AUSTERLITZ
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BATTLE OF PHARSALUS - Caesar vs Pompey
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Background:
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Roman Republic 49 BC.Rome rules the western world.Gaius julius caesar,rome's most famous general, has just completed conquest of gaul,and now seeks a consulship-in-absentia from the roman senate,as his term as governor has expired-so he can return to rome without being prosecuted by his many jealous enemies in the senate for unlawful activities during his tenure.They are backed by Pompey the great,before caesar the most famous roman general and one time ally and son-in law of caesar,now 58, older than caesar.
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During the last decade,pompey,crassus[yeah,the one in spartacus] and caesar had come to an informal agreement to divide up the empire into respective spheres of influence and support each other to thwart the senate,called the three headed monster or the first triumvirate.However crassus is killed on campaign against parthia at carrhae,and julia caesar's daughter and pompey's wife dies at childbirth-severing the ties between the two.
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An increasingly jealous pompey backs the senators,led by the rhetoric of cato, the senate gives caesar an ultimatum to return to rome as a private citizen,and on caesar refusing outlaws him as public enemy.Knowing legal prosecution and perhaps assasination awaits him,if he went to rome alone-caesar responds by crossing the rubicon river-the boundary beyond which no roman general was allowed to take his troops and marching on Rome with his fanatically loyal legions.Its civil war,and in caesar's own words-the die is now cast.
Caesar's attack,his initial marching force being just 1 legion[~5000 men] catches the republicans completely off guard and creates panic in rome.Caesar heads straight for rome,while being reinforced by more legions and brushes aside resistance.
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Pompey and the senate abandon Italy for greece with as many troops as they can embark at brundisium-as pompey understands that their mobilization is far from complete and the available hastily raised levies would be useless against caesar's veteran army.They intend to reach greece and rebuild their force [by collecting all the legions deployed in the eastern provinces],and recieving aid from all the eastern cleint kings -most of which owe their positions to pompey's earlier conquests.They barely escape caesar's pursuing force which besieged brundisium but was unable to prevent the pompeian fleet evacuating the republicans and their forces at the last moment.
THE ILERDA CAMPAIGN -
Caesar consolidates his position in italy,calls a rump senate of loyalists then heads towards spain-where pompey's subordinates,afrainius,petreius and governor varro have 7 legions between them.
Caesar links up with his initial advance force under his subordinate fabius and then moves against the pompeians who are camped with 5 legions under afrainius and petrieus.Varro is in the spanish interior with 2 more.
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Pompeians in blue,caesarians red.
1]Fabius's camp.Initial position of caesarian forces.
2]The town of ilerda on a ridge,protected by a small contingent of pompeian forces.
3]Pompeian main camp on a hill.
4]Bridges-2 caesarian and one pompeian.Pompeians have a more stable stone bridge while caesarians have wooden ones.Access to the other bank is crucial for supply gathering.
5]Caesar approaches.
6]Caesar immediately approaches the ridge and offers battle below.Afrainius and petrieus decline.
7]Caesar removes his force,and builds a trench with his third infantry line while first 2 stand guard.This becomes his new camp and his fully developed with more extensive fortifications within days.
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1.On completing his camp to satisfaction,caesar attacks with his forces attempting to take the hillock between the pompeian camp and ilerda.In the race,pompeians get there first.
2.Pompeian reinforcements are fed throughout the day to hold the position.
3.After a mutually costly fight,caesarian forces retreat.
4.A storm destroys the wooden bridges creating supply problems for caesar.
5.Caesar builds a new bridge closer to the action and relieves logistical pressure.
6.Caesarian cavalry reinforcements arrive in numbers from gaul.
7.Using his cavalry superiority caesar wins multiple small engagements and harasses pompeian foraging attempts.
8.Caesar's engineers,begin to dig canals-attempting to divert the flow of the river and make it fordable.
9.Afrainius and petrius realize if this gambit suceeds,they will be surrounded on both sides by caesarians and supplies cut off.Understanding their position is untenable,they abandon their camp at night and retreat across a temporary bridge.
10.Caesar's scouts detect the pompeian move.His numerous cavalry harasses the republicans slowing them down.
11.Caesar follows in haste,using rows of pack animals on both sides to interrupt the flow -his army crosses in a temporary ford.He overatkes the pompeian army and cuts off its escape route.Resisting calls for battle,he waits for starvation to take its toll. After a few days republicans are forced to surrender without supplies.
Soon varro and his mere 2 legions surrender too.
Caesar pardons the commanders ,but afarianius and petrius break word and join pompey with whatever forces they can gather in greece.
