Editing Julius Caesar (section)

== Civil war ==
{{main|Caesar's civil war}}
{{further|Alexandrine war|Early life of Cleopatra VII|Reign of Cleopatra VII}}
[[File:(Venice) Pompey the Great, Museo Archeologico Nazionale.jpg|thumb|upright|A Roman bust of [[Pompey the Great]] made during the reign of [[Augustus]] (27 BC{{snd}}14 AD), a copy of an original bust from 70 to 60 BC, [[Venice National Archaeological Museum]], Italy]]
From the period 52 to 49&nbsp;BC, trust between Caesar and Pompey disintegrated.{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|2021|p=258|ps=. See also Appendix 4 in the same book, analysing the conflict between Caesar and Pompey in terms of a [[Prisoner's dilemma]].}} In 51&nbsp;BC, the consul [[Marcus Claudius Marcellus (consul 51 BC)|Marcellus]] proposed recalling Caesar, arguing that his ''provincia'' (here meaning "task") in Gaul – due to his victory against Vercingetorix in 52 – was complete; it evidently was incomplete as Caesar was that year fighting the [[Bellovaci]]<ref>{{harvnb|Wiseman|1994|p=414|ps=, citing {{harvnb|Caes. ''BGall.''|loc=8.2–16}}.}}</ref> and regardless the proposal was vetoed.{{sfnm|Morstein-Marx|2021|1p=270|Drogula|2019|2p=223}} That year, it seemed that the conservatives around Cato in the Senate would seek to enlist Pompey to force Caesar to return from Gaul without honours or a second consulship.{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|2021|p=273}} Cato, Bibulus, and their allies, however, were successful in winning Pompey over to take a hard line against Caesar's continued command.{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|2021|pp=272, 276, 295 (identities of Cato's allies)}}

As 50&nbsp;BC progressed, fears of civil war grew; both Caesar and his opponents started building up troops in southern Gaul and [[northern Italy]], respectively.{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|2021|p=291}} In the autumn, Cicero and others sought disarmament by both Caesar and Pompey, and on 1 December 50&nbsp;BC this was formally proposed in the Senate.{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|2021|pp=292–93}} It received overwhelming support – 370 to 22 – but was not passed when [[Gaius Claudius Marcellus (consul 50 BC)|one of the consuls]] dissolved the meeting.{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|2021|p=297}} That year, when a rumour came to Rome that Caesar was marching into Italy, both consuls instructed Pompey to defend Italy, a charge he accepted as a last resort.<ref>{{harvnb|Wiseman|1994|pp=412–22|ps=, citing {{harvnb|App. ''BCiv.''|loc=2.30–31}} and {{harvnb|Dio|loc=40.64.1–66.5}}.}}</ref> At the start of 49&nbsp;BC, Caesar's renewed offer that he and Pompey disarm was read to the Senate and was rejected by the hardliners.{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|2021|p=304}} A later compromise given privately to Pompey was also rejected at their insistence.{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|2021|p=306}} On 7 January, his supportive tribunes were driven from Rome; the Senate then declared Caesar an enemy and it issued its ''[[senatus consultum ultimum]]''.{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|2021|p=308}}

There is scholarly disagreement as to the specific reasons why Caesar marched on Rome. A very popular theory is that Caesar was forced to choose – when denied the immunity of his proconsular tenure – between prosecution, conviction, and exile or civil war in defence of his position.{{sfnm|Boatwright|2004|1p=247|Meier|1995|2pp=1, 4|Mackay|2009|3pp=279–81|Wiseman|1994|4p=419}}{{sfn|Ehrhardt|1995|p=30. "Everyone knows that Caesar crossed the Rubicon because [he would have been...] put on trial, found guilty and have his political career ended... Yet over thirty years ago, Shackleton Bailey, in less than two pages of his introduction to Cicero's ''Letters to Atticus'', destroyed the basis for this belief, and... no one has been able to rebuild it"}} Whether Caesar actually would have been prosecuted and convicted is debated. Some scholars believe the possibility of successful prosecution was extremely unlikely.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Morstein-Marx |first=Robert |date=2007 |title=Caesar's alleged fear of prosecution and his "ratio absentis" in the approach to the civil war |journal=Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte |volume=56 |issue=2 |pages=159–78 |doi=10.25162/historia-2007-0013 |jstor=25598386|s2cid=159090397 |issn=0018-2311}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Morstein-Marx|2021|pp=262–63}}, explaining:
* Any prosecution was extremely unlikely to succeed.
* No ''contemporary'' source expresses dissatisfaction with an inability to prosecute.
* No timely charges could have been brought. The possibility of conviction for irregularities during his consulship in 59 was a fantasy when none of Caesar's actions in 59 were overturned. {{harvnb|Morstein-Marx|2021|p=624}}.
* Caesar proposed giving up his command – opening himself up to prosecution – in January 49&nbsp;BC as part of peace negotiations, something he would not have proposed if he were worried about a sure-fire conviction.

