What were some of the military challenges of Julius Caesar?

Answer 1

During the Caesar's Gallic War, the major challenge to him was posed by Vercingetorix was the chieftain of the Arverni. He united the Gauls in a revolt against Caesar's forces during the last phase the Gallic Wars. The various Gallic tribes realised that they needed unity against the Romans. They held a council at Bibracte (a fortified town near modern Autun in Burgundy, eastern France) in 52 BC where Vercingetorix was elected commander of a combined Gallic force. The Carnutes killed all Roman settlers in Cenabum (modern Orleans). The same then occurred in all major Gallic towns. Caesar who was in Cisalpine Gaul (northern Italy) gathered troops and crossed the Alps (which were covered with snow) and reached central Gaul in record time, catching the Gaul by surprise. He sent four legions to fight in the north and he pursued Vercingetorix himself with six legions. The two armies joined at Gergovia a hill fort (the hill is in the modern town of La Roche-Blanche, near Clermont-Ferrand, in south central France). Vercingetorix held a strong defensive position and defeated the Romans; 700 Romans were killed and 6,000 were injured. Caesar withdrew his troops. The summer campaign was characterised by clashed between the two opposing cavalries. Caesar managed to scatter the Gallic army. Vercingetorix realised that major open battles were unfavourable and regroup Alesia (a fortified hill town in Burgundy, eastern France). Caesar besieged Alesia. The Gauls outnumbered the Romans by four to one.

This siege was one of the most epic ones in history. The Romans built a circumvallation (a fortification facing the town) 18 kilometres long and 4 metre high, with a ditch 4 ½ metres deep and regularly spaced watch towers in three weeks to encircle the town. A Gaul cavalry detachment managed to escape. Caesar built a contravallation (a fortification facing outwards for protection against enemy attacks by relief forces from outside) 21 kilometres long. Massive attacks on the Romans were launched, with relief forces attacking the contravallation and Vercingetorix making sorties with thousands of men (the biggest one had 60,000 men). The Romans managed to hold out and the Gauls, now beginning to starve, surrendered.

During Caesar's Civil War (49-45 BC) Pompey the Great led the forces of the senate against Caesar. Feeling that his forces could not stand up to the veterans of Caesar's Gallic Wars, he fled to Brundisium (modern Brindisi) a port in southern Italy which was used to sail to Greece and the eastern Mediterranean. When Caesar pursued him there, he fled to Greece to levy more troops there.

From Brundisium, Caesar headed for Spain which he reached in an astonishingly fast march (he took only 27 days). There he defeated senatorial armies led by Lucius Afranius (Afranius) and Marcus Petreius (Petreius) at the Battle of Ilerda (June 49 BC). Caesar sent his general Gaius Scribonius Curio to confront Publius Attius Varus and King Juba I of Numidia whom he defeated at the Battle of the Bagradas River (August 49 BC).

Caesar returned to Rome, levied a new army and headed to Albania to confront Pompey. Pompey, whose forces outnumbered Caesars', nearly routed Caesar and forced him to retreat at the Battle of Dyrrachium in Albania (July 48 BC). However, Caesar defeated Pompey at the Battle of Pharsalus in Greece (August 48 BC). Pompey fled to Alexandria (Egypt). King Ptolemy XIII of Egypt had Pompey killed and presented his head to Caesar when he reached Alexandria.

Caesar was disgusted and sided with his sister, wife and co-rules, Queen Cleopatra VII. He got caught in a local civil war and was besieged by Cleopatra's younger sister, Arsinoe IV (late 48 BC-early 47 BC) but was relieved by the arrival of the troops of Mithridates I the king of Pergamon, in western Turkey, and Antipater I, king of Judaea . Caesar then went to northeast Turkey to deal Pharmaces II who had usurped the throne of Pontus, a Roman client state. Caesar defeated Pharmaces II at the bettle of Zela (August 47 BC). This is where Caesar said his most famous sentence: "I came, I saw, I conquered."

Next Caesar had to confront forces loyal to the senate in Tunisia. He defeated Titus Labienus at the Battle of Ruspina (January 46 BC) and Quintus Caecillius Metellus Scipio and king Juba of Numidia at the Battle of Thapsus (April, 46 BC). Caesar then headed to Utica where Cato the Younger was garrisoned. Cato committed suicide. Tunisia was pacified and Caesar returned to Rome in July.

Filially, Caesar headed for Spain to confront the forces of the sons of Pompey, Gnaeus Pompeius and Sextus Pompeius, and Titus Labienus, who had fled there after his defeat in Tunisia. Caesar won the final battle of the civil war, the Battle of Munda in March 45 BC