Pharsalus, Battle of, was fought in Greece between the armies of the Roman generals Julius Caesar and Pompey in 48 B.C. After Caesar’s conquest of Gaul (58 to 51 B.C.), he had become the most powerful military commander in the Roman world. Pompey and many members of the Senate in Rome feared Caesar’s power and ambition. Civil war broke out in January of 49 B.C.
Faced with Caesar’s superior legions, Pompey withdrew from Italy to Greece and built up his forces. In 49 B.C., Caesar first secured control of Italy and a major Pompeian base in Spain . The following winter, he followed Pompey to Greece.
Pompey was at first victorious, defeating Caesar’s siege operations around his camp at Dyrrachium (now Durrës, Albania). Caesar’s army retreated into the fertile plains of Thessaly in central Greece. Pompey, confident of victory, pursued them. The rival armies met at Pharsalus (now Farsala, Greece) in the summer of 48 B.C.
Pompey’s army of over 40,000 men was roughly double the size of Caesar’s force. His cavalry of some 7,000 troops was about seven times as numerous as Caesar’s, a great advantage on the open plain. At first, Pompey’s cavalry drove back Caesar’s cavalry on Caesar’s right flank (side). But then Caesar used specially positioned reserve infantry to attack Pompey’s cavalry on Pompey’s left flank, forcing them from the field of battle. Caesar’s reserve infantry then attacked Pompey’s infantry on Pompey’s left flank. Many of Pompey’s troops fled, along with their leader. More than half surrendered. Casualty figures for the battle range widely. Caesar claimed that about 15,000 of Pompey’s forces and only 230 of his own men were killed. Based on other ancient accounts, many modern historians believe that the number of dead may have been closer to 6,000 on Pompey’s side and 1,200 or fewer on Caesar’s. Pompey escaped to Egypt and was murdered there on the orders of King Ptolemy XIII.
The battle did not end the Roman civil war that had broken out in 49 B.C. Remnants of Pompey’s forces regrouped in North Africa, where Caesar defeated them at the Battle of Thapsus in 46 B.C. Pompey’s sons then took the fighting to Spain. The war finally ended after Caesar defeated Pompey’s sons at Munda, Spain, in 45 B.C.