See also {{harvnb|Morstein-Marx|2021|loc=Appendix 2}}, and, contra Morstein-Marx, {{cite book |last=Girardet |first=Klaus Martin |title=Januar 49 v. Chr.: Vorgeschichte, Rechtslage, politische Aspekte |url=https://publikationen.sulb.uni-saarland.de/handle/20.500.11880/28669 |location=Bonn |year=2020 |isbn=978-3-7749-4068-0 |language=de |doi=10.22028/d291-30177 |publisher=Dr. Rudolf Habelt GmbH}}</ref> Caesar's main objectives were to secure a second consulship – first mooted in 52 as colleague to Pompey's sole consulship<ref>{{harvnb|Morstein-Marx|2021|p=247 n. 234}}, citing {{harvnb|Suet. ''Iul.''|loc=26.1}}; {{harvnb|Plut. ''Pomp.''|loc=56.1–3}}.</ref> – and a triumph. He feared that his opponents – then holding both consulships for 50&nbsp;BC – would reject his candidacy or refuse to ratify an election he won.<ref>{{harvnb|Morstein-Marx|2021|p=288|ps=. "Caesar feared that the only guarantee of his rights... to stand for election in absentia under the protection of the Law of the Ten Tribunes and to receive a triumph... was his army".}}</ref> This also was the core of his war justification: that Pompey and his allies were planning, by force if necessary (indicated in the expulsion of the tribunes{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|2021|p=309}}), to suppress the liberty of the Roman people to elect Caesar and honour his accomplishments.{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|2021|p=320}}

=== Italy, Spain, and Greece ===
Around 10 or 11 January 49 BC,<ref>{{cite book |last=Beard |first=Mary |title=SPQR: a history of ancient Rome |date=2016 |publisher=W W Norton |isbn=978-1-84668-381-7 |page=286 |quote=The exact date is unknown.}}</ref>{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|2021|p=322}} in response to the Senate's "final decree",{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|2021|p=331}} Caesar [[Crossing the Rubicon|crossed the Rubicon]] – the river defining the northern boundary of Italy – with a single legion, the [[Legio XIII Gemina]], and ignited [[Caesar's Civil War|civil war]]. Upon crossing the Rubicon, Caesar, according to Plutarch and Suetonius, is supposed to have quoted the Athenian playwright [[Menander]], in Greek, "[[alea iacta est|let the die be cast]]".<ref name=Plu65>{{harvnb|Boatwright|2004|p=246}}, citing {{harvnb|Plut. ''Caes.''|loc=32.8}}. {{harvnb|Rawson|1994a|p=424|ps=&nbsp;gives the same translation.}}</ref> Pompey and many senators fled south, believing that Caesar was marching quickly for Rome.{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|2021|p=336}} Caesar, after capturing communication routes to Rome, paused and opened negotiations, but they fell apart amid mutual distrust.{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|2021|pp=340 (Caesar's pause), 342 (Caesar's offer), 343 (Pompey's counter-offer), 345 (negotiations collapse)}} Caesar responded by advancing south, seeking to capture Pompey to force a conference.{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|2021|p=347}}

