The Battle of Philippi (42 B.C.E.)

0:00 On January 1st of 42 B.C.E.,

0:04 the Senate and People of Rome declared Julius Caesar a god.

0:10 A temple was to be built on the site of his funeral pyre,

0:15 which was now sacred ground,

0:17 and Marc Antony was to serve as that temple's chief priest.

0:21 The legislation was introduced by Lepidus on his first day as consul.

0:26 This year, 42, would be a pivotal year for Rome.

0:30 It would finally resolve split between the Triumvirs and the Conspirators,

0:35 and that resolution would serve as a launching

0:38 pad for a complete political realignment in Rome.

0:41 The Triumvirs consisted of Caesar's new chief priest Antony,

0:46 Caesar's former second-in-command and consul for that year Lepidus,

0:50 and Caesar's adopted son Octavian.

0:53 The Conspirators, lead by Brutus, Cassius,

0:55 and the remaining members of the successful conspiracy to assassinate Caesar,

1:00 were off in the east,

1:01 in command of a truly massive army that was growing by the day.

1:05 A showdown seemed inevitable.

1:14 After the death of Cicero, Antony,

1:16 Lepidus, and Octavian stood unopposed in Italy,

1:19 but now they were faced with a new, grim reality.

1:23 After years of civil war, the Roman treasury was empty.

1:27 Even worse, there was no new money coming in, because

1:31 Rome's most profitable provinces were in the hands of the Conspirators.

1:34 The financial situation was in a tailspin.

1:38 The Triumvirs had no choice but to introduce

1:41 a series of new taxes on Roman citizens.

1:44 The fact that they were "on Roman citizens" is significant,

1:47 because Romans were accustomed to paying virtually no taxes.

1:51 The provinces were so lucrative that they alone

1:55 usually generated enough income to support Rome's growing Empire.

1:59 But now, under Antony, Lepidus, and Octavian, that had to change.

2:04 One of these new taxes was a one

2:07 time levy on the 1,400 wealthiest women in Rome.

2:10 The Triumvirs cited some vague historical precedent

2:13 for this, pointing back to some time during

2:16 the Punic Wars when wealthy women helped

2:18 raise a new army by donating their valuables.

2:22 Historically, don't know any of the details regarding this incident

2:25 so we kinda just have to take their word for it.

2:28 The wealthy women of Rome found the comparison to the Punic Wars outrageous.

2:33 This was nothing like the Punic Wars!

2:36 Rome was not under threat of being conquered!

2:38 The Triumvirs were the ones pushing for an open conflict!

2:41 Now suddenly they needed the people of Rome to bail them out?

2:46 This was a political movement in the making,

2:49 and it coalesced behind a charismatic leader named Hortensia,

2:52 the daughter of one of Rome's greatest orators.

2:56 Under Hortensia, the wealthy women of Rome

2:59 went behind the backs of the Triumvirs,

3:01 and began to undermine their political support.

3:04 They approached Octavian's sister Octavia,

3:07 and convinced her to join their cause.

3:09 They approached Antony's mother Julia, and won her over as well.

3:13 They approached Antony's wife Fulvia, and she...

3:17 was extremely abrasive, and turned them away at the door!

3:21 How rude!

3:22 Hortensia then lead a group of women down

3:25 to the Forum to protest and disrupt a public meeting.

3:30 Antony, Lepidus, and Octavian were all in attendance.

3:34 As the women pushed their way into the crowd,

3:37 their presence caused a small commotion.

3:39 Their leader Hortensia raised her voice and addressed the crowd.

3:44 She began by referencing the Proscriptions,

3:46 which was when the Triumvirs ordered the deaths

3:49 of thousands of their political enemies and confiscated their property.

3:54 "You have already deprived us of our fathers, our sons,

3:59 our husbands, and our brothers, whom you accused of having wronged you.

4:04 If we have done you wrong,

4:06 as you say our husbands have, proscribe us as you do them.

