Roman Civil War
Essay Preview: Roman Civil War
Report this essay
The Civil War of Rome
The Civil War in the eyes of most people is not glorious, but rather one of the worst crimes you could possibly commit when the state is all-important. Only under the most extreme circumstances should one be allowed to (in the eyes of the people that is) begin a Civil War with just cause. Caesar took this into consideration, but too many things were going wrong in Rome for him not to begin the war.
The first of many problems was the collapse of the Triumvirate. The Triumvirate was one of the main parts of the government of Rome, with which there were three leaders, which at the time were Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus. This was never truly working all that great, but held itself together by the marriage of Caesars daughter Julia, to Pompey, and the friendship Caesar and Crassus shared. But, all this came to an end when Crassus was killed in a battle against a Parthian army. Then, not too long afterwards, Julia was murdered by someone who had broken into her home. This, destroyed the bond between Caesar and Pompey, and made them drift apart. Caesar seeing all this taking place, attempted to restore the bond by proposing to Pompeys only daughter, but was not allowed to by Pompey.
To only make matters worse, Rome was slowly slipping into total anarchy. The government was becoming corrupt with bribery. The elections were being stopped, and there wasnt a consul elected in 53 or 52 B.C. Most authority was lost, the streets became rioted, and unsafe. During this time, Pompey tried to annul the Law of Ten Tribunes without notifying Caesar. If this happen, it would of removed a lot of Caesars power. Caesar saw what he was trying to do, and stopped it before this action took place, and now knew for sure that Pompey was no longer his ally, but instead an enemy.
Pompey tried another devious act against Caesar, which this time worked. He had the senate pass a law that made Pompey and Caesar both give up troops, and send them to the East, where they were supposedly needed against the Parthians. This seemed fair, but it made Caesar lose two legions, one that was lent to him by Pompey in the Gallic Wars, and one of his own. Once they were positioned there, Pompey decided they were no longer needed, and sent them to Capua (a city in Rome) under his command.
The final event that drove Caesar to rebel was the Senate declaring Caesar to be a public enemy. They said that he was doing harm to Rome, and was a threat to the entire country. They declared that the troops stationed in Capua go and defend the capital against Caesar.
Caesar at the time was stationed in Cisalpine Gaul, with only one Roman legion of troops, and some small German and Gallic cavalry detachments. When he learned of what the senate had done, he knew he had to act immediately. He sent his troops to the bank of the Rubicon, which was the river that separated Cisalpine from Italy. This was the spot, should any army cross, it would be considered an act of war, and the start of a Civil War. He knew he had to act now, because Pompey only had two trained legions under his command. Both legions had served under him in the Gallic Wars so they would more than likely desert than fight against him. All the other armies that were being set up were new and untrained, and probably wouldnt fight well, if at all. And so, he crossed the Rubicon, knowing at this point there was no turning back.
Things actually turned out to be better than expected. He marched down the coast conquering town after town not only without a fight, but in fact gaining support of the towns, and increasing the size of his army. Even the troops recruited by Pompey himself joined Caesars side, and went off to fight Pompey.
The only resistance Caesar ran into was at Corfinium, at which one of Pompeys commanders had made a stand. The siege lasted only a few days before the majority of the troops mutinied and joined Caesar. The swift victory scared Pompey and his officals, causing them to retreat from Rome. Pompey chose to send his troops to Greece, where he planned to dominate the seas. This way he could cut off the grain supplies to Rome and starve them into surrender. He could also send his legions from Spain and from the East and create a two front attack on Rome. Caesar knew of all these possibilities, but also knew of the immediate problems that had to be dealt with.
Caesar knew that he had to reorganize the government. He had to get certain tasks done, and appointed new officials in a temporary government to do them. He sent a former councilman Curio, to secure the supplies of Sicily, North Africa, and Dolabella. He also sent Marcus Antonius, the son of a radical leader who had Pompey to be commander and chief of the armed forces in Italy. Caesar also reformed the senate, inviting back in all senators in Rome, including the ones that had banished him. This was all to prevent bloodshed, and also somewhat to make him look like a generous and forgiving leader in the eyes of the people.
With this government set up he could now go off to Spain, and hopefully stop Pompeys ability to have a two-pronged attack on Rome. Before he could do this, he had to stop the opposition of Marseille, which he feared might encourage the rebellion of Gaul. When he arrived there, he found something that he felt was of great dishonor. Two commanders Domitius and Vibullius were found there, working against Caesar and held armies determined to fight against him. These were officers he had released after the battle at Corfinium. Instead of dealing with this problem himself, Caesar ordered another officer to blockade the port of Marseille, cutting off food supplies. While this was occurring, he was going to Spain, and take control of it immediately.
Spain posed less of a threat than initially expected. The only place Caesar had to fight over was Ilerda, a natural fortress. Caesar, as he usually did was cut off their grain supplies, and force them into surrender. But, instead of surrendering, Pompeys forces tried to escape while leaving a diversionary force at the fort. Caesars calvary however, tracked down the escaping army, and surrounded them into a waterless hill. There, they surrender, and as Caesar had done in the past, offered to let the troops join his forces, or go home. He made the same proposal to the officers, and gained them in numbers. In the end, Caesar had more men than when he even started the battle.
He then returned to Marseille, where they surrendered at the site of Caesars army. Caesars officers he had commanded to stop the grain supplies had done very well. They had completely decimated any navel resistance. Once Caesar arrived, he did