounter was characterised by uncertainty, with one army nervous despite its numerical and positional advantage, and the other forced to fight uphill with 30,000 fewer men. Both sides knew that the outcome would be transformational for the fate of the Roman Republic.

Pompeian last stand

The loss of the Battle of Pharsalus in central Greece three years earlier, and the subsequent assassination of statesman Pompey the Great, had left the Optimate (republican) forces on shaky ground during Caesar’s Civil War. After their army was destroyed at the Battle of Thapsus by the forces of Julius Caesar in modern Tunisia, they had been forced to operate solely in Hispania, modern day Spain.

Though they had suffered setback after setback, Pompey’s sons Gnaeus Pompeius and Sextus set to building a new army in the region. They weren’t alone. Among their ranks was a man called Titus Labienus. Although once a favoured general of Caesar during the Gallic campaign, Labienus had refused to march on Rome with his former commander and had sided instead with the Optimates. In 46 BC, two of Caesar’s legions, comprised largely of former Pompeian soldiers, defected back to the Optimate side and joined with what remained of Pompey’s army.

Optimate resurgence in Spain

The army began by expelling Caesar’s proconsul in the region. This allowed for exploiting Hispania‘s resources so that the Optimates could raise a third legion. With these legions, Labienus, Sextus, and Gnaeus Pompeius marched west on Hispania Ulterior, and succeeded in capturing almost all of the settlements in the wealthy province. Quintus Pedius and Quintus Fabius Maximus, Caesar’s generals in the area, dared not to meet the Optimate forces on the battlefield. Instead, they camped in Oculbo, calling to Caesar for assistance.

The Roman Theater of Acinipo, Spain, a city founded by retired legions after the battle of Munda.

Image Credit: Joseph Creamer / Shutterstock

Caesar receives word

At the time, Caesar was in Rome, resting victorious following his defeat of Pompey. But as soon as news of the events in Hispania reached Caesar, his focus swiftly changed. He marched with haste to Oculbo, arriving there in just under a month. On his arrival, he wrote a poem named Iter (The Journey), of which only a fragment survives. That Caesar could compose poetry immediately after such a trek speaks to his cool-headedness, which would serve him well in the forthcoming battle.

Caesar had arrived in early December. The Pompeian commanders steered clear of open battle and instead focused on ensuring Caesar’s army would have to hunt for food and shelter as the winter set in. They were well aware that despite their larger numbers, an open battle would benefit Caesar, and they were eager to avoid that outcome.

Caesar makes his move

Caesar struck quickly to force their hand. A siege of Ategua, near modern Córdoba, resulted in defections to his camp and a blow to Optimate morale. Another fight resulted in further defections. Rather than watch their army dwindle, the Optimate commanders decided to give Caesar the battle he sought.

Even in a weakened position, Caesar was expert in manipulating his opponents.

The Battle of Munda

The Optimate forces totalled 70,000 men, while Caesar’s numbered 40,000. There were still dangers: an open battle suited Caesar more than it did Gnaeus Pompeius, and sections of the Optimates’ men were restless and on the verge of defection.

To counter these disadvantages, Pompey the Younger sought to make the most use of the surrounding landscape. He positioned his army at the top of a hill which held a stream at its base, providing them a good defensive position.

Both sides knew that this would be the decisive battle of the civil war. For the Pompeian force, it was win or die: those that had previously deserted Caesar knew that he would not grant them clemency a second time.

A Roman testudo, as performed by actors at a Roman show in Jerash, Jordan.

Image Credit: Shutterstock

Caesar’s charge

Fearful of attacking uphill, Caesar’s legions were also uncharacteristically timid. Knowing that defeat on this battlefield meant the eradication of every previous victory he had fought for, Caesar remarked that whilst in other battles he fought for victory; at Munda he had fought for his life.

Taking personal control of his favourite legion, the Tenth, he seized a shield from one of his cowering soldiers, ripped his own helmet off, and roared: “this will be the end of my life, and of your military service” (Appian, Civil Wars II. 104), before racing towards the enemy, leading his men personally in a move that could have come from Alexander the Great himself.

The critical moment

The subsequent fighting lasted more than eight hours, with both sides trapped in a brutal melee. When Caesar ordered his right wing to focus on the Optimates’ left wing, the Optimates duly responded by diverting a legion from their right wing.

Caesar’s cavalry, until now further behind the main body of the army, then emerged. They drove into the Pompeian’s right wing with great force. They had tricked their Pompeian foes and manipulated them into weakening their own flank.

Caesar’s strategy was not revelatory, but his ability to influence battle and exploit available opportunities testified to his standing as a victorious general and Imperator. 

