Crossing the Rubicon by Luca Fezzi

Author:Luca Fezzi
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780300241457
Publisher: Yale University Press

10

CAESAR’S ‘LONG MARCH’ AND POMPEY’S FLIGHT TO BRUNDISIUM

Am I, a man hailed for so many years as the preserver, father of Rome, to lead bands of Getae, of Armenians, of Colchians against it? Am I to starve my fellow citizens, devastate Italy? That man [Caesar], I first thought, is after all a mortal being, subject moreover to death in many possible ways; but this city of ours, this people of ours must be preserved, so far as possible, for immortality

Cicero, ad Atticum, 9,10,3

A RELENTLESS ADVANCE

Caesar was advancing. But in what timeframe? While Cicero’s perspective is ‘distorted’ by his viewing of events from Campania, both Appian and Cassius Dio, having described the flight from Rome, continue with what happened later in Corfinium; Plutarch does the same in Caesar (whereas in Pompey he has the rebel consul go straight to Rome). The main source is Caesar’s long description of events after he had dispatched Antony to Arretium, and occupied Pisaurum, Fanum and Ancona.1

Caesar was informed that the propraetor Thermus was occupying Iguvium with five cohorts, fortifying its citadel, even though its population was against him. He sent Curio with the three cohorts he had stationed at Pisaurum and Ariminum. Thermus, once informed, beat a hasty retreat. His soldiers deserted him during the march, returning to their homes, while Curio, ‘amid general enthusiasm’, took Iguvium.2 Caesar then, sure of the support of the municipia, sent out the cohorts of Legio XIII and moved on south to Auximum, which was held by a number of cohorts under the command of the propraetor Varus, who was levying troops throughout Picenum. Auximum was of strategic importance: a municipium under the patronage of Pompey, some 10 miles from Ancona, which could have been used as the base for a counter-offensive on the via Flaminia.

But when news came of Caesar’s arrival, many members of the local Senate went to Varus, unwilling to refuse entry to a general ‘who had well served the res publica, after such great exploits’; they also advised him to consider the judgement of posterity and his imminent danger. Varus lost his nerve and fled with his troops. Part of Caesar’s vanguard pursued him. In the skirmish, he was deserted by his men, most of whom returned home. Others went over to Caesar, who gave them an honourable welcome. He also thanked the population, promising not to forget what they had done. The gates of Picenum, Pompey’s traditional fiefdom, had been opened to him: the Italic people were taking their positions.

Caesar’s Commentaries, perpetuating his false account of the order of events, then describes the consuls’ flight from Rome, in terror at these latest events, and the interruption of levies north of Capua.

They go on to say that the smaller towns gave Caesar an enthusiastic welcome on his march from Auximum, providing him with supplies. Ambassadors from Cingulum, a town laid out and completed by Labienus at his own expense, arrived to request his orders: he asked for soldiers and was given them. Meanwhile Legio XII

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.