in 49 BC Julius Caesar stood at the banks of the Rubicon River it was the point of no return if he crossed it with his army he'd be openly defining the Roman senate and declaring war on the Republic and the optimates a conservative political Alliance that wanted to maintain the status quo and keep the aristocracy and the Senate intact the decision was bold and it immediately sparked the Roman Civil War Caesar's rival pompy had control of the Senate forces and commanded a larger Army but Caesar's speed and decisiveness ended up being his greatest Advantage when
he got across the Rubicon Caesar marched South to Rome with his veteran Legions pompy wasn't really ready for Caesar's quick advance and ran away fleeing the city instead of risking a confrontation he knew might go badly for him Caesar always a strategist avoided wasting time in Rome and instead focused on taking control of key regions he quickly secured Italy and he did it without shedding much blood after securing Italy Caesar turned his attention to Spain where pompy's Legions were stationed instead of heading directly for pompy he went after Spain first knowing that controlling the Western
provinces would cut off pompy's resources and strategic options the siege of Melia modern day Marseilles delayed Caesar's forces but they continueed to push through eventually defeating pompy's Lieutenant at the Battle of alerta this victory was critical because it neutralized the threat from Spain without facing pompy directly ensuring Caesar maintained momentum early in the war by 48 BC pompy had gathered a massive Army in Greece where he' hoped to confront Caesar on more favorable terms Caesar followed knowing the stakes were high in the region of durum the two forces finally clashed Caesar found himself in a
tight spot his army was outnumbered and pompy had the best fighting positions Caesar tried a block a but pompy had more men and more supplies and it was risky the two armies fought in fits and spurts for a couple of weeks Caesar wanted to lure pompy into making a mistake py was cautious he was doing the same thing waiting for Caesar to make a mistake that mistake almost came when Caesar's forces overextended themselves in their Siege Works they didn't even have enough men to fully encircle pompy's Army pompy saw this and launched a Counterattack Caesar's
Army was almost completely destroyed a lot of men fled in panic but Caesar at least was able to get out of there he ordered a retreat narrowly escaping total defeat it was one of the few times during the Civil War that Caesar was actually forced to back down Caesar's ability to recover from near defeat would serve him well pompy had once again failed to cash in on a certain Victory and Caesar could regroup and get ready for the next confrontation the battle of farcus the battle of farcus in 48 BC was a turning point in
the Civil War pompy was confident his army was a little over twice the size of Caesar's pompy had 45,000 men Caesar had 22,000 men it was basically a foregone conclusion that Caesar would be overwhelmed just based on the numbers alone but Caesar strategy was brilliant he deployed his Legions in a traditional three-line formation but kept a Hidden Reserve of elite troops in the rear pompy aiming to use his Cavalry to outflank Caesar launched his main assault believing that overwhelming Caesar's smaller forces would break their lines but when pompy's Cavalry charged Caesar's right flank Caesar's Reserve
infantry intercepted them it was a surprise and pompy's Cavalry went down hard with pompy's Cavalry and disarray Caesar's forces turned the battle into a brutal infantry fight his veterans hardened by years of campaigning held firm against the larger but less experienced pompeian forces Caesar's victory at farcus was total pompy's Army collapsed and thousands of his soldiers surrendered pompy himself fled the battlefield and sailed to Egypt seeking Refuge but Caesar's Pursuit was relentless he would not rest until pompy was dealt with once and for all when pompy fled to Egypt things really started to unravel for
him Caesar followed him across the Mediterranean smelling victory but when pompy arrived in Egypt he found no safety Egypt was in the middle of its own political struggle tmy the 13th the young Pharaoh ruling Egypt at the time saw pompy as a liability he wanted to do something that would make Caesar happy and maybe pull him over to Egypt's side so he had pompy taken out on September 28th 48 BC pompy approached the shores of Egypt he was lured into a small boat thinking he was being taken to meet the Pharaoh but as soon as
he stepped onto that beach near pzi him he was betrayed by his supposed escorts they attacked him and stabbed him to death right in front of his men who could only watch helplessly from the ships his body was left on the beach his head was severed and brought to tmy as proof of his death now when Caesar got to Egypt tmy gave pom's head as a gift like here I took care of your enemy Caesar yeah he didn't like that it said he was disgusted sure pompy was his enemy but he was also his ally
at one point and also his son-in-law he really wanted to capture pompy alive and use as a political tool instead poy was killed by some foreigners and made into a martyr back home for those still loyal to the senate in Egypt Caesar got caught up in its Civil War a war between tmy the 13th and his sister Cleopatra maybe you've heard of her instead of leaving Egypt right away intending to the Civil War that was still going on in Rome despite the death of pomy Caesar stayed the main reason he stayed was because of the
