On This Day In Roman History, March 17
Julius Caesar defeats Titus Labienus at the Battle of Munda on March 17, 45 BCE. This battle was historically the last battle in the series of conflicts known as Caesar's Civil war, which was fought against the Optimate party within the Roman Republic. This battle took place in modern day southern Spain where it is estimated that over 100,000 belligerents took place in the fighting. The main force Caesar was confronting was the Pompeian force, despite now being under the leadership of Pompey's son, Gnaeus Pompeius; Pompey the Great had died just three years earlier during an assassination. The conclusion of this battle saw the end to the civil war and it came at the cost of an estimated 37,000 dead Romans. Gnaeus was captured about a month later and executed; whereas his co-general and brother, Sextus Pompeius, died after initiating another rebellion in Sicily where he was defeated by Marcus Agrippa in 35 BCE.
Did you know?
Caesar celebrated his victory after this battle in the form of a Triumph. This was seen as a gross misconduct against morals by the Roman public because the men Caesar had killed were Romans. Triumphs had set rules to follow and one of these rules was that the battle must be against foreign enemies. Plutarch writes about this event, saying: "triumph which he celebrated for this victory displeased the Romans beyond any thing. For he had not defeated foreign generals, or barbarian kings, but had destroyed the children and family of one of the greatest men of Rome."
Pictured: Julius Caesar Aghast at Soldier Holding Pompey's Head Original caption: Theodatus, the rhetorician, shows Caesar the head of Pompey. Etching, 1820. Upload by Wikipedia user Ldingley, via Wikimedia Commons.
The exact location of this battle is still argued by archaeologists. Some argue Munda is was the Roman name for the modern city of Ronda, Spain. Others assert it may have happened in the cities of Montilla or Monda, with residence in Montilla claiming the battle was fought nearby.
Opinion
Welcome to my daily opinion! Triumphs against Romans?! This alone is a testament to Caesars' power as permanent dictator at this time. He was now ignoring the ancient codes of holding a Triumph and simply just granting himself one. The crazy part is his popularity, at least with the public, wasn't largely damaged. After this battle, Caesar would have had no clue his demise was just under one year away, which I briefly discussed on the 15th; the height of his power was culminating after this battle and the Republic would never look the same after.
Sources
Gardner, J. F. (1967). Ceasar The Civil War. New York: Penguin Books.
Recio, V. D. (1984). La batalla de Munda. S.l.: S.n. (Spanish)
Southern, P. (2002). Pompey the great. Stroud, Gloucestershire: Tempus.
Further Reading:
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