Book: Commentarii de Bello Civili

Overview

Julius Caesar’s Commentarii de Bello Civili recounts the opening phase of Rome’s civil war between Caesar and Pompey the Great, covering the years 49, 48 BCE in three terse books. Written in the third person with the spare, report-like clarity of his earlier Gallic Commentaries, it offers both a battlefield chronicle and a political brief, presenting Caesar as a reluctant combatant compelled by law, the sanctity of the tribunes, and the welfare of the state. The narrative moves swiftly from the crisis at Rome to campaigns across Italy, Spain, and the Balkans, culminating in the decisive Battle of Pharsalus and Pompey’s flight to Egypt.

Political Crisis and the Crossing

Caesar opens by framing the rupture as the Senate’s overreach and Pompey’s coercion, stressing his proposals for mutual disarmament and the protection of the tribunes who flee to him. He advances into Italy from his province, seizing key towns with minimal bloodshed and emphasizing discipline and restraint. At Corfinium he captures Domitius Ahenobarbus and releases him and his troops, a gesture used to model clemency and rally wavering communities. Pompey evacuates Brundisium for Epirus; lacking ships, Caesar cannot prevent the crossing. He consolidates Italy, marshals resources, and prepares for wider war while projecting legality and moderation.

Spain and Massilia

Book 2 shifts to the western theater. Caesar detaches forces to besiege Massilia, whose loyalty to Pompey is enforced on land by Trebonius and at sea by Decimus Brutus in hard-fought naval actions. He himself marches into Spain against Pompey’s lieutenants Afranius and Petreius near Ilerda. The narrative dwells on engineering feats, river crossings, and supply, as Caesar maneuvers to sever his opponents from foraging grounds rather than forcing a costly pitched battle. With their lines constricted and morale sinking, the Pompeians capitulate; Caesar again highlights his indulgence toward defeated Romans. Returning to Italy, he accepts a brief dictatorship to stabilize affairs and hold elections, then lays down the office and departs as consul for the Greek campaign.

Greece: Dyrrhachium to Pharsalus

Book 3 covers the hazardous Adriatic crossing and the struggle to unite divided forces while Pompey’s fleet under Bibulus chokes the sea lanes. With scant supplies, Caesar gambles on fortifying around Pompey’s base at Dyrrhachium, weaving miles of entrenchments in a war of camps and counter-camps. Pompey eventually breaks out and inflicts a reverse, which Caesar frames as a contained setback mitigated by his soldiers’ steadiness. He withdraws into Thessaly, draws Pompey onto ground of his choosing, and offers battle.

At Pharsalus Caesar presents himself as calm and precise. He thins his line to create a concealed reserve cohort against Pompey’s superior cavalry, orders his men to hold javelins, then strike at close quarters. The reserve wheels to blunt the cavalry and roll up Pompey’s flank; the enemy line buckles, the camp is taken, and the war’s balance shatters. Caesar underscores his pardons to many captives and the orderly submission of cities. Pompey flees to Egypt, where he is assassinated by royal ministers. Caesar follows and is drawn into Alexandrian politics, the point at which this narrative breaks off, to be continued by associated commentaries.

Themes and Style

Throughout, Caesar argues that he acts defensively, compelled by adversaries and by duty to the state, while displaying clemency as a tool of reconciliation. The prose privileges logistics, engineering, and morale over rhetoric, using topography and supply lines to explain outcomes. His voice is restrained yet unmistakably partisan, minimizing internal dissent and amplifying negotiation attempts, thereby transforming history into justification without sacrificing tactical detail.

Scope and Legacy

The Civil War Commentaries remain a principal source for the conflict’s first years and a model of lucid military narration. They fix the image of Caesar as commander-lawgiver, insistently legal and pragmatic, and offer a granular view of campaigning from Italy to Thessaly. Their abrupt close after Pharsalus and Pompey’s death points forward to the Alexandrian, African, and Spanish wars that complete the cycle of Caesar’s rise and Republican collapse.