In a stunning campaign caesar thus eliminates pompeian presence in spain with minimal losses.
Battle of Dyrrhachium -
After returning to italy,caesar's fleet is inferior to the republicans and having been able to build only half the number of transports he needs -impatiently he embarks half his army and gambles on a expedition to greece-totally unexpected through the treacherous seas in winter.
He is able to cross through,but is then subjected to a naval blockade by pompeian forces.Outnumbered,with severe supply problems-his gamble had badly backfired.
However he joins with antony's reinforcements just before pompey can intercept them.
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Caesar though outnumbered attempts to surround pompey's army at dyrrhachium by circumvillating[building fortifications around the heavily defended town]Pompey builds his own set of walls to prevent caesarian fortifications from coming too close.
Caesar held the out-lying farmland but it had been picked clean and Pompey, with the sea to his back, was able to be resupplied by ship. However, as the siege wore on, their positions began to change. Pompey found it difficult with the limited land to create enough fodder for his horses, and other supplies such as fresh water became more and more difficult to maintain. Harvest was approaching and soon Caesar would have enough food to prolong his position. This caused Pompey to become desperate to break out of the siege.
Gallic defectors ,in a stroke of luck tell pompey the exact weak points in caesar's lines.The unfinished southern part.
Pompey launches an attack with 6 legions against the caesarian9th legion,which suffered heavy losses and is pushed back-kept from total rout by the heroics of one centurion-marcus cassius scaeva.The caesarian counterattack aims to push the pompeians back,but overwhelming numbers tell and caesar is forced to withdraw-pompey however doesn't aggressively pursue and in caesar's own words-''The victory belonged to the enemy that day,if they had but a victor to lead them''.
Ceasar extracts himself from a potential catastrophic position and withdraws to the greek interior.Pompey follows.Both are joined by reinforcements.Calvinius for caesarians and metallus scipio with syrian legions for pompey.
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While pompey wants to avoid direct battle with caesar's veteran army and instead aims to grind him down by fabian warfare by targeting his supplies,the prominent senators and officers believe caesar a beaten man and clamour for a direct engagement to finish him off and return to rome.Reluctantly pompey gives in after some senators accuse him of enjoying total power and refusing to surrender it-the reason for delay.
He finally accepts battle at Pharsalus.
Next:Armies and Tactics.
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Background:
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Roman Republic 49 BC.Rome rules the western world.Gaius julius caesar,rome's most famous general, has just completed conquest of gaul,and now seeks a consulship-in-absentia from the roman senate,as his term as governor has expired-so he can return to rome without being prosecuted by his many jealous enemies in the senate for unlawful activities during his tenure.They are backed by Pompey the great,before caesar the most famous roman general and one time ally and son-in law of caesar,now 58, older than caesar.
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
During the last decade,pompey,crassus[yeah,the one in spartacus] and caesar had come to an informal agreement to divide up the empire into respective spheres of influence and support each other to thwart the senate,called the three headed monster or the first triumvirate.However crassus is killed on campaign against parthia at carrhae,and julia caesar's daughter and pompey's wife dies at childbirth-severing the ties between the two.
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
An increasingly jealous pompey backs the senators,led by the rhetoric of cato, the senate gives caesar an ultimatum to return to rome as a private citizen,and on caesar refusing outlaws him as public enemy.Knowing legal prosecution and perhaps assasination awaits him,if he went to rome alone-caesar responds by crossing the rubicon river-the boundary beyond which no roman general was allowed to take his troops and marching on Rome with his fanatically loyal legions.Its civil war,and in caesar's own words-the die is now cast.
Caesar's attack,his initial marching force being just 1 legion[~5000 men] catches the republicans completely off guard and creates panic in rome.Caesar heads straight for rome,while being reinforced by more legions and brushes aside resistance.
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Pompey and the senate abandon Italy for greece with as many troops as they can embark at brundisium-as pompey understands that their mobilization is far from complete and the available hastily raised levies would be useless against caesar's veteran army.They intend to reach greece and rebuild their force [by collecting all the legions deployed in the eastern provinces],and recieving aid from all the eastern cleint kings -most of which owe their positions to pompey's earlier conquests.They barely escape caesar's pursuing force which besieged brundisium but was unable to prevent the pompeian fleet evacuating the republicans and their forces at the last moment.
THE ILERDA CAMPAIGN -
Caesar consolidates his position in italy,calls a rump senate of loyalists then heads towards spain-where pompey's subordinates,afrainius,petreius and governor varro have 7 legions between them.
