Epic Moments Heroes of Julius Caesar s Civil War

The heroes of Caesar's army may have won him gold and glory in the Gallic Wars, but it would be during the ensuing civil wars that their medal would be tested against their equals in the Roman army. Today we'll be reliving their tales of legend. If you want to lead your own heroes of the Republic and see the Romans conquer the world, you can do so through our sponsor Paradox and their historical grand strategy game Imperator Rome. This title lets you forge and manage a great empire across an incredibly large and diverse map of ancient powers from antiquity. Since launch there have been several big updates substantially overhauling a lot of key features. The latest one, Livy, revamps missions, great families, armies, supply trains, and much more. Additionally, Paradox released a free Punic Wars content pack to further enrich the experience. It introduces 10 unique mission trees guiding the Roman Republic to master Italy and 9 unique mission trees to lead the Carthaginians to dominate Africa, Spain, and Sicily. New unit models like the Numidians and the Carthaginian fleets are included as well as additional music scores to help put you right in the mood. From now until January 2nd the game is 33% off. If you want to dive in definitely do so using the link in the description below. When the Civil War broke out in 49 BC, among the first Romans to join Caesar's side was Caius Scribonius Curio, who had proven himself a loyal political ally in the lead up to the conflict and would quickly show he was also an energetic and personally brave commander. Caesar gave him command of two legions with which he secured Sicily for him, forcing the Republican figurehead Cato to flee without a fight. Curio's army was then increased to four legions, supported by a force of auxiliary cavalry. He now planned an ambitious campaign in Africa, which was held in the grasp of the Republicans under Publius Attilius Verus and the Numidian king Juba. Curio had a very dismissive opinion of his opponents and only took two of his legions and 500 Gallic cavalry with him for the campaign, and initially it appeared that this confidence was well founded. Curio first defeated some of Verus' cavalry in a skirmish before launching an ambush on one of King Juba's armies and inflicting heavy casualties upon it. Curio then faced Verus at a valley near the city of Utica. Despite the rough uphill terrain, Curio was able to win the battle with very little cost to his army by driving back the enemy cavalry and light troops on their flanks, which in turn panicked the rest of the Republican army and inflicted heavy losses on them in the pursuit. At this moment, one of Curio's legionaries, a Pelennian known only as Fabius, was, in the confusion, actually able to infiltrate the enemy Republican army and began calling out for Verus, the general's name, as if he had some important message for him. When Verus caught notice of Fabius, he went to meet him to see what this message was, but was then attacked by the bold infiltrator, and only Verus' quick reflexes in raising his shield saved him from Fabius' sword. The legionary was then swarmed and himself cut down by the Republicans around him. Later on, while he was besieging Utica with Verus inside, Curio received new intelligence that Juba had been drawn away from the theater of operations by the outbreak of a new war along his kingdom's borders and that he had left an army under his general, Sabrua, to repel Curio. The general immediately abandoned the siege of Utica, intent on bringing the Numidian army to battle as soon as possible, a decision which the commentaries in the Civil War note was reinforced further by his, quote, youthful audacity. However, little did Curio know that Juba's forces were in reality only a short distance away from Sabrua's men, and so the Romans were marching into battle without any real idea of their enemy's strength. Worse yet, Juba had reinforced Sabrua with his 2,000-strong bodyguard of Gauls and Spaniards and the pick of his infantry, and was bringing with him the rest of his troops, including 60 war elephants. As if these intelligence failures weren't bad enough, Curio's army was exhausted from its long march towards Sabrua's position at the river Bagrades, and so when he came under attack, the battle was all the harder. The Romans at first held their ground bravely, but were soon starting to become outflanked and overwhelmed by the steady stream of reinforcements Sabrua was receiving from Juba. Defeat became certain when the Numidians cut off the retreat of the weary Roman forces to a nearby hill, and one of Curio's cavalry officers urged him to escape while he still had a chance. To this, Curio replied that he would not dare face Caesar after leading one of his armies to such a disaster, and joined his men at the front lines, where the hot-headed general Out of all of Caesar's heroes, Cassius Sceva perhaps had the most eventful career. He entered Caesar's army early in the Gallic War as a regular legionary, but was eventually promoted to the centurion for his good service. At Dyrrhachium, Sceva was responsible for rallying the wavering legionaries at one of the Caesarian redoubts in the siege lines, where he fought with furious determination amidst the crumbling fortifications