Caesar's civil war

Caesar's civil war
Part of the Crisis of the Roman Republic
Map of the Roman Republic in the mid-1st century BC
Date 10 January 49 BC – 17 March 45 BC (4 years, 2 months and 1 week) Location Hispania, Italia, Graecia, Illyria, Aegyptus, Africa Result Caesarian victory
Belligerents
Caesarians Mauretania	Pompeians Numidia Ptolemaic kingdom Pontus
Commanders and leaders
Julius Caesar Mark Antony Gaius Scribonius Curio † Gnaeus Domitius Calvinus Decimus Junius Brutus Gaius Trebonius Gaius Caninius Rebilus Bocchus II Bogud Cleopatra VII	Pompey X Titus Labienus † Metellus Scipio † Cato of Utica † Publius Attius Varus † Domitius Ahenobarbus † Marcus Bibulus  # Lucius Afranius † Marcus Petreius † Juba of Numidia † Gnaeus Pompeius † Sextus Pompey Ptolemy XIII
Strength
Early 49 BC: 10 legions[1]	Early 49 BC: 15 legions[2]

Caesar's civil war (49–45 BC) was a civil war during the late Roman Republic between two factions led by Gaius Julius Caesar and Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (Pompey), respectively. The main cause of the war was political tensions relating to Caesar's place in the republic on his expected return to Rome on the expiration of his governorship in Gaul.

Before the war, Caesar had led an invasion of Gaul for almost ten years.^[3] A build-up of tensions starting in late 50 BC, with both Caesar and Pompey refusing to back down, led to the outbreak of civil war. Pompey and his allies induced the Senate to demand Caesar give up his provinces and armies in the opening days of 49 BC. Caesar refused and instead marched on Rome.

The war was fought in Italy, Illyria, Greece, Egypt, Africa, and Hispania. The decisive events occurred in Greece in 48 BC: Pompey defeated Caesar at the Battle of Dyrrhachium, but the subsequent larger Battle of Pharsalus was won by Caesar and Pompey's army disintegrated. Many prominent supporters of Pompey (termed Pompeians) surrendered after the battle, such as Marcus Junius Brutus and Cicero. Others fought on, including Cato the Younger and Metellus Scipio. Pompey fled to Egypt, where he was assassinated upon arrival.

Caesar led a military expedition to Asia Minor before attacking North Africa, where he defeated Metellus Scipio in 46 BC at the Battle of Thapsus. Cato and Metellus Scipio killed themselves shortly thereafter. The following year, Caesar defeated the last of the Pompeians, at the Battle of Munda in Spain, who were led by his former lieutenant Labienus. Caesar was then made dictator perpetuo ("dictator in perpetuity" or "dictator for life") by the Roman senate in 44 BC. He was assassinated by a group of senators (including Brutus) shortly thereafter.

The civil war is one of the commonly recognised endpoints of Rome's republican government. Some scholars view the war as the proximate cause of the republic's fall, due to its polarising interruption of normal republican government.^[4] Caesar's comprehensive victory followed by his immediate death left a power vacuum; over the following years his heir Octavian was eventually able to take complete control, forming the Roman Empire as Augustus.