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Battle of thapsus
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{{Infobox Military Conflict
|conflict=Battle of Thapsus
|partof=
Caesar's civil war
|image=
|caption=
|date=
February 6,
46 BC
|place=
Thapsus (
Tunisia), modern Ras Dimas
|casus=
|territory=
|result=Caesarean victory
|combatant1=
Populares
|combatant2=
Optimates
|commander1=
Julius Caesar
|commander2=
Metellus Scipio †,
Cato the younger †
|strength1=Unknown (at least 10 legions)
|strength2=Unknown (at least 10 legions), 2,500 cavalry
Juba I of Numidia Juba's allied troops with 60 elephants
|casualties1=1,000
|casualties2=30,000
}}
{{Campaignbox Caesar's Civil War}}
The '''Battle of Thapsus''' took place on
February 6,
46 BC near
Thapsus (modern
Ras Dimas,
Tunisia). The Conservative Republican Army, led by
Cato the Younger Marcus Porcius Cato, the younger and
Caecilius Metellus Quintus Caecillius Metellus Scipio clashed with the forces of
Julius Caesar, who eventually won the battle. With this victory, Caesar temporarily ended the resistance against his power in Africa and was one step closer to absolute power.
Prelude
After crossing the
Rubicon in
49 BC, Caesar started the last
Roman Republic Republican civil war by defying
Roman senate senatorial orders to disband his army. Following his invasion of Italy and Rome, the Conservative Republicans fled to Greece under the command of
Pompey. The Populares under Julius Ceasar were defeated in the battle of
Battle of Dyrrhachium Dyrrhachium while the Optimates under Pompey were decisively defeated at
Battle of Pharsalus Pharsalus in
48 BC. Pompey was murdered, but the conservatives, not ready to give up fighting, clustered in the Africa provinces and organized a resistance. Its leaders were Marcus Porcius Cato, the younger, and Metellus Scipio. Other key figures in the resistance were
Titus Labienus,
Publius Attius Varus,
Lucius Afranius (consul) Lucius Afranius,
Marcus Petreius and the brothers
Sextus Pompeius Sextus and
Gnaeus Pompeius (Pompey's sons). King
Juba I of Numidia was a valuable local ally. After the pacification of the Eastern provinces, and a short visit to Rome, Caesar followed his opponents to Africa and landed in
Hadrumetum (modern
Sousse,
Tunisia) in
December 28 47 BC.
The Conservatives gathered their forces with astonishing speed. Its army included 40,000 men (''circa'' 10
Roman legion legions), a powerful cavalry force led by Caesar's former right hand man, the talented Titus Labenius, allied forces of local kings and 60
war elephant war elephants. The two armies embarked in small conflicts to measure forces, during which two conservative legions deserted to Caesar. Meanwhile, Caesar expected reinforcements from Sicily. In the beginning of February, Caesar arrived in Thapsus and besieged the city, blocking the southern entrance with three lines of fortifications. The conservatives, led by Metellus Scipio, could not risk the loss of this position and were forced to accept battle.
Battle
Metellus Scipio's army circled Thapsus in order to approach the city by its Northern side. Anticipating Caesar's approach, they remained in tight battle order flanked by its elephant cavalry. Caesar's position was typical of his style, with him commanding the right side and the cavalry and archers flanked. The threat of the elephants led to the additional precautions of reinforcing the cavalry with 5
Roman legion cohorts.
One of Caesar's trumpeters sounded the battle. Caesar's archers attacked the elephants with no mercy, causing them to panic and trample men on their own side. The left flank of elephants charged against Caesar's center, where
Legio V Alaudae was placed. This legion sustained the charge with such bravery that afterwards they wore an elephant as a symbol. After the loss of the elephants, Metellus Scipio started to lose ground. Caesar's cavalry outmaneuvered its enemy, destroyed the fortified camp, and forced its enemy into retreat. King Juba's allied troops abandoned the site and the battle was decided.
Roughly 10,000 enemy soldiers, including Metellus Scipio, wanted to surrender to Caesar, but were instead slaughtered by his army. This action is unusual for Caesar, who was known as a merciful victor. Some sources contend Caesar had an
epileptic seizure during the battle and was not fully conscious for its aftermath.
Aftermath
Following the battle, Caesar renewed the siege of Thapsus, which eventually would fall. Caesar proceeded to
Utica, Tunisia Utica, where
Cato the Younger was garrisoned. On the news of the defeat of his allies, Cato committed suicide. Caesar was upset by this and is reported by
Plutarch to have said: ''Cato, I must grudge you your death, as you grudged me the honour of saving your life.''
The battle preceded peace in Africa--Caesar pulled out and returned to Rome on
July 25 of the same year. Opposition, however, would rise again. Titus Labienus, the Pompeian brothers and others had managed to escape to the Hispania provinces. The civil war was not finished and the
battle of Munda would soon follow.
Category:Battles of the Roman Republic Thapsus
Category:History of Tunisia
Category:46 BC
de:Schlacht bei Thapsus
fr:Bataille de Thapsus
it:Battaglia di Tapso
pl:Bitwa pod Tapsus
pt:Batalha de Thapsus
see
Battle of Thapsus
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