Caesar links up with his initial advance force under his subordinate fabius and then moves against the pompeians who are camped with 5 legions under afrainius and petrieus.Varro is in the spanish interior with 2 more.
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Pompeians in blue,caesarians red.
1]Fabius's camp.Initial position of caesarian forces.
2]The town of ilerda on a ridge,protected by a small contingent of pompeian forces.
3]Pompeian main camp on a hill.
4]Bridges-2 caesarian and one pompeian.Pompeians have a more stable stone bridge while caesarians have wooden ones.Access to the other bank is crucial for supply gathering.
5]Caesar approaches.
6]Caesar immediately approaches the ridge and offers battle below.Afrainius and petrieus decline.
7]Caesar removes his force,and builds a trench with his third infantry line while first 2 stand guard.This becomes his new camp and his fully developed with more extensive fortifications within days.
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
1.On completing his camp to satisfaction,caesar attacks with his forces attempting to take the hillock between the pompeian camp and ilerda.In the race,pompeians get there first.
2.Pompeian reinforcements are fed throughout the day to hold the position.
3.After a mutually costly fight,caesarian forces retreat.
4.A storm destroys the wooden bridges creating supply problems for caesar.
5.Caesar builds a new bridge closer to the action and relieves logistical pressure.
6.Caesarian cavalry reinforcements arrive in numbers from gaul.
7.Using his cavalry superiority caesar wins multiple small engagements and harasses pompeian foraging attempts.
8.Caesar's engineers,begin to dig canals-attempting to divert the flow of the river and make it fordable.
9.Afrainius and petrius realize if this gambit suceeds,they will be surrounded on both sides by caesarians and supplies cut off.Understanding their position is untenable,they abandon their camp at night and retreat across a temporary bridge.
10.Caesar's scouts detect the pompeian move.His numerous cavalry harasses the republicans slowing them down.
11.Caesar follows in haste,using rows of pack animals on both sides to interrupt the flow -his army crosses in a temporary ford.He overatkes the pompeian army and cuts off its escape route.Resisting calls for battle,he waits for starvation to take its toll. After a few days republicans are forced to surrender without supplies.
Soon varro and his mere 2 legions surrender too.
Caesar pardons the commanders ,but afarianius and petrius break word and join pompey with whatever forces they can gather in greece.
In a stunning campaign caesar thus eliminates pompeian presence in spain with minimal losses.
Battle of Dyrrhachium -
After returning to italy,caesar's fleet is inferior to the republicans and having been able to build only half the number of transports he needs -impatiently he embarks half his army and gambles on a expedition to greece-totally unexpected through the treacherous seas in winter.
He is able to cross through,but is then subjected to a naval blockade by pompeian forces.Outnumbered,with severe supply problems-his gamble had badly backfired.
However he joins with antony's reinforcements just before pompey can intercept them.
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Caesar though outnumbered attempts to surround pompey's army at dyrrhachium by circumvillating[building fortifications around the heavily defended town]Pompey builds his own set of walls to prevent caesarian fortifications from coming too close.
Caesar held the out-lying farmland but it had been picked clean and Pompey, with the sea to his back, was able to be resupplied by ship. However, as the siege wore on, their positions began to change. Pompey found it difficult with the limited land to create enough fodder for his horses, and other supplies such as fresh water became more and more difficult to maintain. Harvest was approaching and soon Caesar would have enough food to prolong his position. This caused Pompey to become desperate to break out of the siege.
Gallic defectors ,in a stroke of luck tell pompey the exact weak points in caesar's lines.The unfinished southern part.
Pompey launches an attack with 6 legions against the caesarian9th legion,which suffered heavy losses and is pushed back-kept from total rout by the heroics of one centurion-marcus cassius scaeva.The caesarian counterattack aims to push the pompeians back,but overwhelming numbers tell and caesar is forced to withdraw-pompey however doesn't aggressively pursue and in caesar's own words-''The victory belonged to the enemy that day,if they had but a victor to lead them''.
Ceasar extracts himself from a potential catastrophic position and withdraws to the greek interior.Pompey follows.Both are joined by reinforcements.Calvinius for caesarians and metallus scipio with syrian legions for pompey.
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
While pompey wants to avoid direct battle with caesar's veteran army and instead aims to grind him down by fabian warfare by targeting his supplies,the prominent senators and officers believe caesar a beaten man and clamour for a direct engagement to finish him off and return to rome.Reluctantly pompey gives in after some senators accuse him of enjoying total power and refusing to surrender it-the reason for delay.
He finally accepts battle at Pharsalus.
Next:Armies and Tactics.
