Roman History

The End of the Republic 60 BCE to 14 CE

In 60 BCE, Caesar surprised Cato and his allies by running for the consulship. With the support of both Pompey and Crassus, Caesar had little trouble in winning the consulship. However, Cato’s son-in-law, Bibulus was able to win the other consul position, revealing to Caesar, Pompey and Crassus the strength of Cato and his allies. It was probably after his election that Caesar was able to persuade Pompey and Crassus to cooperate for their own benefit. The strong coalition that they formed together has been termed by modern historians as the First Triumvirate. This term is actually incorrect a triumvirate, in Roman terms, denotes a legally constituted board of three men. The triumvirate formed by Caesar, Pompey and Crassus was an informal coalition. The later triumvirate, between Octavian, Lepidus and Mark Antony is a proper triumvirate. At the start of the first Triumvirate, Caesar was clearly the weakest member. However, he had a long-term advantage in the fact that Crassus and Pompey had little trust for the other.

As consul, Caesar’s first task in 59 BCE was to make good on his coalition with Pompey and Crassus and support the initiatives that they were vying for. Caesar presented bills to the senate for land for Pompey’s veterans and to help tax collectors that were allied with Crassus. In order support his future endeavors, Caesar procured for himself the passage of a bill that gave him proconsular powers for the next five years over the provinces of Cisalpine Gaul and Illyricum and the control of three legions. At the end of his term as consul, Caesar wanted to make sure that no one could over turn the laws he had enacted in 59 BCE. The man that posed the single greatest threat to Caesar was Cicero, his speaking skills and beliefs made him the man that might successfully carry out such an attack. Caesar attempted to persuade Cicero to join him in Gaul, but Cicero declined. Irritated with Cicero’s rebuff, Caesar decided to leave him to contend with his archrival Clodius, who had recently been elected as tribune. Clodius forced Cicero out of Rome by passing law that condemned those who had put other Roman’s to death without trial. Cicero had committed this act when he sentenced the Catiline conspirators to death without trial. Clodius was also able to depose of Cato the Younger by assigning him to govern the distant island of Cyprus. Cato, who was unable to break law, complied. The removal of these political figures ensured the survival of the Julian Laws of 59 BCE.

Caesar, from the beginning, had always had the intention of securing armies to invade Gaul in order to gain glory and wealth for himself. The Gauls, as a whole, were politically unstable. Caesar made use of this turmoil as context for his invasions. In a series of quick and relatively decisive victories against the Helvetians, Belgians and a series of German tribes Caesar was able to carve out a series of new territories for Rome. No sooner had Caesar left Rome than Pompey and Crassus began to quarrel. While, Crassus and Pompey were quarrelling, Rome under Clodius’s leadership fell into disarray. The grain laws that Clodius’s had passed had made him a literal god among the lower classes. His gangs of armed men roamed the streets of Rome removing Clodius’s political enemies through intimidation and murder. Crassus sensing an opportunity to regain some of his lost popularity, and gain the upper hand against Pompey sought to recall Cicero from his exile. Cicero’s return to Rome was met by the thunderous applause of both the senate and the common people.

In 56 BCE, Caesar met with both Pompey and Crassus at Luca in order to reinforce their political alliance. It was agreed that Pompey and Crassus should run for consulship in 55 BCE. They also agreed that both Clodius and Cicero needed to be rained in lest their actions cause further chaos. At the end of the conference Caesar returned to Gaul to deal with his conquests. Caesar’s initial conquest of Gaul had been rather easy. Caesar’s use of speed and daring had paid off, and the armies of the Gallic tribes had been quickly swept away. Governing Gaul would prove far more difficult than conquering it had. Proud of their not quite glorious, but free, past, the Gallic tribes were rather resentful of their subjugation at Roman hands. Gaul finally revolted in 52 BCE, under the leadership of the Gaullish war chief Verceingetorix. After several months of hard fighting, Caesar finally maneuvered Verceingetorix to the town of Alesia. The tale of the siege of Alesia is one that glorifies the Roman army and Caesar’s militaristic qualities. Apparently when his forces were near exhaustion, Caesar rushed into battle. The legionaries took hear at the sight of his scarlet battle cape, and pressed home a furious attack, winning the day. By the end of 52 BCE, Caesar had secured Gaul and perhaps more importantly, secured the military and financial resources necessary to make himself the most powerful man in Rome.