Pompey withdrew to [[Brundisium]] and was able to escape to Greece, abandoning Italy in face of Caesar's superior forces and evading Caesar's pursuit.<ref>{{harvnb|Rawson|1994a|pp=424–25, 427|ps=. "[Abandoning Italy] was probably justified from a military point of view ... but Cicero was doubtless right in seeing it as politically and psychologically very damaging to abandon the capital and indeed all Italy, intending to starve and then invade it".}}</ref> Caesar stayed near Rome for about two weeks – during his stay his forceful seizure of the treasury over tribunician veto put the lie to his pro-tribunician war justifications<ref>{{harvnb|Rawson|1994a|p=430|ps=, citing: Cic. ''Att.'', 10.4.8; {{harvnb|Dio|loc=41.15–16}}; {{harvnb|App. ''BCiv.''|loc=2.41}}.}}</ref>{{sfn|Ehrhardt|1995|p=36. Caesar's "concern for the 'rights of tribunes' was too obvious a sham... what [he] actually thought about the inviolability of tribunes and their right of veto was unmistakably displayed [in the episode with Metellus]"}} – and left Lepidus in charge of Italy while he attacked Pompey's Spanish provinces.{{sfn|Boatwright|2004|p=252}} He defeated two of Pompey's legates at the [[Battle of Ilerda]] before forcing surrender of [[Marcus Terentius Varro|the third]]; his legates moved into Sicily and into [[Africa (Roman province)|Africa]], though the African expedition failed.<ref>{{harvnb|Rawson|1994a|p=431|ps=, citing {{harvnb|Caes. ''BCiv.''|loc=2.17–20}}.}}</ref> Returning to Rome in the autumn, Caesar had Lepidus, as praetor, bring a law appointing Caesar [[Roman dictator|dictator]] to conduct the elections; he, along with [[Publius Servilius Isauricus]], won the following elections and would serve as consuls for 48&nbsp;BC.<ref>{{harvnb|Rawson|1994a|p=431|ps=. He also passed laws removing civil disabilities from the descendants of those [[Sulla's proscriptions|proscribed by Sulla]] and recalling all exiles on specious claims of unfair trials.}}</ref> Resigning the dictatorship after eleven days,<ref>{{harvnb|Wilson|2021|p=309|ps=, citing, among others, {{harvnb|Caes. ''BCiv.''|loc=3.1.1}}; {{harvnb|Plut. ''Caes.''|loc=37.1–2}}; {{harvnb|App. ''BCiv.''|loc=2.48}}; {{harvnb|Dio|loc=41.36.1–4}}. He had no {{lang|la|[[magister equitum]]}}.}}</ref> Caesar then left Italy for Greece to stop Pompey's preparations, arriving in force in early 48&nbsp;BC.{{sfnm|Rawson|1994a|1p=432|Boatwright|2004|2p=252}}

Caesar [[Battle of Dyrrhachium (48 BC)|besieged Pompey at Dyrrhachium]], but Pompey was able to break out and force Caesar's forces to flee. Following Pompey southeast into Greece and to save one of his legates, he engaged and decisively defeated Pompey [[Battle of Pharsalus|at Pharsalus]] on 9 August 48&nbsp;BC. Pompey then fled for Egypt; Cato fled for Africa; others, like Cicero and [[Marcus Junius Brutus]], begged for Caesar's pardon.{{sfnm |Rawson|1994a|1p=433 |Boatwright|2004|2pp=252–53 |Plut. ''Caes.''|3loc=42–45}}

=== Alexandrine war and Asia Minor ===
{{see also|Alexandrine war}}
[[File:Cleopatra and Caesar by Jean-Leon-Gerome.jpg|thumb|upright|''[[Cleopatra and Caesar (painting)|Cleopatra and Caesar]]'', 1866 painting by [[Jean-Léon Gérôme]]]]
[[File:Venus and Cupid from the House of Marcus Fabius Rufus at Pompeii, most likely a depiction of Cleopatra VII.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|This mid-1st-century-BC [[Pompeian Styles|Roman wall painting]] in [[Pompeii]] is probably a depiction of [[Cleopatra VII]] as [[Venus Genetrix (sculpture)|Venus Genetrix]], with her son [[Caesarion]] as [[Cupid]]. Its owner Marcus Fabius Rufus most likely ordered its concealment behind a wall in reaction to the execution of Caesarion on orders of [[Octavian]] in 30&nbsp;BC.<ref>{{cite book |last=Roller |first=Duane W |title=Cleopatra: a biography |url=https://archive.org/details/cleopatrabiograp00roll_0 |date=2010 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-536553-5 |location=Oxford |oclc=405105996 |page=175}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Walker |first=Susan |date=2008 |title=Cleopatra in Pompeii? |journal=Papers of the British School at Rome |volume=76 |pages=35–46 |doi=10.1017/S0068246200000404 |s2cid=62829223 |issn=2045-239X|doi-access=free }}</ref>]]