around him. Apparently, he threw down rocks and wooden stakes at the Pompeians, and even nearby corpses, and hacked and stabbed with his sword at all who came near him. Sceva then crushed one man's head with a rock, and is said to have even lit the beard and hair of another ablaze with a torch before leaping down from the battlements and charging headlong into the enemy. Here, he fought fearlessly until his sword became blunted and his shield and armor were damaged, and it appeared that the wild centurion would at last meet his fate. At this point, an arrow from a Cretan archer in Pompey's army was shot at Sceva, piercing his eye, but he remained defiant and pulled the arrow with his eyeball out of the socket and trampled it beneath his boot. Sceva then feigned a willingness to surrender to the Pompeians, and two of them actually believed him and went in to apprehend the centurion, only for Sceva to suddenly stab one of them, Aulus in the throat, and cut the arm off the other opponent, as Sceva roared in defiance of his enemies and demanded that Pompey kneel before Caesar with the standards of his army. The Pompeians then relented, and Sceva was taken away by his comrades, now being badly wounded. While it's of course likely that Sceva's prowess was inflated for the sake of the story, there is no denying that he proved himself an exemplary soldier, as Caesar personally took note of his bravery and considered him chiefly responsible for holding his cohorts assigned position, attesting to his brave stand in the line, as many as 120 arrows were found to be stuck in his shield. He was then promoted to the position of primus pilus and given 200,000 sestarii, and Sceva's cohort was also rewarded for its bravery. This was far from Sceva's last service to Caesar however, who later became an equestrian in the civil war and commanded a unit of auxiliary cavalry that took his own name as their own, the Ala Scevi. At the decisive battle of Pharsalus between Caesar and Pompey in August of 48 BC, another distinguished centurion enters the spotlight. This was Caius Crastinus, the former primus pilus of the 10th legion. Crastinus had been honorably discharged from the army the previous year, and so had certainly seen action in Gaul, but was recalled back into the army for Caesar's campaign in Greece. When the two armies were drawing up for battle, Crastinus rallied 120 legionaries to his side, who were all volunteers that had once served under his command. He then turned to Caesar, who happened to be nearby, and said, General, today I shall earn your gratitude, either dead or alive. Crastinus then led the charge against the Pompeian lines, where he fought valiantly, and according to some sources, his javelin was the first to strike the enemy at the start of the battle. However, the brave Crastinus was killed by a sword thrust through his mouth, though had been speculated that this was part of his intent to perform a devosio in order to ensure Caesar's victory, where a soldier would sacrifice himself on the battlefield to ensure the enemy was defeated by the favor of the gods. Once Pompey had been routed, and Crastinus' body was found, Caesar judged that he had indeed earned his general's admiration as he promised, and by one account, the centurion even received the unique honor of an altar being erected to him. Following the defeat of Pompey at Pharsalus, Caesar pursued him all the way to Egypt only to find his great rival had been assassinated. While campaigning in Alexandria, Caesar became embroiled in a new conflict as the populace rose up against him in what was known as the Alexandrian War. Among Caesar's fleet in the war was a group of Greek warships from Rhodes who were led by Euphronor, who was selected by the Rhodians to lead them for his courage and ability. The Rhodians had a reputation as skilled sailors, and under Caesar's command this was no exception, and Euphronor was involved in every naval action fought personally. One Rhodian ship was able to achieve a highly lopsided victory while covering the rest of Caesar's fleet as it sought out a nearby safe harbor to land in, being attacked by four decked Alexandrian ships and many smaller vessels. The Rhodians sunk one of these ships, captured a second one, and with missiles killed many enemy crew members from the remaining vessels. Euphronor first appears in another naval engagement after this. Caesar was hesitant to have his ships engage the enemy fleet due to the advantage appearing to lie with the Alexandrians, but Euphronor convinced the general to allow him to attack regardless. The four Rhodian ships in Caesar's fleet once again proved superior to those of their enemies and were able to fight off every attack that came their way despite being heavily outnumbered. Euphronor and his Rhodians then partook in another naval action near Canopus, where the enemy was lying in wait to ambush Caesar's supply ships. As per his usual style, Euphronor was the first in the fray and he rammed and sunk a enemy quadrarium immediately. But this time, his courage and good fortune didn't save him, as Euphronor's ship was in turn surrounded and sent to the bottom of the sea. As the author of the Alexandrian War aptly put it, and so, the one man who acquitted himself with success in that engagement was the only one to