His decisive action turned the course of the battle. Caesar cemented his advantage by charging the enemy’s camp. As Labienus diverted the Pompeian cavalry to protect the camp, the remaining Pompeian troops made a huge mistake. They interpreted Labienus’ diversion as a retreat, and fled in terror, desperately seeking refuge within Munda itself. Few were successful.

An impression of Roman cavalry.

Image Credit: Shutterstock

The aftermath

30,000 Pompeians were killed in the battle, while Caesar’s army had lost just one thirtieth of its troops.

All who hadn’t fled lay strewn across the land. Titus Labienus, once so significant to Caesar’s success, died a traitor. Every standard of the Optimate legions was captured by Caesar’s army, a symbolic defeat which matched the literal defeat they had suffered.

Gnaeus Pompeius and his brother Sextus managed to escape, but any hope for the republican cause was dead. The former would be executed just a month later, whilst the latter would manage to survive a further ten years, outliving Caesar but as an exile in fear for his life.

Dictator Perpetuo

Though Sextus lived, he was no threat to Caesar. At home, Caesar was presented with a triumph in celebration. This, however, proved unpopular with the Roman people. Plutarch described in his Life of Caesar how “he had not defeated foreign generals, or barbarian kings, but had destroyed the children and family of one of the greatest men of Rome”.

Caesar’s celebrations seemed, at best, in poor taste. Pompey had been a beloved military and political leader to the people. Even though his popularity had waned in the years before his death, the total defeat of his cause – and family – left a bitter taste. All the same, in the year following the battle Caesar was made Dictator Perpetuo – Dictator for Life.

The Roman Republic was dead. The Battle of Munda represented the utter defeat of republicanism in Rome, and ushered in a new era: that of the Roman Empire.

The Senate meeting room was situated in the Theatre of Pompey, which itself was located in the Campus Martius, one of the key centres of ancient Rome. Marc Antony, Caesar’s right-hand man, did not accompany Caesar into the meeting. At that time, Marc Antony held the office of consul: he was one of the most powerful men in Rome beneath Caesar, and had intended to attend the meeting. But outside the Theatre, his and Caesar’s paths would diverge.

It was there that Gaius Trebonius, an old ally of Marc Antony, pulled the consul aside to discuss some pressing matters. Trebonius was another longstanding ally of Caesar. He had served alongside Caesar, Marc Antony and Decimus Brutus since the Gallic Wars. But like Decimus, he too had grown disillusioned with Caesar, he too had joined the conspiracy against the dictator. It was his mission to separate Marc Antony from Caesar. And he succeeded.

Soon after, Caesar would enter the meeting room and be greeted by a bloody coup. Before long, he would be dead.

The target

Interestingly, some of the conspirators, such as Cassius, had wanted to kill Marc Antony along with Caesar at the senate meeting. But Marcus Brutus, according to the likes of Appian and Cassius Dio, convinced them not to. Their sole aim was to kill Caesar, the dictator. To free Rome from a tyrant. To murder the man whose power and position were eroding the ideas of the Republic. Marc Antony was a problem for another day.

With Marc Antony preoccupied, Caesar entered the meeting room devoid of this loyal adjutant. Straight away, he headed for his gilded chair, the senators rising to greet Caesar as he walked through the room. In total, the senators present numbered in the few hundreds. Most were not expecting anything out of the ordinary to happen before the meeting commenced.

For those 30-80 senators involved in the conspiracy, however, the time had come. They had arrived early, they had watched as Caesar entered the room, their daggers hidden within the folds of their togas.

The moment of the assassination was nearly at hand.

The senators encircle Caesar, a 19th-century interpretation of the event by Carl Theodor von Piloty.

Image Credit: via Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain

The assassination

A senator approached Caesar. His name was Tillius Cimber. Cimber had supported Caesar in the preceding civil war, but since then relations between the two had soured. Especially after Caesar had exiled Cimber’s brother.

As soon as Caesar had seated himself on his ornate chair, Cimber walked up to the dictator, hoping to speak to him before the meeting officially began. Cimber threw himself to his knees before Caesar. He asked Caesar for clemency, on behalf of his exiled brother. Let him return from exile.

For Caesar, this issue was not a priority; recalling Cimber’s exiled brother was not a pressing matter. He shrugged off Cimber’s plea, telling the senator that he would consider the issue.

It begins

Standing up, Cimber grabbed hold of Caesar’s toga, shocking the seated dictator and many of those surrounding them. There was Cimber, grabbing onto the revered Caesar. A man who had recently been declared sacrosanct, untouchable. It was a shocking, blasphemous move, but Cimber had his reason. He was one of the conspirators; his grabbing of Caesar’s toga, either to hold Caesar down in his chair or to expose the dictator’s neck, was the agreed upon signal for the assassination to begin.