4:10 But if we women have not voted you any public enemies,

4:14 have not torn down your houses, destroyed your army,

4:16 or led another against you[...] why do we share the penalty when we do not

4:21 share the guilt?" "Why should we pay taxes when we have no part in the honours,

4:27 the commands, the state-craft,

4:28 for which you contend against each other with such harmful results?

4:34 'Because this is a time of war,' do you say?

4:37 When have there not been wars, and when have taxes ever been imposed on women?

4:42 Our mothers did once [make] contributions when you were in danger of losing

4:46 the whole Empire and the city

4:49 itself through the conflict with the Carthaginians.

4:52 But then they contributed voluntarily,

4:54 not from their landed property,[...] but from their own

4:58 jewellery,[...] not by force and violence,

5:00 but what they themselves were willing to give.

5:04 What alarm is there now for the Empire or for the country?

5:08 Let war with the Gauls or the Parthians come,

5:11 and we shall protect the public as our mothers did;

5:14 but we will never contribute to your civil wars." It was a powerful speech,

5:20 and there were some really interesting ideas in there.

5:22 "Why should we pay taxes when we have no

5:25 part in state-craft." Hortensia was hinting at women entering politics!

5:30 Revolutionary stuff!

5:32 Somebody ordered the lictors to move in and remove the women from the Forum.

5:37 They resisted, and all of a sudden there was screaming,

5:41 and shoving, and violence.

5:43 Onlookers cried out in support, and many of them rushed in to join the fight.

5:48 Within moments there was a full-on brawl in the Forum.

5:52 The next day, the Triumvirs backed down.

5:56 A nominal tax would stay in place,

5:57 but the amount of money levied would be reduced by over 70%.

6:02 Hortensia and her supporters had won.

6:07 But the Triumvirs still needed revenue if

6:11 they were going to raise additional legions.

6:14 They imposed a sweeping new wealth tax on Roman citizens,

6:18 but even that wasn't enough.

6:20 They would have to look beyond Rome, and squeeze even harder.

6:24 They announced that going forward,

6:26 Italian farmers would be required to give half of their harvest to the state.

6:32 Farmers weren't that rich to begin with, and so many

6:34 were faced with a choice between operating at a loss,

6:37 or simply walking away from their farms.

6:39 Agricultural yields plummeted, the price of food went through the roof.

6:44 The entire region fell into an economic depression.

6:49 The concept of economics had not been invented yet, and it shows!

6:53 But the Triumvirs were destroying the Roman economy for a reason.

6:58 Brutus and Cassius were still in the east,

7:00 in command of one of the largest armies ever fielded by Rome.

7:07 But this was also expensive!

7:12 Brutus and Cassius imposed their own

7:14 extreme demands on their occupied territory,

7:16 and when the locals refused their cities were stormed and looted,

7:21 and the inhabitants were enslaved.

7:24 This happened at least thrice, in Judea, in Lycia, and on the island of Rhodes.

7:31 They were building alliances, as well.

7:33 A bunch of independent kingdoms agreed

7:35 to support the Conspirators and send cavalry, which was sorely needed.

7:39 Brutus and Cassius sent the son of Caesar's old

7:42 right hand man Labienus all the way to Parthia, where an agreement was reached.

7:47 The Parthians sent archers,

7:50 and the son of Labienus stayed to continue negotiations.

7:57 By June of the year 42, Brutus and Cassius felt that they were ready.

8:02 Together, they had 17 legions under their command.

8:06 For comparison, when Caesar defeated Pompey at the Battle of Pharsalus,

8:10 it was Caesar's 7 legions against Pompey's 8.

8:14 Brutus and Cassius had 17.

8:17 If all the legions were at full strength,

8:20 it would have worked out to 85,000 infantry,

8:22 plus 20,000 allied cavalry, plus some Parthian archers.

8:27 They moved this massive army into the Roman province of Macedonia, and waited.

8:34 The scale of Brutus and Cassius's army freaked out the Triumvirs,

8:38 which is why they took those unprecedented steps to raise money.

8:43 And it worked.

