Download Analysis on the Battle of Philippi Background: After murdering

Analysis on the Battle of Philippi
Background:
After murdering Caesar, Cassius and Brutus were forced to retreat to the Eastern Roman empire, and
rounded up their armies as well as making some allies of their own from the East. Antony and Octavian,
who now controlled most of the Roman army in the west, had sent 8 legions of their own to search for
Brutus and Cassius’s armies. These legions were commanded by Norbanus and Saxa. During this
expedition, Norbanus and Saxa decided to take a strategic defensive point in a mountain pass to the
east of the town of Philippi (located in modern-day eastern Macedonia). Brutus and Cassius saw that the
Triumvirate forces were closing in, so instead of leading an attack to trigger the final battle, they decided
to lure Norbanus and Saxa out of their defensive position by force (they had an extremely superior
force) and take the defensive mountain pass themselves.
Armies:
Terminology
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Legion: Core force of the Roman army, a group consisting of about 5000 foot-soldiers
(legionnaires).
Cavalry: Military troops on horseback.
Centurion: High-ranking officials in a legion who led a group of about 83 men.
Legionnaire: Foot-soldier belonging to a legion
Octavian and Mark Antony: Over 100,000 men (approximately 128,000)
 19 Legions
 Allied cavalry of around 33,000
These forces were mostly, if not all, part of the Roman army in the west who were loyal to Caesar prior
to his death.
Brutus and Cassius: About 100,000 men
 17 Legions
 Allied cavalry of around 17,000
Brutus and Cassius had their own private armies, but most of the soldiers were merely forces acquired
from allied Eastern Empires and veteran Caesarian and even Pompeian armies. At least one legion was
said to be formerly loyal to Pompei. Up to 8 legions were loyal to Caesar, and it took multiple speeches
from Cassius and well as bribery to convince the soldiers to join their army. Cassius offered every
legionnaire 1500 denari and every centurion 7500 denari.
Battles:
The first battle of Philippi (October 3rd, 42 BC)
By the time news of Brutus and Cassius’ location, Octavian and
Antony headed towards Philippi. By the time they were close
by, Brutus had already aligned his troop to the North, and
Cassius to the South. They had enough time to build ramparts
and ditches in order to secure their defensive position. Brutus
was settled on higher ground, giving him military advantage,
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8c/Phil2.png
while Cassius was settled next to a nearly impassable marsh (flooded area with high grass), giving him
protection. When Octavian and Antony arrived, Octavian aligned his troop to the north, while Antony
aligned his troops to the South. This meant that Octavian was to battle Brutus, as Antony battled
Cassius. Both sides camped for a few days. The triumvirate forces were waiting for the conspirators to
leave their defensive position, while the conspirators waited for the triumvirate to attack.
Cassius vs. Antony: Antony attempted to sneak a fraction of his army through the marshes and nearly
succeeded until Cassius noticed and launched a counter-attack. Cassius’ counter-attack, however, was
unsuccessful as Antony’s troops were too far into his plan and successfully stormed Cassius’ camp.
Unaware of Brutus’ success, he assumed Brutus had failed in his attack due to unclear sight of the other
sight of the battle, and ordered Pindarus to kill him since he felt they were already defeated.
Brutus vs. Octavian: Brutus saw Octavian’s army was distracted from what was occurring in the southern
side, and he decided to attack while Octavian’s army’s guard was down. Brutus’ offensive was extremely
successful as he raided Octavian’s camp and even reached his tent, where Octavian was not found.
Rumor says that Octavian fled to the marsh as a result of a vision he had the night before. Octavian’s
army was pushed back as Brutus’ army came for Cassius’ aid. As Brutus received news that Cassius had
committed suicide, Brutus decided to fall back and round up his and Cassius’ remaining troops.
Results
Octavian suffered heavy losses, around 18,000. Cassius’ army suffered around 9000 losses, including the
most valuable casualty of the battle, Cassius himself. Brutus had made a grave mistake by falling back
since he had a huge advantage over Octavian and Antony’s army was distracted by Cassius’ men.
Instead, Brutus’ men ended up looting Octavian’s camp as Brutus stopped the attack and let Octavian
and Antony retreat. This influenced Octavian’s battle cry during his reign as emperor, which said
“Complete the battle once begun!”
The second battle of Philippi (October 23rd, 42 BC)
At this point, both sides had equal chances of winning. Antony and Octavian’s re-enforcements were
intercepted and defeated by Domitius Calvinus, a brillian sea captain loyal to Brutus. These reenforcements were crucial as they included 2 legions, other troops, and supplies which could have led
the Triumvirate to easy victory. It all came down to which army was more disciplined. Even though
Cassius offered all his men 1000 denari after the first battle,
the soldiers, especially Cassius’ former troops, had nowhere
near the respect for Brutus they had for Cassius. Cassius also
had more experience in battle than Brutus, meaning that the
greatest military mind, probably in the world at the time,
was not there to aid Brutus in commanding this large army.
Brutus was focusing on defensive strategy as he found every
possible way to secure his grounds and how to counterhttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/33/Phil3.png
attack any spark of battle. Brutus’ men, who did not have too much respect for him, were tired of
waiting and demanded battle. Some of the Eastern troops left for home. Brutus was therefore forced to
launch an attack due to pressure from his troops, a decision which he was not favorable of at all.
Meanwhile, Octavian and troops went unnoticed through the marsh as Brutus launched his attack.
Brutus’ troops launched the attack with full power. Most of these men were well-trained bloodthirsty
veterans who got involved in a tight crowd of men slashing swords everywhere. Spears and arrows were
hugely ignored as men just itched for battle. This resulted in massive casualties. While Brutus was busy
slashing Antony and some of Octavian’s troops, Octavian emerged from the marsh and raided Brutus’
camp, which was guarded by an insignificant amount of foot-soldiers. Brutus’ men were now
surrounded by Antony to the west, and Octavian to the East, and had nowhere to retreat to since
Octavian had secured Brutus’ camp and gates. Eventually, most of Brutus’ men were mercilessly
slaughtered by the Triumvirate’s troops. Brutus successfully retreated from the battle with a force of
about 4 legions; this was all which remained from his army. Overwhelmed by the Triumvirate’s army,
Brutus decided to kill himself as all hopes were lost.
Results
Casualties for this battle are unknown, but due to the close-combat nature of the battle, the casualties
were probably extremely high. The number of losses probably mounts higher than 60% of the initial
number of soldiers. This battle resulted in the death of the last of the conspirators, Brutus. This battle
also resulted in the triumvirate winning the civil war, seizing complete control over Roman lands, and
most importantly, successfully avenging the death of Caesar.
Aftermath:
Antony felt compassion for the remaining troops of Brutus, so he spared them. Antony treated these
captured men well. Antony also mourned the deaths of the conspirators, especially that of Brutus. This
is due to the fact that Brutus and Antony were once friends, and Brutus had decided to spare the life of
Antony when the conspirator had the opportunity to slay him. Antony, Octavian, and Lepidus now had
complete control of Rome as the members of the second triumvirate. This battle marks one of the most
crucial points in the development of the Roman Empire.
Sources:
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"Battle of Philippi." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 27 Feb. 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Philippi>.
"Wars of the Second Triumvirate: Battle of Philippi." About.com Military History. Web. 27 Feb. 2012.
<http://militaryhistory.about.com/od/battleswarsto1000/p/philppi.htm>.