The first assassin stepped forwards: Publius Casca. Like Cimber, Casca was another former supporter of Caesar who had since become disillusioned with the statesman. Casca had positioned himself directly behind Caesar and his gilded chair, centimetres from the seated tyrant. Now, with Cimber holding Caesar down, Casca took out his dagger from the folds of his toga, raised his weapon and aimed for Caesar’s neck. Presumably in a downward attack motion, if he was striking at a seated Caesar from right behind his target.

He missed. Rather than stab Caesar in the neck, Casca drove his dagger into Caesar’s shoulder. Casca cried out to his brother, another senator also in on the plot, to help. But Caesar would not sit idly by. Immediately he leapt up and reacted to Casca’s blow.

The assassination of Julius Caesar, painted by William Holmes Sullivan, c. 1888

Image Credit: via Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain

Chaos

By this point, the meeting room had descended into pandemonium. Marcus Brutus was among the wounded, having been accidentally struck on the hand by Cassius as the latter tried to land a blow on Caesar. Those senators not involved in the plot watched on in panic and soon started to flee. Only two senators attempted to aid Caesar, but their efforts proved fruitless. Soon they too were forced to flee.

Dagger after dagger punctured Caesar’s body; his toga was smeared with his own, very mortal, blood. According to Nicolaus, the dying dictator ultimately fell to the ground before the statue of his old rival Pompey. Having received more than twenty stab wounds, there Caesar breathed his last.

That’s the end of the story in Nicolaus, but our later sources include another event during Caesar’s dying moments. An event that has become one of the most famous parts of the assassination story.

Last words

According to Suetonius, after receiving multiple stab wounds but before he breathed his last, Caesar caught sight of Marcus Brutus. Standing among the ranks of the conspirators. Suetonius claimed that once Caesar saw Marcus about to deliver his blow, he said the Greek words:

Kai su teknon

‘You too my child?’

That’s the later story anyhow, preserved in the likes of Suetonius’ Life of Caesar. But did Caesar really say ‘kai su teknon’? The legacy of these words are striking; this was the inspiration for Shakespeare’s immortalised line ‘Et tu, Brute?‘ more than a millennia later.

Today, those three Latin words, ‘Et tu Brute‘, have become one of the most famous sayings we associate with Julius Caesar. But it’s important to note here, that in none of our ancient sources does Caesar say these words before he died. For this, we have Shakespeare to thank.

Some now even debate the whole intended meaning of kai su teknon. Rather than ‘you too my child’, they posit that Caesar was actually cursing Brutus. Something along the lines of ‘I’ll see you in hell’. That is, if Caesar even said the words kai su teknon at all, which seems highly unlikely.

Just like Alexander the Great’s supposed, legendary last words ‘to the strongest’, it seems likely that Caesar’s iconic ‘you too my child’ final words are a later fabrication. A colourful addition to the assassination story, inserted in by sources writing much later with the benefit of hindsight. For the Alexander historians, this hindsight was knowing that the tumultuous, chaotic, ‘ancient Game of Thrones’, Wars of the Successors would follow Alexander’s death. Hence the prophetic ‘to the strongest’. For the Ides of March historians, it was the later emergence of a fictional rumour that Marcus Brutus was actually Caesar’s illegitimate son. Hence the ‘you too my son’.

Indeed, if Caesar had really said anything like ‘you too my child’, he certainly would not have said this to Marcus Brutus. More likely, he would have said this to Decimus Brutus. This was the man that Caesar had considered among his most trusted allies. This was the figure who had convinced Caesar to come to the meeting that day, despite all the troubling signs. Seeing Decimus among the ranks of his killers would have been a mental stab in the back for Caesar, alongside the many physical stab wounds he had already suffered.

The Death of Caesar, Jean-Léon Gérôme, 1867.

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain

The aftermath

What followed next, almost inevitably, was a state of complete confusion. Suddenly, with Caesar dead, new figures became bastions of power and authority in the capital. Marc Antony was one such figure. As was Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, Caesar’s master of horse. Like Marc Antony, Lepidus had also remained loyal to Caesar until the end.

It would be Marc Antony and Lepidus who would attempt to calm things down as the conspirators fled up to the Capitol and the people demanded blood. Marc Antony and Lepidus would even meet with leading conspirators such as Marcus Brutus and Cassius, ironing out issues over dinner in the days ahead.

Things, however, would not remain cordial for long. Soon Cassius, Marcus Brutus and Decimus Brutus would find themselves at war with the likes of Marc Antony and Lepidus, as well as another figure. A much younger man who was about to emerge onto the bloody, Roman political stage: Caesar’s nephew and adopted son Gaius Octavius. Octavian. ‘The Young Caesar’.