die, going down with his victorious battleship. Once affairs in Egypt and the East were settled, Caesar was able to turn his attention to the republicans in Africa. Upon landing, Caesar was attacked by his former legate Labienus, who was able to completely surround him near Ruspina. Labienus had often served alongside the 10th legion in Gaul, and at least some of these veterans were with Caesar in the battle. One of these veterans of the 10th recognized Labienus and stepped out of the defensive orbis Caesar's men were in, and Labienus offered a mocking apology for the legionary's current predicament. To this, the legionary is said to have replied, I'm no raw recruit, Labienus. I'm a veteran of the 10th. Labienus then retorted, I don't recognize the standard of the 10th. To this, the legionary replied, You'll soon be aware of what sort of man I am. He then removed his helmet so Labienus could see his face, readied his javelin, and threw it at Labienus, killing his horse from beneath him. Let that show you, Labienus, that it's a soldier of the 10th who attacks you. Later in the African campaign's decisive battle at Thapsus, another unnamed legionary veteran, this time from the 5th legion, made an example of himself. As the Caesarian lines came under attack from war elephants supporting the republican legions, one of these beasts reached down with his trunk at the veteran and picked him up. However, the legionary was quick to adapt and hacked away at the elephant with his sword until it was driven mad from its wounds, causing him to drop the soldier and stampede away, leaving the veteran to miraculously survive an encounter with a war elephant. Thapsus was also the decisive encounter of the African theater of the civil war, and so in this case, Caesar succeeded where Curio and his previous army had failed. Soldiers from the 5th legion also distinguished themselves during the last campaign of the civil war in Spain. When Caesar's army was pitching camp at the river Salsum, it came under attack from a force of Pompeians from the army of Gnaeus Pompey. The Caesarians had not taken precaution against a surprise attack and started to lose ground until two centurions from the 5th legion who had been on the other side of the river crossed back over to rally the troops. These centurions turned the tide by their example, and soon the Pompeians were repulsed. As fate would have it, however, the only two men killed during this brief encounter were these very same two centurions who had made victory for the Caesarians in this engagement possible. Following his decisive defeat at Munda, Gnaeus was pursued by an energetic Caesarian officer named Didyus. Didyus was in command of a fleet stationed at Gades, and with this and a force of infantry and cavalry, he relentlessly pursued Gnaeus and was able to catch his fleet of 20 ships three days later by surprise as it was gathering supplies. Didyus burned several of the Pompeian ships and captured the rest, though he doesn't appear to have been in direct command of the final pursuit of Gnaeus, which saw the last notable republican leader run down and killed. The fact that he was delighted upon the news of his demise does suggest that he at least had a hand in directing it. In any case, once the news of Gnaeus' death reached him, a pleased Didyus made his way to a nearby fort where he beached his ships for repairs. While based here, Didyus' men came under attack from a large force of Lusitanian warriors. Didyus was at first cautious in his attempt to protect his vulnerable ships at the beaches, but was also eventually tempted out of the fortifications by the many raids the Lusitanians were mounting in the area, and as a result, they fought the Romans for many days straight. The Lusitanians were making no progress against Didyus, fighting him directly, so they set up a trap. They divided their forces into three parts. One was ordered to go near the ships and set them on fire at a given signal. The second meant to advance on the Roman fort to tempt them out to battle, and the third was placed in an ambushed position. Once Didyus led his men out in person as usual, the Lusitanians hoisted the signal and set many of his ships ablaze, and the second detachment meant to lure Didyus out started their feigned retreat. Eager to rescue his fleet and run the Lusitanians down, Didyus walked right into an ambush, and the third enemy detachment cut off his retreat. Didyus, however, did not give in to despair, and instead went down fighting alongside many of his men, while the others made their escape. While there are a ton more of these incredible stories recorded in the histories and likely left untold, this is where we shall conclude our episode after having covered the combat reports of all of Caesar's principal campaigns. I hope you've appreciated this more personal look at ancient warfare. It's always important to remember that behind every Julius Caesar are thousands of brave heroes who also played a role in shaping the history books despite being relegated to its footnotes. Thanks to all the patrons who funded our channel, and all the researchers, writers, and artists who bring each episode to life. Be sure to like and subscribe for more content, and check out the rest of our videos on our fascinating past. See you in the next one!