Pompey was killed when he arrived in [[Alexandria]], the capital of [[Ptolemaic Kingdom|Egypt]]. Caesar arrived three days later on 2 October 48&nbsp;BC. Prevented from leaving the city by [[Etesian winds]], Caesar decided to arbitrate an Egyptian civil war between the child pharaoh [[Ptolemy XIII|Ptolemy XIII Theos Philopator]] and [[Cleopatra]], his sister, wife, and co-regent queen.<ref>{{harvnb|Rawson|1994a|pp=433–34|ps=, noting that both children were left under Roman protection under their father's will.}} {{harvnb|Boatwright|2004|2p=253}}.</ref> In late October 48&nbsp;BC, Caesar was appointed<!-- this is not his first dictatorship; the first one was in 49 to hold elections --> in absentia to a year-long dictatorship,<ref>{{Harvnb|Wilson|2021|p=309}}, citing {{harvnb|Plut. ''Caes.''|loc=51.1}} and {{harvnb|Dio|loc=42.17.1–22.2}}.</ref> after news of his victory at Pharsalus arrived to Rome.<ref>{{harvnb|Rawson|1994a|p=435|ps=, citing {{harvnb|Dio|loc=42.18}}.}}</ref> While in Alexandria, he started an [[Marriage in ancient Rome|affair]] with Cleopatra and withstood a [[Siege of Alexandria (47 BC)|siege by Ptolemy]] and his other sister [[Arsinoe IV|Arsinoe]] until March 47&nbsp;BC. Reinforced by eastern client allies under [[Mithridates II of the Bosporus|Mithridates of Pergamum]], he then defeated Ptolemy at the [[Battle of the Nile (47 BC)|Battle of the Nile]] and installed Cleopatra as ruler.<ref>{{harvnb|Rawson|1994a|p=434}}. At the battle, Ptolemy drowned. {{harvnb|Boatwright|2004|p=253}}.</ref> Caesar and Cleopatra celebrated the victory with a triumphal procession on the [[Nile]]. He stayed in Egypt with Cleopatra until June or July that year, though the relevant commentaries attributed to him give no such impression. Some time in late June, Cleopatra gave birth to a child by Caesar, called [[Caesarion]].{{sfnm|Rawson|1994a|1p=434|Boatwright|2004|2p=253}}

When Caesar landed at [[Antioch]], he learnt that during his time in Egypt, the king of what is now Crimea, [[Pharnaces II of Pontus|Pharnaces]], had attempted to seize what had been his father's kingdom, Pontus, across the [[Black Sea]] in northern Anatolia. His invasion had swept aside Caesar's legates and the local client kings, but Caesar engaged him at [[Battle of Zela (47 BC)|Zela]] and defeated him immediately, leading Caesar to write {{lang|la|[[veni, vidi, vici]]}} ("I came, I saw, I conquered"), downplaying Pompey's previous Pontic victories. He then left quickly for Italy.<ref>{{harvnb|Rawson|1994a|p=434}}, citing {{harvnb|Plut. ''Caes.''|loc=50.2}} and {{harvnb|Suet. ''Iul.''|loc=35.2, 37.2}}.</ref>

=== Italy, Africa, and Spain ===
Caesar's absence from Italy put Mark Antony, as {{lang|la|[[magister equitum]]}}, in charge. His rule was unpopular: [[Publius Cornelius Dolabella (consul 44 BC)|Publius Cornelius Dolabella]], serving as plebeian tribune in 47&nbsp;BC, agitated for debt relief and after that agitation got out of hand the Senate moved for Antony to restore order. Delayed by a mutiny in southern Italy, he returned and suppressed the riots by force, killing many and delivering a similar blow to his popularity. Cato had marched to Africa<ref>{{harvnb|Rawson|1994a|p=435|ps=, noting "an epic march through the desert from Cyrenaica to the province of Africa", citing [[Lucan]] ''[[Pharsalia]]'', 9.}}</ref> and there [[Metellus Scipio]] was in charge of the remaining republicans; they allied with [[Juba II|Juba]] of [[Numidia]]; what used to be Pompey's fleet also raided the central Mediterranean islands. Caesar's governor in Spain, moreover, was sufficiently unpopular that the province revolted and switched to the republican side.<ref>{{harvnb|Rawson|1994a|p=435|ps=. Rawson also notes claims – {{harvnb|Dio|loc=42.56.4}} – that the republicans were planning a naval invasion of Italy.}}</ref>