Contrary to the hopes of the conspirators, Julius Caesar’s death did not bring about an immediate return to the Roman Republic of old. Instead, it marked the start of more than a decade-long struggle that ultimately ended in the rise of Octavian, the later Augustus, and the birth of the Roman Empire (with a capital ‘E’). A return to civil war loomed.

As for Caesar’s body, for a time it remained where Caesar had fallen in the senate meeting room. Soaked in the tyrant’s blood. That was, however, until three of Caesar’s slaves arrived at the curia later that day on 15 March 44 BC. Having placed Caesar’s body on a litter, they then carried his corpse back to his house. Caesar’s funeral would occur three days later, on 18 March.

Here are the 10 that always blow my mind.

1. “Et tu, Brute?” – Julius Caesar

Julius Caesar did not say “et tu, Brute?” as he was being stabbed by a gang of assassins. It was made up by William Shakespeare, who may have borrowed it from an earlier playwright.

The Roman historian Suetonius writes that Caesar said nothing. Others claim he spat out the Greek phrase kai su, teknon which means roughly, “you too, young man.”

2. “Houston, we have a problem” – Jack Swigert

Perhaps it was Tom Hanks in the movie Apollo 13, but the expression “Houston, we’ve got a problem” is used so often that it’s probable that at any one point in time someone on earth is saying it. Maybe.

Anyway, in the film, the spaceship’s commander Jim Lovell, played by Tom Hanks, issues the famous line. But in reality Jack Swigert, the Command Module Pilot from Apollo 13, called Mission Control and said, “okay, Houston, we’ve had a problem here.”

3. “Let them eat cake!” – Marie Antoinette

Marie Antoinette has become the ultimate meme. The go-to personification for an out-of-touch, super-wealthy idiot who totally fails to understand the rage and discontent of the people who are hungry, angry and mobilised.

As she watched a massive crowd of protestors from a palace window, she is supposed to have said, “let them eat cake.” Her reputation was sealed.

Marie Antoinette with her two eldest children, Marie-Thérèse Charlotte and the Dauphin Louis Joseph, in the gardens of the Petit Trianon

Image Credit: Adolf Ulrik Wertmüller, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Problem is, she never said this—the philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau did. Even better, he was not even talking about Marie Antoinette or cake for that matter. He wrote a book before the French Revolution even began in which an anonymous ‘great princess’ says of the hungry, “let them eat brioche!”

4. “I see no ships” – Admiral Horatio Nelson

Admiral Horatio Nelson famously ignored a signal from the flagship of his commanding officer during his victory over the Danish navy at the Battle of Copenhagen. But he did not say, “I see no ships.”

Instead, he said, “I have a right to be blind sometimes. I really do not see the signal.” Nelson did however say, “kiss me, Hardy”, on his death bed at the Battle of Trafalgar a couple of years later.

5. “We are not amused” – Queen Victoria

Queen Victoria has a bad rep. In the popular imagination, she is thought of as the grumpy, round granny who never got over the death of her beloved husband – a bit of a fun-free zone who epitomises the stuffy era over which she presided.

This is, like all two-dimensional characterisations, obviously unfair. She was as varied and full of surprises and contradictions as any of us. And her diaries are pretty racey, but that’s another story.

What matters here is that Queen Victoria almost certainly never said “we are not amused.” According to her granddaughter, in fact, Victoria herself insisted that she had never said this. It was seemingly made up by a courtier who said she heard the story from someone at Windsor Castle.

6. “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind” – Neil Armstrong

To be fair, the audio from Neil Armstrong’s landing on the moon is as patchy as you would expect a signal broadcast across a quarter of a million miles of empty space in the 1960s to be. That has helped to muddle the memory of the exact words that he spoke as he stepped onto the surface of another celestial object.

We all quote, “that’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind,” but it doesn’t actually make sense. It’s tautological, man and mankind are synonyms. In fact, he said, “that’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.”

7. “Dr. Livingstone, I presume?” – Henry Morton Stanley

Explorer and journalist Henry Morton Stanley did indeed go looking for Dr. David Livingstone, history’s most useless missionary, after he had disappeared in east Africa. After a terrible 700 mile trek, in which many of his porters were killed by tropical diseases, Stanley found Livingstone living in Ujiji, near Lake Tanganyika, in modern Tanzania.

Stanley later claimed that he held out his hand and said, in an appropriately clipped, detached Victorian manner, “Dr. Livingstone, I presume?” Neither of the men mentions it in accounts at the time and Stanley probably made it up later, to make himself sound cool.

8. “We shall fight them on the beaches” – Winston Churchill

It is Winston Churchill’s signature line, the ultimate roar of defiance in the face of the Nazi war machine, one of the greatest expressions of resolution in history. But he didn’t exactly say, “We shall fight them on the beaches” in the summer of 1940.

He did say, “We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.”

