On This Day: Caesar’s assassins’ last stand
- Tastes Of History
- 3 hours ago
- 2 min read
October 23rd, 42 BC: After two days of fighting near Philippi in northeast Greece the self-styled Libertores (“the Liberators”) met their fate. Having absconded to the eastern provinces of the Roman Republic following the murder of Gaius Julius Caesar on Idibus Martiis [1] two years earlier (44 BC), the leading assassins Gaius Cassius Longinus and Marcus Junius Brutus controlled much of the eastern Mediterranean. Meanwhile a triumvirate was forged between Caesar’s right-hand man, Marcus Antonius (“Mark Antony”); his named heir and great-nephew, Gaius Octavius (“Octavian”); and Legatus (general) Marcus Aemilius Lepidus. Together they secured control of Rome and its western provinces. Leaving Lepidus in Italy, Antony and Octavian set out to confront their enemies.
On October 3rd, with Octavian’s army in danger of being overwhelmed by Brutus’ legions outside Philippi, Antony was compelled to divert his forces away from a clash with Cassius’ flank. The latter mistook the ensuing confusion for defeat and promptly committed suicide. Thus, the first battle of Philippi ended with no clear victor.
Aware that his legions were contemptuous of his command but needing their continued support, and that the Caesarians were reliant on supplies shipped from Italy across the Adriatic, Brutus resolved to wait it out. Battle re-joined on October 23rd, however. A savage encounter ensued until Antony’s cavalry routed the remnant of Brutus’ legions. Fleeing into the surrounding hills, Brutus followed his fellow Liberator’s example and fell on his sword. Eventually Antony discovered the lifeless body and, so the sources claim, ordered that it be wrapped in a purple tunic and cremated. Brutus’ ashes were returned to his mother in Rome. The civil war that rent Rome after Caesar’s murder had ended in defeat for his assassins.
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Endnote:
1. Idibus Martiis or the “Ides of March” equates to the 15th of that month. ▲