The Roman Army: A Social and Institutional History - Karatunov.net

G r e at S o l d i e r s a n d B at t l e s 289
to them and then addressed them not as he usually did, Comilitones (comrades
in arms) but as Quirites (citizens), implying that they were discharged. He said
he would grant all their demands, after he had returned from Africa, where he
would fight using other troop s . His ga m ble paid of f , and the men went wi t h
him to fight the Pompeians.
The Af rican campaign en ded at the battle of Th a p su s , wh ere Caesar del i bera
tely all owed the Pom peians to bel i eve that they had en tra pped him with thei r
troops dep l oyed to the north and south of his camp, wh i ch lay in a narrow stri p
of land bet ween the sea to the east and a lake to the we s t . By sending some of h i s
troops on boa rd ship to land on the coast behind his main advers a ry Metellu s
S c i p i o, Caesar managed to en trap the Pom peians bet ween two forces of his own .
The su rvivors of Th a p sus fled to join Ca to at the town of Uti c a , but all was lost
and Ca to famously com m i t ted su i c i de ra t h er than live out his life as proof of
Cae s a r ’s stu d i ed policy of cl em en ti a ( m erc y ) . The other Pom peians were hu n ted
down and kill ed , but Pom pey ’s sons and Ti tus Labi enus fled to Spain wh ere they
a s s em bl ed another army. In 45 bc , Caesar went to fight them in Spain.
The Pom peian fleet and all the su rviving troops from Af rica were wel ded
i n to another figh ting force by Gn aeus and Sex tus Pom pey, a u gm en ted by Spanish
allies loyal to the Pom pei a n s . Sex tus held the town of Cordu b a , wh ere Cae s a r
be s i eged him to try to draw Gn aeus to the rescue and then into battle, but
Gn aeus did not take the bait. Caesar ra i s ed the siege and con cen tra ted on ano
t h er town , Ateg u a , 20 miles southeast of Cordu b a , wh ere there were va lu a bl e
food store s . The town fell , and Gn aeu s , u n a ble to do anything to help the ga rris
on or the inhabi t a n t s , d rew of f , ch a s ed by Cae s a r. The two armies stopped at
Munda wh ere they fo u ght the last battle. Gn aeus had ch o s en his ground well .
Th ere was a stream and a marsh bet ween the two arm i e s , wh i ch the Cae s a ri a n s
h ad to cross wh en the battle started , almost acc i den t a lly: Caesar was abo ut to
break camp and move of f , wh en he noti ced that the en emy had drawn up and
dec i ded to attack . Details are lack i n g, but at one point Caesar dashed to the fron t
to ra lly the troop s , and then the Tenth legi on started to push back the Pom pei a n
l eft wi n g. L a bi enus was ordered to move from his po s i ti onon the ri ght wing to
s h ore up the lef t , but he met Cae s a r ’s ally King Bogud of Ma u ret a n i a , who drove
him of f . The battle fizzled out and the Pom peians fled . Gn aeus was captu red and
exec uted , but Sex tus joi n edthe fleet , su rviving for another dec ade and proving a
t h orn in the flesh of O ct avian and An tony, su preme at sea. The battle site of
Munda has not been po s i tively iden ti f i ed , but it prob a bly lay near Urs o, wh ere
Caesar fo u n ded a co l ony after the war en ded .
Returning to Rome, Caesar remained outside the city on one of his estates,
preparing to enter the city in triumph. While he was waiting, he wrote his will.
He left money to all the citizens in Rome and to the men who would shortly ass
a s s i n a te him. More import a n t ly, in a codicil to the wi ll he adopted his gre a t
n eph ew Gaius Oct avius as his son , naming him as his ch i ef h ei r. Wh en the