9. “Walk softly but carry a big stick” – Theodore Roosevelt

Theodore Roosevelt helped to reshape the Americas as European colonial powers retreated in the face of independence movements and the growing power of the economically vibrant USA. He is famous for using the expression, “walk softly but carry a big stick,” which he actually never used.

But he was fond of the expression, “speak softly and carry a big stick: you will go far.” He used it in relation to New York politics, and then he used it again as Vice President when commenting on the American role in the world.

Four days after using the line in Minnesota, President William McKinley was assassinated, Roosevelt was sworn in, and it was now to be seen whether he would turn these words into actions.

President Theodore Roosevelt delivering a speech in Concord, New Hampshire. 28 August 1902.

Image Credit: SMU Central University Libraries / Public Domain

10. “The only two certainties in life are death and taxes” – Mark Twain

There comes a time in all of our lives when we throw down the old Mark Twain quote, “the only two certainties in life are death and taxes.” We think it makes us sound worldly-wise, cynical about government and, most importantly, witty.

But maybe the joke is on us, because Mark Twain never said this. It’s also not true, there are many other certainties, like the fact that we will end up misattributing fake historical sayings throughout our lives.

Two far less famous writers in the 18th century said something similar to the famed quote oft attributed to Twain. Christopher Bullock, for example, wrote in 1716, “tis impossible to be sure of anything but death and taxes,” surprisingly ignoring the certainty of renewed Jacobite attempts to regain the throne. And Edward Ward wrote in 1724, “death and taxes, they are certain.”

Bonus: “May the force be with you” – Obi-Wan Kenobi

And here’s a bonus misquote. Many oft-quoted lines from movies are wrong. But my particular favourite is that Alec Guinness, aka Obi-Wan Kenobi, never says “may the force be with you” in the original Star Wars movies.

1. He was Caesar’s great nephew and adopted son

Roman families were complicated affairs. Octavian’s father was a senator and his mother was Caesar’s niece, Atia. He met his great-uncle relatively briefly on a campaign in Hispania, but Caesar was impressed by the young man and they spent more time together.

When Caesar returned to Rome, he deposited a new will with the Vestal Virgins naming Octavian as his sole heir and beneficiary. Rumours swirled at the time that he had only managed this feat through distributing sexual favours, but this seems unlikely and slander like this was common at the time.

2. He defeated Caesar’s assassins

Upon the assassination of Caesar in 43 BC, Octavian fought to avenge his great uncle and adoptive father’s death, establishing his desire to become Caesar’s political heir in the process. He, Mark Antony, and Marcus Lepidus formed the Second Triumvirate to defeat the assassins of Caesar.

At the Battle of Philippi in 42 BC, a combination of Mark Anthony’s superb commanding skills and luck helped bring the Republican Army, led by Bruttus and Cassius, to its knees. Both Republican generals committed suicide in a tragic and uncalculated turn of events (Cassius wrongly believed that all hope was lost when Brutus had actually defeated Octavian army).

Following their victory at Phillipi, the Triumvirate divided the Roman Republic among themselves and ruled as de facto dictators.

3. An Augustan family feud caused the last war in the Roman Republic

In order to solidify the alliance, Mark Antony married Augustus’ sister, and Augustus married Antony’s stepdaughter Claudia. Neither marriage lasted, however, nor did the triumvirate. The final break came in 32 BC, when Augustus used an illicitly obtained copy of Antony’s will to rail against him and his high-profile mistress, the Egyptian queen Cleopatra.

The Naval Battle of Actium, 31 BC.

Image Credit: Public Domain

In the civil war that followed, Augustus blockaded Antony’s force off the western coast of Greece at the Battle of Actium. Though Antony and Cleopatra escaped to Egypt, the majority of their soldiers surrendered, and they both ended up committing suicide as Augustus closed in on them. To add insult to injury, Augustus ordered that Antony’s heir be killed, along with a son that Cleopatra had with Caesar.

4. He introduced numerous political and social reforms

After the dictatorship of Julius Caesar, Romans were still accustomed to the idea of living in a republic and not an empire. Though Augustus established himself as ruler for life, he used constitutional forms to consolidate power, outwardly rejecting official offers of life consulship or dictatorship. In order to introduce the Imperial system, he established the Principate, with himself as Princeps, meaning ‘first among equals’.

Through his reforms, Augustus established himself as head of state religion, military and tribunal. He greatly reformed politics and the tax system, as well as establishing a large program of public works, including transforming the architecture of central Rome by constructing grand monuments.

5. Under his rule, the Roman Empire doubled in size

Augustus looked to expand the empire’s borders, bringing Egypt, northern Spain, the Alps and much of the Balkans under Roman control. Progress was made in Germany as well, until three legions were wiped out in an ambush in 9 AD, forcing the Romans to withdraw west of the Rhine River. As part of these expansion efforts, Augustus spent years in Spain, Gaul, Greece and Asia.