charms of Cleopatra this was when that famous story about Cleopatra smuggling herself in a rug to get into Caesar's living quarters and Alexandria went down she convinced him to support her and convinced him on some other things too it's around this time that Cleopatra conceived her child cesarian with Caesar Caesar eventually told tmy that he and Cleopatra should rule jointly as co- monarchs it was what their father had wanted apparently he'd written it in his will but this only made the dispute worse Tommy and his advisers were pretty angry Cleopatra had weasel away into Caesar's
favor in bed eventually they trapped Caesar and his own forces within Alexandria and laid Siege to their own City the siege of Alexandria lasted for months Caesar had only 4,000 men and he was surrounded within a foreign city by an army that was much larger the seege quickly turned into a fight for survival T's forces had surrounded Caesar's but Caesar's Army held out he was able to fortify the Royal quarter where he and Cleopatra were staying and build some effective defenses that were able to hold off tm's men as best they could Caesar's men fought
off wave after wave of attacks they used Alexandria's narrow streets to their advantage a lot of the fighting was brutal there was close quarter hand-to-hand combat in the streets at one point Caesar even ordered that part of the Egyptian Fleet to be burned so tm's forces couldn't take control of the harbor it said that his order ended a burning down parts of the famous Library of Alexandria finally after months of Siege reinforcements arrived from Syria and Caesar broke through the Egyptian lines tmy fled but drowned in the Nile during his retreat with Cleopatra now firmly
in power Caesar secured Egypt as a Roman Ally and sailed back to Rome leaving behind a Garrison to maintain control now Caesar May won in Egypt but the war wasn't over yet he returned to Rome for a while but pompy's sons and a bunch of his surviving allies had regrouped in North Africa led by matella CIO KO the younger and King jubba I first of numidia the remnants of the resistant had gathered a sizable Army and they were dead set on continuing the fight with Caesar with this new threat looming Caesar left Rome and prepared
to cross into Africa in late 47 BC Caesar's Landing in Africa was not without challenges he arrived with a relatively small force and faced difficulties in securing food and supplies for his army meanwhile the optimate forces held a strong defensive position bolstered by numidian Cavalry and war elephants provided by King Juba the decisive battle would come at thsis in February of 46 BC at thsis Caesar's forces faced off against a numerically Superior Army but as he had done before Caesar used Superior Tactics to turn the tide in his favor he deployed his Legions in a
standard formation but order them to focus their attacks on the nidian elephants which he saw as a potential weak point in the enemy's line Caesar's men Veterans of many battles used javelins to wound and scare the elephants causing panic among the nidian Cavalry and infantry as the enemy forces began to falter Caesar pressed the advantage launching a Full Assault the optimate forces crumbled under the pressure with many fleeing the battlefield in panic cpio realizing the battle was lost attempted to escape but was captured and executed KO stationed in the nearby city of udica chose to
take his own life rather than surrender to Caesar an act that symbolized the final resistance of the optiman cause thsis marked the effective end of the optimate factions power in Africa Caesar now had control of the western provinces and with the defeat of cpon ko his hold on Rome seemed secure but the war wasn't completely over as pompe Sons continue to resist in Spain the last chapter of Caesar's civil war came in 45 BC when he faced off against the last of the pompeians in Spain pompei's sons naus and seus had raised an army of
their own they wanted to avenge their father they gathered their forces in Munda a town in southern Spain Caesar didn't like to leave any loose end dangling around so he marched into Spain to meet them the Battle of Munda end up being one of the most complicated and bloody of the entire campaign Caesar was out numbered once more the pompeians had the higher ground but still it was Caesar the battle opened with a fierce exchange for hours neither side could gain the upper hand and Caesar himself was nearly killed in the melee according to historical
accounts Caesar threw himself into the thick of the fighting he rallied his men by Leading a direct charge against the enemy as the battle wore on Caesar's better tactics started taken effect he ordered a flanking maneuver that caught the pompeians off guard and forced them into a defensive position the pompeian Army was already exhausted from the long struggle and started crumbling Caesar's Legions pressed their advantage and finally broke through the Enemy Lines and routed whoever remained NES Pompei fled but was captured and executed shortly after the battle seus Pompei managed to escape and would continue
to cause trouble for the Roman state in later years but for now the resistance was crushed the Battle of Munda was a decisive victory for Caesar and marked the end of the Roman Civil War the Civil War changed the course of Roman history Caesar had dis manle the old Republican system and in doing so laid the groundwork for the rise of the Roman Empire his assassination in 44 BC may have cut short his own Ambitions but the Roman world he reshaped would live on long after him thanks for watching what other civil wars do you
want to learn about let us know in the comments and don't forget to like subscribe ring the bell share this video with a friend and all that good stuff to stay up to dat on all the Nutty stories from human history [Music]