Caesar demoted Antony on his return and pacified the mutineers without violence<ref>{{harvnb|Rawson|1994a|p=435 n. 58}}, citing {{harvnb|Suet. ''Iul.''|loc=70}}.</ref> before overseeing the election of magistrates for 47&nbsp;BC – Italy had been ruled by Caesar's authoritarian subordinates with no ordinary consuls, praetors, etc until his return in September{{sfn|Broughton|1952|p=286, noting the two consuls ([[Quintus Fufius Calenus|Quintus Fufius]] and [[Publius Vatinius]]) were elected in September per {{harvnb|Dio|loc=42.55.4}}. }} – and also those for 46&nbsp;BC. Caesar would serve with [[Lepidus]] as consul in 46; he borrowed money for the war, confiscated and sold the property of his enemies at fair prices, and then left for Africa on 25 December 47&nbsp;BC.{{sfn|Rawson|1994a|p=435}} Caesar's landing in Africa was marked with some difficulties establishing a beachhead and logistically. He was defeated by [[Titus Labienus]] at [[Battle of Ruspina|Ruspina]] on 4 January 46&nbsp;BC and thereafter took a rather cautious approach.{{sfn|Rawson|1994a|pp=435–36}} After inducing some desertions from the republicans, Caesar ended up surrounded at [[Thapsus]]. His troops attacked prematurely on 6 April 46&nbsp;BC, starting a [[Battle of Thapsus|battle]]; they then won it and massacred the republican forces [[No quarter|without quarter]]. Marching on Utica, where Cato commanded, Caesar arrived to find that Cato had killed himself rather than receive Caesar's clemency.<ref>{{harvnb|Rawson|1994a|p=436|ps=, citing {{harvnb|Plut. ''Cat. Min.''|loc=58–70}}}}; see also {{harvnb|Plut. ''Caes.''|loc=52–54}}.</ref> Many of the remaining anti-Caesarian leaders, including Metellus Scipio and Juba, also committed suicide shortly thereafter.{{sfnm|Rawson|1994a|1p=436|Boatwright|2004|2p=253}} Labienus and two of Pompey's sons, however, had moved to the Spanish provinces in revolt. Caesar started a process of annexing parts of Numidia and then returned to Italy via Sardinia in June 46&nbsp;BC.{{sfn|Rawson|1994a|p=436}}
[[File:Denarius of Julius Caesar.jpg|thumb|a silver Denarius dated to January 44 BC portraying Julius Caesar with the Caption CAESAR • DICT, QVART right / to the left it show [[Juno (mythology)|Juno]] wearing goat skin headdress, in Galloping biga brandishing spear in right hand and holding shield in left,]]
Caesar stayed in Italy to celebrate four triumphs in late September, supposedly over four foreign enemies: Gaul, Egypt, Pharnaces (Asia), and Juba (Africa). He led Vercingetorix, Cleopatra's younger sister Arsinoe, and Juba's son before his chariot; Vercingetorix was executed.{{sfn|Rawson|1994a|p=436}} According to Appian, in some of the triumphs, Caesar paraded pictures and models of his victories over fellow Romans in the civil wars, to popular dismay.<ref>{{harvnb|Rawson|1994a|p=436|ps=, citing {{harvnb|App. ''BCiv.''|loc=2.101–2}}.}}</ref> The soldiers were each given 24,000 [[sesterces]] (a lifetime's worth of pay); further games and celebrations were put on for the plebs. Near the end of the year, Caesar heard bad news from Spain and, with an army, left for the peninsula, leaving Lepidus in charge as {{lang|la|[[magister equitum]]}}.{{sfn|Rawson|1994a|pp=436–37}}

At a bloody battle at [[Battle of Munda|Munda]] on 17 March 45&nbsp;BC, Caesar narrowly found victory;<ref>{{harvnb|Rawson|1994a|p=436|ps=, citing {{harvnb|Plut. ''Caes.''|loc=56}}.}}</ref> his enemies were treated as rebels and he had them massacred.{{sfn|Rawson|1994a|p=437}} Labienus died on the field. While one of Pompey's sons, [[Sextus Pompey|Sextus]], escaped, the war was effectively over.<ref>{{harvnb|Rawson|1994a|p=436|ps=, noting that Sextus fomented a momentary rebellion and that [[Quintus Caecilius Bassus]] led a revolt in Syria which continued until after Caesar's death in 44&nbsp;BC.}}</ref> Caesar remained in the province until June before setting out for Rome, arriving in October of the same year, and celebrated an unseemly triumph over fellow Romans.{{sfn|Rawson|1994a|p=437}} By this point he had started [[Julius Caesar's planned invasion of the Parthian Empire|preparations for war]] on the [[Parthian Empire|Parthians]] to avenge Crassus' death at [[Battle of Carrhae|Carrhae]] in 53&nbsp;BC, with wide-ranging objectives that would take him into Dacia for three or more years. It was set to start on 18 March 44&nbsp;BC.{{sfnm|Rawson|1994a|1pp=437–38|Boatwright|2004|2pp=253–54}}