In 54 BCE, Crassus made plans for a war against the Parthian Empire in the East in order to improve his reputation and to counter the glory that Caesar was receiving in light of his recent conquests. Crassus used the winter of 54 BCE, to train his troops, scout the territory and establish supply deposits. However, these precautions would not be enough as neither Crassus nor his army were prepared for war. In 53 BCE, near the town of Carrhae, Crassus and seven legions under his command would meet their end at the hands of the formidable mail-clad Parthian cataphracts. Crassus’s severed head, after the defeat, was placed on display in the Parthian court along with the seven battle standards of the defeated legions. The death of Crassus, delivered an immense blow to the fragile political equilibrium that had existed between the three triumvirate members. Caesar and Pompey were now in direct competition with each other for the power and glory of Rome. The death of Crassus made Pompey the sole consul of 52 BCE. He used the opportunity to pass laws to strengthen his position against Caesar and his other rivals. In the summer of 51 BCE, Pompey made use of the Parthian threat to take two legions away from Caesar to be stationed in Capua. After this, one crisis followed another. Caesar eventually offered to give up his command if Pompey would relinquish his. Extremists in the senate, ever fearful of Caesar’s growing power ignoring this last chance for peace and passed SCU against Caesar.

Caesar, during these proceedings had not been sitting idly by. Caesar had moved what armies he still commanded to Cisalpine Gaul. When Caesar heard of the senate’s action he decided to act without further delay. On January 10, 49 BCE Caesar sent a few men to secretly seize control of Ariminum, the first important city south of the Rubicon. Just before he reached the Rubicon, ancient historians have said that he ponder what he was about to do. Then in the words immortalized by the Greek Playwright Menander, Caesar is said to have spoken the phrase; “Let the die be cast”. At dawn he arrived in Arimimum to find that he had won the day and secured the city. Caesar’s decision to invade Italy in the dead of winter with only one legion was a move of tremendous risk. While it gave him the element of surprise in that most of Pompey’s troops were untrained and their loyalty questionable, it had inherent dangerous involving supplies and the logistics involved with moving an army during the winter. In the end Caesar’s gamble paid off and resistance against him collapsed like a house of cards. Pompey and his supporters fled to the East via Brundisium. Thought Caesar was now in control of Italy, Pompey still had the upper hand. While Caesar only had control of Gaul and Italy, Pompey had control of Spain, the East and the sea. Pompey’s naval superiority gave him the ability to cut off Rome’s precious grain supplies. Before reaching Rome, Caesar stopped off to call on Cicero to persuade him to come to Rome and help support the new regime. Cicero refused, and in the end ended up joining Pompey in Greece.

Caesar’s first objective was to take control of Spain and break Pompey’s control over Massilia which threatened the line of communication between Spain and Italy. Within forty days, Caesar was able to secure control of Spain using his loyal Gallic and Germanic cavalry. News of Caesar’s victory in Spain greatly increased his popularity in Rome and a special law proposed by Lepdius made him dictator for eleven days in December to conduct elections for 48 BCE. During his second consulship in 48 BCE, Caesar attempted to solve the problems that were inflicting Rome; particularly, relief of debtors and the restoration of credit. In a characteristic surprise move, Caesar launched his attack against Pompey by crossing the Adriatic Sea in the winter of 48 BCE. He landed at the port of Dyrrhachium where he met disaster. Only half of his men had been able to land, as the other half had been captured by Pompey’s fleet. Forced to fight at Dyrrhachium Caesar was outflanked by Pompey’s more numerous troops and was forced to retreat all the way to Pharsalus in central Thessaly. Pompey pressed forward and attacked Caesar at Pharsalus. This time however, Pompey was defeated and forced to flee to Egypt where he met his end at the advisors of Ptolemy XII who hoped that killing Pompey would gain the support of Caesar in Egypt’s civil war. When presented with Pompey’s head, Caesar turned away in disgust and ordered that the head and the body be buried with all honous. After Pharsalus, Cato regrouped Pompey’s shattered forces in Africa. In the fall of 47 BCE, Caesar landed in Africa and defeated the incompetent Metellus Scipio who had been placed in command of Cato’s forces. When heard the news of the defeat of his own army, he took his life.

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