The Handy Military History Answer Book. Samuel Willard Crompton
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Название: The Handy Military History Answer Book
Автор: Samuel Willard Crompton
Издательство: Ingram
Жанр: Прочая образовательная литература
Серия: The Handy Answer Book Series
isbn: 9781578595501
isbn:
How good a general had Caesar become by this point?
Even if his career had ended in 55 B.C.E., we would recognize Caesar as one of the greats, both for his decisiveness and speed. Once Caesar made a decision, he never wavered but pursued his goal to the utmost, never failing to follow up a victory. But his greatest days were still to come.
In 53 B.C.E., the Gauls united behind one leader, Vercingetorix, chief of the Arvernii. He seems to have been a person of great personal magnetism, as well as a careful strategist, who correctly decided that the only way to beat the Romans was by denying satisfaction to their stomachs. In 53–52 B.C.E., Vercingetorix ordered the burning of one Gallic town after another to prevent the Romans from getting food, and after six months of this strategy, the Romans were on the brink of mutiny. Luck favored Caesar, however, when one town—Avaricum—was spared, and the Romans captured it. Flush with success and new food supplies, the Romans continued the campaign. Even though Vercingetorix achieved a signal success at the Siege of Gergovia—where the Romans lost 700 men—he made the mistake of retreating to another hilltop-fortified city—Alesia—where he was cornered by Caesar.
How did Caesar manage the conquest of Alesia?
The city, which was unearthed by French archaeologists in the 1860s, was built on a sloping hillside and possessed deep wells: there was no way it would fall under ordinary circumstances. Caesar, however, committed to the siege and had his men dig a series of walls which wrapped eleven miles around Alesia, completely boxing in the Gauls. When he learned that an enormous relief army was being summoned from all across Gaul, Caesar had his men build a second set of ditches and walls: this one was thirteen miles around. When the relief army appeared, its men attacked the outer walls, while Vercing etorix and his garrison attacked the inner ring. Numerous times a breakthrough seemed possible, but Caesar kept bringing reinforcements to just the right place, and after a two-day battle everyone was exhausted. The relief army melted away, and Vercingetorix came down the hill to surrender in person (Caesar kept him a prisoner but had him beheaded during a major celebration in Rome, three years later).
A bronze statue of Julius Caesar stands in Rimini, Italy. Many statues and busts of the great Roman leader may be found throughout Europe.
How great—and how ruthless—was Caesar?
He was both great and ruthless to the same very high degree. Caesar could be merci-ful, but only when it was to his advantage. He employed bribery and flattery as effectively as threats and intimidation. He was, quite simply, one of the great talents of human history, and his Gallic Commentaries, the book he wrote about his campaigns in Gaul, reveals a truly masterful mind through writing that is sharp, fresh, and clear.
What does it mean to “cross the Rubicon”?
In 49 B.C.E., Caesar and his battle-hardened legions were on the north bank of the River Rubicon, in northern Italy. To cross that river was to break the law, and Caesar knew this quite well. He had just received letters from the Roman Senate, telling him to lay down his command and return to Rome, where he could have possibly been put on trial.
Caesar pondered the matter for a day or so and then ordered his men to cross the Rubicon. He told his generals that “the die is cast,” and—ever since—we have employed that expression, as well as the phrase “crossing the Rubicon” to refer to a major life decision, one from which there is no turning back.
Why was the Roman Civil War fought in Spain and Greece, rather than Italy?
It happened by chance, because Caesar’s foe, Gaius Pompey, fled to Greece, while two of his sons, with their armies, went to Spain. This formed a precedent, however, and for hundreds of years to come, Romans showed a marked tendency to fight civil wars in the provinces rather than the Italian homeland.
Caesar followed Pompey to Greece, and after months of maneuvering, the two armies clashed at the Battle of Pharsalus. Pompey had perhaps twice as many men (55,000) as Caesar, but his troops were not as battle tested. In one of the worst Roman-on-Roman collisions, Caesar prevailed, in part because he ordered his men to thrust their javelins at the faces of Pompey’s cavalrymen rather than the horses. A Roman aristocrat could bear many difficulties and indignities, Caesar declared, but he was much too proud of his face to risk injury to it. Following his defeat, Pompey fled the field, and thousands of his men went over to Caesar.
How did Caesar wind up in control of Egypt?
In 47 B.C.E., Egypt was one of the few parts of the Mediterranean world that still was independent of Rome. Its ruler, King Ptolemy XI, was wedded to his sister Queen Cleopatra. Soon after his arrival at the city of Alexandria—named for the great Macedonian conqueror—Caesar was handed a basket in which he found the head of his Roman rival Pompey. The Egyptians had done this in order to please Caesar and to persuade him to leave Egypt alone.
Caesar, however, allied with Cleopatra to fight against King Ptolemy. Though the fighting was touch and go, Caesar prevailed as usual, and King Ptolemy and many of his men died in the Battle of the Nile. Caesar then chose to remain in Egypt for several months, during which time Cleopatra became his lover as well as his political ally. By the time Caesar departed, Cleopatra was pregnant with his son, and Egypt had moved at least halfway into the Roman camp.
What happened to all the rest of Caesar’s foes: Pompey’s sons, the king of Numidia, the Spanish tribesmen?
They were all beaten. Caesar came close to defeat only once, in southern Spain, and he recovered in time. By the time he returned to Rome in 46 B.C.E., he was the world conqueror, and everyone realized it.
Caesar had proved himself a fine administrator as well as a great general. He established new overseas colonies for his veterans, altered the Roman calendar to the one that was the basis for the Western world until the 1580s, and seemed on the verge of making himself king or emperor. He, very likely, knew that there was no need to do so: he already possessed more power than any person prior to his time. His political foes, however, insisted that he was on the cusp of destroying the Roman Republic and creating a new Roman Empire. They, therefore, assassinated him on March 15, 44 B.C.E.
Who were the candidates to succeed Caesar as leader of the Roman world?
At the moment of Caesar’s death, it was obvious that there were only two men who could possibly succeed him. Marc Antony was his best subordinate general, and Octavian was both his nephew and his adopted son. One of these two men would clearly be the new leader.
Which of these two possessed the initial advantage?
Because he was so well known to the legionnaires, Marc Antony had the advantage at the beginning of the rivalry. Over time, however, Antony became identified with the concerns of the Eastern Mediterranean, and when he joined forces with Cleopatra (she bore him several children), Antony sealed his doom. Octavian was very young—only eighteen when Julius Caesar died—but he proved an able statesman and was successful in portraying Antony СКАЧАТЬ