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{DOWNLOAD} Philippi 42 BC: the Death of the Roman Republic PHILIPPI 42 BC: THE DEATH OF THE ROMAN REPUBLIC PDF, EPUB, EBOOK Si Sheppard,Steve Noon | 96 pages | 19 Aug 2008 | Bloomsbury Publishing PLC | 9781846032653 | English | Oxford, England, United Kingdom Battle of Philippi | Summary | Britannica Buy now. Immortalised by Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar, the battle of Philippi was the final meeting between the forces of Mark Antony and Octavian against the armies of Caesar's assassins Brutus and Longinus. In this book Si Sheppard takes a detailed look at the campaign that was waged around the Macedonian city of Philippi. In the bloody and close combat, legionary fought legionary amid great slaughter, until Brutus' forces were defeated. Brutus fled and committed suicide the following day. The Republican cause crushed, Rome now rested in the hands of the Second Triumvirate. Give Feedback External Websites. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article requires login. External Websites. Rupert Matthews Rupert Matthews has been fascinated by battlefields since his father took him to Waterloo when he was nine years old. As an adult, Rupert has written about numerous battles from the ancient world to the See Article History. Get exclusive access to content from our First Edition with your subscription. Subscribe today. Learn More in these related Britannica articles:. Antony, the senior partner, was allotted the east and Gaul ; and Octavian returned to Italy, where difficulties caused by the settlement of his veterans involved him in the Perusine War decided in his favour at…. History at your fingertips. Sign up here to see what happened On This Day , every day in your inbox! Email address. By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Notice. Battle of Philippi - Wikipedia On the other side, the Liberators' army was left without its best strategic mind. Brutus had less military experience than Cassius and, even worse, he could not command the same respect from his allies and his soldiers, although after the battle he offered another gift of 1, denarii for each soldier. In the next three weeks, Antony was able to slowly advance his forces south of Brutus's army, fortifying a hill close to Cassius's former camp, which had been left unguarded by Brutus. To avoid being outflanked Brutus was compelled to extend his line to the south and then the east, parallel to the Via Egnatia, building several fortified posts. While still holding the high ground he wanted to keep to the original plan of avoiding an open engagement and waiting for his naval superiority to wear out the enemy. The traditional understanding is that Brutus, against his better judgment, subsequently abandoned this strategy because his officers and soldiers were tired of the delaying tactics and demanded he offer another open battle. Brutus and his officers may have feared that their soldiers would desert to the enemy if they appeared to have lost the initiative. Plutarch also reports that Brutus had not received news of Domitius Calvinus' defeat in the Ionian Sea. As he said, "I seem to carry on war like Pompey the Great, not so much commanding as commanded. If the triumvirs were allowed to continue stretching their lines unimpeded to the east they would ultimately cut off his supply route to Neapolis and pin him against the mountains. If that happened, the tables would be turned; Brutus would either be starved into submission or be forced to retreat by taking his entire army via the hazardous northern trail that had brought him to Philippi. The battle which ensued resulted in close combat between two armies of well-trained veterans. Ranged weapons such as arrows or javelins were largely ignored; instead, the soldiers packed into solid ranks and fought face-to-face with their swords, and the slaughter was terrible. According to Cassius Dio , the two sides had little need for missile weapons, "for they did not resort to the usual manoeuvres and tactics of battles" but immediately advanced to close combat, "seeking to break each other's ranks". In the account of Plutarch, Brutus had the better of the fight at the western end of his line and pressed hard on the triumvirs' left wing, which gave way and retreated, being harassed by the Republican cavalry, which sought to exploit the advantage when it saw the enemy in disorder. But the eastern flank of Brutus's line had inferior numbers because it had been extended to avoid being outflanked. This meant Brutus's legions had been drawn out too thin in the center, and were so weak here they could not withstand the triumvirs' initial charge. Having broken through, the triumvirs swung to their left to take Brutus in his flank and rear. Appian speaks of the triumvirs' legions