A map of the Roman Empire under the reign of Emperor Augustus.

Image Credit: CC

He was committed to diplomacy and strived to make alliances in order to intangeably spread the influence of his Empire.By the time his tenure was over, Augustus, in the space of 40 years had expanded Rome’s Empire to almost double its size when he gained power.

Militarily, Augustus did not enjoy combat himself – he often was sick on the eve of a battle. Neither was he much of a general, depending heavily on the strategy of hils childhood friend Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa.

6. The month of August was named after him

In Augustus’ final years, the Empire was plagued by economic woes and military defeats. With no blood heir — he had no sons and his grandsons had already perished — Augustus named Tiberius as his successor. He died in the month of Sextili, which was renamed in his honour, in 14 AD.

Not only did the Senate name a month after Augustus, but it decided that since Julius’s month, July, had 31 days, Augustus’s month should equal it: under the Julian calendar, the months alternated evenly between 30 and 31 days (with the exception of February), which made August 30 days long. So, instead of August having a mere 30 days, it was lengthened to 31, preventing anyone from claiming that Emperor Augustus was saddled with an inferior month.

7. Augustus could be ruthless

Augustus sent his only daughter, Julia, into exile, after discovering she had been having sexual relationships with men out of wedlock. Having enacted strict laws which criminalized adultery, he banished Julia to the barren island of Ventotene and never saw her again.

Julia’s daughter, also named Julia, met a similar fate: banished for infidelity, she died in exile and was refused a burial in Rome because of her disgrace.

8. He may or may not have been murdered by his wife

High society in ancient Rome was notorious for back-stabbing and treachery. After his death in August 14, rumours swirled that his wife, Livia, had poisoned the fresh figs Augustus ate to hasten his end.

This may have been true, but if it were, it could well have been assisted suicide rather than murder: Augustus’ health was already in serious decline by this point.

9. The Roman Empire he established lasted in some form for nearly 1500 years

Augustus began a regime which would last in some form until the fall of Constantinople in the 15th century, shaping European and Asian history for centuries.

His title, Caesar, lived on until the 20th century, transforming into kaiser in Germany and tsar in Russia respectively. Many still consider him to be one of the most important figures in the ancient world: his policies and ideals lasted long after his death.

10. He left a lasting built legacy in Rome

Julius Caesar began the custom of building a new forum in honour of the ruler’s family. Augustus’ grandiose forum was part of a series of buildings constructed with the intent of promoting military victories and unity after the civil war. Augustus also erected obelisks in the circus maximus and at several more of his monuments.

1911 drawing of the Forum of Augustus by S.B. Platner

Image Credit: CC

It seems these monuments to Augustus fulfilled their intention all the way into modern times. Even Mussolini, who greatly admired and celebrated Rome’s first Emperor, wished to return the city of Rome to as it was during Augustus’ reign. You can still visit the Forum of Augustus in Rome today.

The Battle of Pharsalus paved the way for Caesar’s rise to supremacy. Caesar and Pompey were fighting over the future of Rome, and the winner of the battle would control Rome’s mighty empire.

Caesar and Pompey

Several years before the Battle of Pharsalus the Roman Republic had been controlled by three men: Caesar, Pompey and Crassus. All three were wealthy and powerful politicians, sharing power in a system known as the Triumvirate. Pompey had even married Caesar’s daughter Julia to help cement the alliance between them.

Bust of Julius Caesar.

The Triumvirate broke down after Crassus was killed at the Battle of Carrhae and Julia died. Pompey and the Senate soon became fearful of Caesar’s power, popularity and wealth. Caesar’s political capital reached its peak after his success in conquering Gaul.

The Senate and Pompey, increasingly concerned about Caesar’s reputation among the people and lust for power, demanded that Caesar’s armies disband. His elite legions had served for nearly a decade in Gaul fighting the barbarian tribes. They were battle-hardened and fiercely loyal to Caesar owing to the money and glory he provided them.

Caesar refused to break up his military, and a civil war between him and Pompey began to seem possible. Pompey was as well-regarded a general as Caesar, and the Senate were confident he would protect Rome. This war would dictate the future of the Roman Empire: the winner would have control over Rome’s military, the provinces and the Senate.

Background to the battle

In January 49 BC Caesar and his legions crossed the Rubicon river into Italy. Entering Italy with a Roman army was considered by the Senate to be treasonous and a declaration of war. The shocked Senate, led by Pompey, lacked the soldiers to prevent Caesar taking control of Rome; they had not been prepared for him to take such drastic action.