8:44 By the summer of 42, Antony, Lepidus, and Octavian were sitting on 19 legions,

8:51 95,000 soldiers if they were at full strength, plus 13,000 allied cavalry.

8:57 By the way, it's impossible to know the actual size of these armies.

9:01 It was quite normal for older and more experienced legions

9:05 to operate at half strength for years at a time.

9:09 Some people do the work of tracking

9:11 the age and estimated losses of each individual legion,

9:15 but even these numbers are deceptive,

9:17 since an experienced legion at half strength

9:20 could easily defeat inexperienced legion at full strength.

9:24 So even if you had the raw numbers,

9:26 you would still be missing vital information.

9:28 People love to fight over this, but honestly don't worry about it.

9:34 Antony and Octavian assumed a joint command and moved east.

9:38 Lepidus would remain behind to oversee Rome as consul.

9:42 They would need two trips to transport their entire army across the Adriatic.

9:48 Antony went first, and Octavian followed.

9:51 Of the four generals converging on Macedonia

9:55 Antony and Cassius were the most experienced.

9:58 Antony had served under Caesar in Gaul,

10:01 and Cassius had served against the Parthians in the east.

10:05 Brutus and Octavian were pretty much rookies.

10:08 And it showed.

10:09 On the trip across the Adriatic, Octavian fell seriously ill.

10:14 We do not know the nature of this illness,

10:18 and honestly I'm not even sure it was real.

10:21 Octavian did not like being on campaign,

10:23 and he had a history of falling ill at convenient times.

10:27 A similar thing happened once when he accompanied Caesar to Spain.

10:31 Octavian would spend the rest of the campaign either

10:34 in his tent or being carried on a litter.

10:37 His subordinates commanded the legions for him.

10:40 And honestly it might have been for the best,

10:43 since he had no military experience anyway.

10:46 As the two sides converged near the city of Philippi,

10:49 Brutus and Cassius's fleet implemented a blockade.

10:52 For Antony and Octavian,

10:54 resupply or reinforcements were now out of the question.

10:58 They would need to attack before they ran out of food.

11:01 There was now a ticking clock.

11:12 Brutus and Cassius had the high ground, and were encamped in a strong position.

11:17 They were protected by mountains to the north, by marshes to the south,

11:21 were well-supplied from the sea,

11:23 and had a line of fortifications in front of them.

11:27 Brutus and Cassius were each in command of a group

11:30 of legions that were completely independent from each other,

11:33 as if they were two separate armies.

11:36 This was probably a mistake, but they didn't know any better.

11:40 Legions were Rome's largest military unit,

11:43 and were supposed to act semi-autonomously.

11:47 How could one general possibly keep track

11:49 of what 17 independent units were doing at once?

11:53 Very difficult, especially in the heat of battle.

11:56 The Romans had never done this before, so instead creating legion-groups,

12:00 which is how modern militaries would have solved this problem,

12:03 their solution was to split things down the middle

12:06 and create two parallel commands that were more manageable in size.

12:12 As I said, this was probably a mistake.

12:16 But it was a mistake made by both sides.

12:19 Antony and Octavian split their commands as well.

12:24 Antony's legions arrived first, and Octavian's followed.

12:34 For 10 days there were minor skirmishes,

12:37 but neither side wanted to initiate battle.

12:40 Antony was positioned next to the marshes,

12:42 and he decided to try to use them to his advantage.

12:45 While everybody was distracted, he sent construction crews out into the marshes

12:50 to build a line of fortifications behind the tall grass.

12:55 If he could get around Cassius and Brutus without them noticing,

12:58 he might be able to threaten their access to the sea.

13:03 After several days, Cassius discovered what Antony was doing.

13:08 He began building his own line of defenses down into the marshes to cut him off.

13:14 On October 3rd, Antony realized that Cassius knew what he was doing.

13:18 That day, when both sides deployed for battle,

13:21 Antony tried to distract Cassius by deploying a little

13:25 closer and a little more aggressively than usual.