having "pushed back the enemy's line as though they were turning round a very heavy machine. Octavian's soldiers were able to capture the gates of Brutus's camp before the routing army could reach this defensive position. Brutus's army could not reform, which made the triumvirs' victory complete. Brutus was able to retreat into the nearby hills with the equivalent of only four legions. The total casualties for the second battle of Philippi were not reported, but the close quarters fighting likely resulted in heavy losses for both sides. Plutarch reports that Antony covered Brutus's body with a purple garment as a sign of respect. Many other young Roman aristocrats lost their lives in the battle or committed suicide after the defeat, including the son of great orator Hortensius , and Marcus Porcius Cato , the son of Cato the Younger , and Marcus Livius Drusus Claudianus , the father of Livia , who became Octavian's wife. Apparently the nobles did not want to deal with the young and merciless Octavian. The remains of the Liberators' army were rounded up, and roughly 14, men were enrolled into the Triumvirs' army. Antony remained in the East, while Octavian returned to Italy, with the difficult task of finding enough land on which to settle a large number of veterans. Although Sextus Pompey was controlling Sicily and Domitius Ahenobarbus still commanded the Republican fleet, the Republican resistance had been definitively crushed at Philippi. The Battle of Philippi marked the highest point of Antony's career: at that time he was the most famous Roman general and the senior partner of the Second Triumvirate. Plutarch famously reported that Brutus experienced a vision of a ghost a few months before the battle. One night he saw a huge and shadowy form appearing in front of him; when he calmly asked, "What and whence art thou? This episode is one of the most famous in Shakespeare 's play Julius Caesar. Plutarch also reports the last words of Brutus, quoted by a Greek tragedy "O wretched Virtue, thou wert but a name, and yet I worshipped thee as real indeed; but now, it seems, thou were but fortune's slave. Augustus's own version of the Battle of Philippi was: "I sent into exile the murderers of my father, punishing their crimes with lawful tribunals, and afterwards, when they made war upon the Republic, I twice defeated them in battle. Res Gestae 2. The battle figures in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar background of the story in Acts 4 and 5 , in which the two battles are merged into a single day's events. A fictionalised account of the battle is depicted in the sixth episode of the second season of the HBO television series Rome. There is but a single battle and both Cassius and Brutus fall in battle instead of being suicides, though Brutus's death is a lone, suicidal attack on the triumvirate's' advancing forces. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Battle of the Roman civil war. This article includes a list of general references , but it remains largely unverified because it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. June Learn how and when to remove this template message. Philippi , Macedonia modern Greece. H Frye ; J. The Cambridge History of Iran. Cambridge University Press. Julius Caesar. Alea iacta est Veni, vidi, vici Ut est rerum omnium magister usus. Cossutia disputed Cornelia Pompeia Calpurnia. Julia Caesarion Augustus adopted. Namespaces Article Talk. Views Read Edit View history. Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file. Download as PDF Printable version. Wikimedia Commons. Part of Liberators' civil war. Location of Philippi. Date 3 and 23 October 42 BC. There was much skull- duggery in the background as the main players did what they could to amplify their powers and undermine those of others. In many cases, these being people with whom they were allegedly allied. There were several battles fought around Philippi and these are painstakingly analyzed by author Si Sheppard. Sheppard's main interest is in this time period and his expertise helps to try to unravel what to many is a twisted history. As many of you know, the forces of Brutus were eventually defeated by Anthony and Octavian, causing Brutus to commit suicide and thereby ending the Republican cause. As is the norm for a book in the Campaign series, this one starts with a preamble of events leading up to the battle, a look at the commanders of both sides and the men under their command. Then there is an inspection of the plans of both sides. The 'meat' of the volume is next with the various stages of the battles. Finally, introspection on how the battles went, what was learned, and how it affected future events. There is also a look at the battlefield today using a lot of photos.
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