As Caesar marched towards Rome, Pompey convinced the Senate that the best course of action would be to retreat across the Adriatic and rally legions in Greece. They did so, while Caesar prepared a fleet to transport his legions and pursue them.

In Greece, Pompey mustered a huge army from the Roman soldiers posted around the provinces, and used his fleet to blockade Italy and prevent Caesar crossing the sea. Caesar and one of his generals, Marcus Antonius, succeeded in evading Pompey’s ships and landed some of their legions in Greece, ready to take the fight to Pompey.

Bust of Pompey.

Trench warfare

Caesar and Antonius marched an under-strength army to Pompey’s fortified encampment. To prevent Pompey’s troops accessing food and water Caesar ordered his legionaries to build a long wall around Pompey’s camp. Pompey responded by building a parallel wall facing Caesar’s, but he lacked the resources to feed his besieged army for long.

Fighting began to break out between the two entrenched positions. However, these skirmishes in the no-man’s-land between the opposing walls did not yield an advantage for either general.

Before long Pompey was becoming desperate for supplies. Fortunately, luck was on his side: two Gallic noblemen serving in Caesar’s cavalry were caught stealing pay. They defected to Pompey to avoid prosecution and revealed to him the weakest point in Caesar’s lines, right where his wall touched the sea.

Pompey seized the opportunity. He sent his legions to attack the wall from the front while his auxiliaries flanked around Caesar’s wall on the seaward side. His assault was a great success and Caesar was forced into a retreat.

Pompey feared that Caesar might have set the whole incident up as a trap, so did not give pursuit. This mistake led Caesar to remark,

“Today the victory would have been the enemy’s, had there been any one among them to gain it”.

The Battle of Pharsalus

A few weeks after Caesar withdrew from Pompey’s camp, the two generals clashed at Pharsalus. Caesar had only 22,000 men, whereas Pompey’s army was closer to 40,000. Although Caesar’s troops were more experienced, Pompey had a significant cavalry advantage.

Pompey hoped to use his cavalry to overpower Caesar’s horsemen and flank Caesar’s infantry in a ‘hammer and anvil’ manoeuvre. He was not concerned about his own legions owing to their significant numerical advantage over the enemy.

Caesar was aware of his vulnerability and used his tactical expertise to outwit Pompey. To ambush his enemy’s superior cavalry, Caesar hid a line of infantry behind his own horsemen. When the armies clashed and Caesar’s horsemen were pushed back, these infantry leapt up and charged Pompey’s cavalry, using their pila (javelins) as spears.

Pompey’s horsemen were panicked by this surprise attack and fled. Caesar then ordered his veteran legions to press forward and used his cavalry to push on Pompey’s flank. Pompey’s legions broke and ran, and Pompey fled; first from Pharsalus, then from Greece.

A tactical map depicting the decisive action on the right of the battle at Pharsalus in 48 BC.

Aftermath

Pompey soon arrived in Egypt where he was executed by Ptolemy XIII, who hoped to gain favour with Caesar and his allies.

Caesar, meanwhile, granted amnesty to many of the senators who had fought against him and held control over much of the Roman empire. Although there were pockets of resistance still to be crushed, Pharsalus had removed his most powerful military and political rival.

Caesar could now embark on a series of reforms which solidified his power. He established the basis for one-man rule in Rome, which his adopted son Octavian would see through to its conclusion when he became Rome’s first emperor.

The Assassination of Julius Caesar.

Four years later, shortly after being named Dictator for Life, Caesar was assassinated by some of the men he had spared after Pharsalus. He bled to death at the foot of Pompey’s statue.

Featured Image: Statue of Julius Caesar. Leomudde / Commons.

They had been integrated since the re-population of mainland Britain in around 9,000 BC. From this re-population of Britain, at the end of the last Ice Age, all the way through to the Roman period, Britain was fully connected with all the cultural developments taking place on the continent.

So going all the way through the later Paleolithic Period, through the Mesolithic Period into the Neolithic Period (when farming arrives in Britain), into the late Iron Age, just before the arrival of the Romans, Britain was connected culturally to the continent.

Latterly, just before the Romans arrived, the British culture was Late Iron Age. But to the Romans, Britain remained a great unknown. They knew about Gaul because of their Mediterranean connections; but they knew very little about Britain.

Britain and Rome

In actual fact, even as Caesar began to conquer Gaul in the 50s BC, Britain was almost a terrifying place for the Romans. It was The North in ‘Game of Thrones’ about which they knew nothing.

This mythical place lay across fearsome Oceanus, as they called the English Channel and the North Sea. It was very different for them compared to the comparatively benign Mare Nostrum, the Mediterranean.

In fact, the first references we have to Britain were from merchants and geographers in the 5th, 4th, 3rd-centuries BC. And, again, they’re only passing references. One famous geographer called Pytheas actually circumnavigated, it seems, the main isles of Britain.

