When did the Battle of Pharsalus take place?
The battle occurred on the 9th of August 48 BC near Pharsalus in Central Greece. Julius Caesar and Pompey commanded opposing Roman armies during this engagement.
The battle occurred on the 9th of August 48 BC near Pharsalus in Central Greece. Julius Caesar and Pompey commanded opposing Roman armies during this engagement.
Scholar John D. Morgan determined the site is probably the hill just east of Krini Larisas very close to the ancient highway from Larisa to Pharsalus. This location lies some distance north of Pharsalus and three miles north of the river Enipeus.
Caesar's own army included 22,000 Roman legionaries distributed throughout 80 cohorts alongside 1,000 Gallic and Germanic cavalry. All of Caesar's legions were understrength with some having only about a thousand men due partly to losses at Dyrrhachium.
Pompey had an army of 45,000 Roman infantry according to Appian and Plutarch. He seems to have had anywhere between 5,000 and 7,000 cavalry plus thousands of archers and slingers including Greeks Thracians Anatolians Syrians Phoenicians and Jews from the Levant.
Pompey lost the will to fight as he watched both cavalry and legions under his command break formation and flee from battle. His cavalry panicked after Caesar revealed his hidden fourth line of infantry which used pila to thrust at them instead of throwing them.
Paul K. Davis wrote that Caesar's victory took him to the pinnacle of power effectively ending the Republic. The battle itself did not end the civil war but it was decisive and gave Caesar a much needed boost in legitimacy.