Battle of Pharsalus
| date | August 9, 48 BC Chr. |
|---|---|
| place | Pharsalos ( Thessaly / Greece ) |
| output | Decisive victory for Caesar |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
| Troop strength | |
| approx. 44,000 legionaries, approx. 7000 horsemen, auxiliary troops | approx. 22,000 legionaries, approx. 1000 horsemen, auxiliary troops |
| losses | |
|
approx.15,000 (including 6000 legionaries) |
200-1200 |
The battle of Pharsalus occurred on August 9, 48 BC. BC near Pharsalas in the northern Greek city of Thessaly between Gaius Iulius Caesar on the one hand, Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus and the forces of the Roman Senate on the other. It was the decisive battle during the civil war of 49–45 BC. Chr.
prehistory
On January 10, 49 BC Caesar crossed the border river Rubicon , which separated Italy from the province of Gallia cisalpina , and began the civil war. In forced marches he advanced to Rome, which was evacuated by Pompey and most of the Senate, as there was no prospect of success in Italy. Pompey fled with his supporters to Greece to organize the further resistance against Caesar there. Caesar conquered Hispania , Sicily and Massilia because he could not follow Pompey due to a lack of ships . However, an invasion of North Africa under Caesar's sub-commander Gaius Scribonius Curio failed. Caesar organized the construction of a fleet to follow Pompey to Greece.
After building a fleet, Caesar was only able to sail to Greece with part of his army, around 15,000 men. The rest of the army later followed under Mark Antony . Caesar pitched a camp near Dyrrhachium (today's Durrës ), where Pompey was ready. After an unsuccessful attack on Dyrrhachium , Caesar had to retreat further south to find food. He also gave a free hand in looting Greek cities. Caesar settled in Thessaly to seek the decisive battle against Pompey there. But he pursued a different strategy: he wanted to starve Caesar in order, as he said, to end this war without shedding a lot of Roman blood. But the senators urged Pompey to a decisive battle in order to win the war as quickly as possible and to see Caesar on the ground. Meanwhile Caesar had already prepared his army for battle several times, but Pompey did not want to let fight. As the pressure from the senators grew, Pompey gave in and raised his army in battle formation. Caesar was just about to march on when he saw Pompey's army positioned on the hill.
The battle
Caesar's army was numerically far inferior to that of Pompey - he had around 22,000 infantry, while Pompey had around 44,000 legionnaires. While Caesar had about 1,000 horsemen with him, the Senate army is said to have raised over 7,000 horsemen. There are also an unknown number of auxiliaries on both sides. Caesar was able to fall back on motivated and experienced legionaries, some of whom had still fought in the Gallic War . Pompey's army, on the other hand, consisted to a large extent of mercenaries and former followers of Caesar, on whose loyalty he could not trust.
Pompey put on the left wing the two legions, which Caesar by Senate resolution had assigned to him shortly before the start of the Civil War (1st and 3rd Legion), there is also Pompey was himself. The center held Metellus Scipio with legions from Syria, on the right wing stood a Cilica legion with cohorts that Afranius had brought over from Hispania . Pompey placed the remaining troops between the middle battle line and the wings, and he distributed another 2,000 volunteers over the whole battle order; He left seven cohorts as crew in the camp.
Caesar arranged his army in three lines of battle, the 10th Legion on the right (lead: Publius Sulla ), the ninth on the left (lead: Marcus Antonius ). He linked the heavily fused 9th Legion with the 8th Legion. In the middle, Gnaeus Domitius Calvinus received the order. Caesar himself took up position opposite Pompey on the right wing; He left seven cohorts to protect the camp.
The battlefield of Pharsalus was limited in the south on Caesar's left side by the river Enipeus , so that the decision had to be made on the other wing in the north.
Both parties had posted their riders there, Pompey also archers and slingers. The decision was made by Caesar's tactical move: when he saw the opposing line-up, he removed six cohorts from the third battle line and formed a fourth battle line. He arranged them in a hooked position that the enemy could not see.
After the clash of the front lines of battle, Caesar's old, experienced legionaries held on despite the superior strength of Pompey in the center and on the left wing, while Caesar's cavalry was quickly pushed back by the cavalry of Pompey under the command of Labienus . This advancing riders fell Caesars reserve infantry with their Pila in the style of pikemen in the side and put them to flight - the riders were trying to reach the high mountains; At that moment, Pompey also fled the battlefield. The six cohorts of the fourth line killed the defenseless archers and slingers, bypassed the order of battle of Pompey and, with the support of the cavalry, grabbed them in the back. At the same time Caesar sent his last fresh troops, which he had held back in a detached marching line, into action in the main battle line. Now the Pompeians finally retreated and fled en masse.
In the midday heat, Caesar stormed Pompey's camp and the crew fled to the towering mountains. Then the Pompeian soldiers surrendered, Caesar pardoned them and set out to persecute Pompey.
Pompey had initially fled to his camp, later he sailed on to Egypt , where he was ordered by Pharaoh Ptolemy XIII. was killed.
The aftermath of the battle was the consolidation of Caesar's power in the eastern part of the empire and thus in the entire Mediterranean area. The civil war was practically decided.
Literary processing
The civil war between Caesar and Pompey and the battle of Pharsalus are dealt with in these works:
- Epic by Lukan : Pharsalia , approx. From the years 62–65 AD.
- Colleen McCullough's novel : Rubicon from 1997.
- Robert Harris novel : Dictator from 2015.
swell
- Caesar, De bello civili III, 82-99. ( Excerpt from the Battle of Pharsalus )
- Appian : Bellum Civile . Book II, Paragraph 66–82 ( online copy )
- Cassius Dio : Roman History . Book 41, paragraphs 52-63 ( excerpt from the battle of Pharsalus )
literature
- William E. Gwatkin, Jr .: Some Reflections on the Battle of Pharsalus . In: Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association 87, 1956, ISSN 0065-9711 , pp. 109-124.
- Matthew Bennet (Ed.): The Hutchinson dictionary of ancient & medieval warfare . Fitzroy Dearborn Publishing, Chicago IL et al. 1998, ISBN 1-57958-116-1 , p. 250, ( limited online version in the Google Book Search USA )
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Appian : Bellum Civile . Book II, paragraph 66-82 ( online copy )
- ^ A b Matthew Bennet: The Hutchinson dictionary of ancient & medieval warfare . Taylor & Francis 1998, ISBN 978-1-57958-116-9 , p. 250 ( restricted online version in Google Book Search - USA )