It’s from him that we get the name of Britain, because he said that Britain was populated by the Prettani, the ‘painted people’. So even then, the reference was to these ‘painted people’ living on this mythical island of Britain. The name Prettani comes down to us today as the name Britain.

Julius Caesar: from Gaul to Britain

The Romans wanted to conquer Britain for a variety of reasons. Initially, these existed in the context of Julius Caesar‘s conquest of Gaul, which began in around 60 BC and ran through to around 52 BC.

During Caesar’s conquest of Gaul, he made two incursions to Britain

They should not be seen as full invasions; they were armed reconnaissances to Britain in 55 and 54 BC, specifically in the context of Caesar’s campaigns in Gaul.

Why did Caesar invade?

Firstly, Caesar knew it was a place of refuge for those fleeing his conquest of Gaul. It was a troublesome place in the northwest of his campaigning area which he wanted to keep quiet.

‘Caesar Crying Before the Statue of Alexander’.

Secondly, Caesar knew that Britain was famous for some of its exports: extractive resources like metals, tin, lead, iron, silver, and gold. It was also a place known for exporting slaves, hunting dogs like mastiffs, woollen goods, and also produce like wheat. So there was wealth to be made in Britain, and Caesar was always interested in making money.

Finally, this was Julius Caesar, a man obsessed with glory. A man who touched the statue of Alexander the Great and wept because he hadn’t, at the same age, conquered what Alexander had by that time.

Going to Britain, this mythical, far-fetched, mysterious place across terrifying Oceanus was an enormous step and an enormous gamble, which no Roman general had done before.

So for those three reasons. Firstly, a strategic reason: it was a place of refuge for those causing trouble in Gaul. It was also for wealth, and it was also for glory.

Both invasions are manifestations of two of the key aspects of Roman society and culture.

The first is grit: that determination to always come back. Caesar came in 55 BC, he failed, so he came back again in 54 BC. The second aspect is to learn from your mistakes. In Caesar’s second invasion in 54 BC, he learned from his mistakes.

Caesar’s lack of preparation

Now, unusually in his 55 BC invasion of Britain, within the context of the conquest of Gaul, Caesar seems to have been pretty unprepared. He didn’t do a very good reconnaissance.

So, for example, Caesar was advised to find a landing place on the beaches beneath the White Cliffs of Dover, which is not a good place to land.

Bust of Julius Caesar (Vatican Museum).

All your opponents can be standing on top of the cliffs, throwing rocks, throwing javelins, throwing spears, firing slingshots, shooting arrows down at you. It’s a very poor place to mount an amphibious landing.

Secondly, Caesar’s force proved to be too small; and crucially, his cavalry didn’t arrive.

Caesar’s first invasion

So his force arrives off the coast of Dover, and the Britons have been alerted by their Gallic friends that the Romans are coming. The White Cliffs of Dover are swarming with native Britons, and they’re ready for the Romans to land. Caesar realises that his plan won’t work.

So he goes northwards to where he should have been advised to land in the first place, where there are very long stretches of shallow beaches. His fleet arrives, but the Britons follow them mile for mile so by the time the Romans arrive off the beaches, the natives are ready for them again.

The Romans now have to perform that most difficult of military operations, a contested amphibious assault. The Romans again almost don’t succeed. This is all written by Caesar. It’s worth remembering a lot of what we know about Caesar is what he wrote about himself.

Caesar tells us that the aquilifer of his 10th legion, the standard-bearer with a golden eagle standard, had to jump into the shallows from his galley to encourage the rest of the legionaries to follow him.

If this took place, then it worked, because the legions ultimately land, fight the Britons and make their way to shore. The Britons flee.

But Caesar has no cavalry, so he can’t pursue them. He builds a marching camp and stays close to it for the rest of the 55 BC invasion. Mainly because without cavalry he can’t reconnoitre the way forward. So he returns after some bad weather damages his ships.

Caesar returns

In 54 BC, when Caesar comes back, he’s learned from his mistakes. His force is much bigger: it’s 5 legions, 25,000 men. He’s brought cavalry with him this time. The force is big enough to deter any Britons from opposing the landing. Also, he’s using his ships now which are built with a view to operation in northern waters. The force lands unopposed.

Caesar marches inland. Over the next couple of months, he campaigns through the north of Kent, across the Thames and ultimately fights the Catuvellauni local tribe who were the center of local resistance to a standstill near their capital. The natives sue for peace.

This time, Caesar can return to Gaul. He doesn’t overstay; both incursions were actually more like reconnaissances. He can go back to Gaul with tribute, the promise of more tribute in the future, and with hostages. So from Caesar’s perspective, it’s job done.

From that point, Britain is on the Roman map.