13:28 It's hard to tell exactly what happened next,

13:30 but let's just say that there were lots

13:32 of inexperienced commanders and inexperienced legions on the field,

13:37 and somehow both sides ended up attacking without orders.

13:42 In response, everybody ordered their legions to advance,

13:46 and within minutes a full-on battle had begun.

13:50 A battle that nobody had wanted.

13:52 The First Battle of Philippi.

13:56 Brutus didn't really know what he was doing,

13:59 and so his legions were spread way too thin

14:02 and extended way further than they were supposed to.

14:05 As Brutus advanced, the far end of his line accidentally flanked Octavian's.

14:11 It's unclear why Octavian's legions didn't reposition when

14:15 they saw Brutus's hyper-extended line coming their way,

14:18 but maybe that's a consequence of having an absentee general.

14:23 There was incompetence on both sides,

14:25 but this time it happened to work out in Brutus's favour.

14:29 Octavian's legions were almost immediately overwhelmed and collapsed.

14:35 Brutus's legions surged forward,

14:36 but they got so distracted looting Octavian's camp

14:40 that they neglected to pursue the retreating army.

14:44 Meanwhile, down in the marshes,

14:46 Antony's soldiers were up and out of their defenses,

14:49 and before they knew it they were behind enemy lines.

14:53 When Cassius's soldiers at the front learned

14:55 that there was an enemy coming up behind them,

14:58 they assumed that the battle was lost and lost hope.

15:01 The historical accounts spend a lot of time talking about how bad visibility

15:06 was that day due to the clouds of dust kicked up by the armies.

15:11 They had no idea that Antony only had

15:13 a small number of soldiers behind their lines,

15:16 nor did they know that way off in the distance, Brutus had Octavian on the run.

15:22 Cassius was in the middle of this madness

15:25 trying to stave off defeat and rally his legions,

15:28 when a messenger informed him that the enemy cavalry had broken through,

15:31 and were coming his way.

15:33 If the cavalry had broken through, then the battle had been lost.

15:38 Cassius called his attendants to his side,

15:40 and instructed one of them to end his life.

15:43 They obliged.

15:44 It was his birthday.

15:49 Cassius's death was a tragedy.

15:54 The approaching cavalry did not belong to the enemy.

15:58 They belonged to Brutus.

16:00 They had heard that Cassius needed help, and were coming to the rescue.

16:04 The parallel command structure left Cassius totally blind to what

16:09 was happening on the other end of the battlefield, and it cost him his life.

16:23 But on the whole, the battle was a draw.

16:26 Antony stormed Cassius's camp, Brutus stormed Octavian's camp,

16:30 but casualties were not high,

16:32 and apart from Cassius's death the battle was not decisive.

16:38 Brutus wept over his colleague's body,

16:40 and told those present that Cassius had been "the last

16:43 of the Romans." He sent the body away to be buried,

16:48 and kept the death of Cassius secret for several days.

16:52 There was a reason for this.

16:54 As I mentioned before, Brutus and Cassius held two parallel commands.

16:59 Cassius's legions didn't owe Brutus anything.

17:03 With their general dead, the legions might just walk away,

17:07 or even worse defect to Antony.

17:10 By the time Brutus informed the legions of their general's death,

17:13 he had come up with an offer.

17:16 If they would agree to stick around and fight under Brutus,

17:19 he would reward them with a cash payout equivalent to several years pay.

17:25 Plus, as an extra incentive,

17:27 he would allow them to loot two cities on the march back to Rome.

17:33 To be clear, that is two cities under ROMAN protection.

17:38 Brutus was buying the loyalty of the army by letting them

17:42 plunder allied cities which is pretty repugnant if you ask me.

17:47 With a deal struck, Brutus was in command of 17 legions.

17:50 But he was in over his head, and he knew it.

17:53 He had very little military experience, and no real strategy for victory.

17:58 The one thing going for him was that he was still well-positioned,

18:01 so for the time being he would stay put

18:06 and wait for his enemy to make a mistake.

18:14 In the days that followed,

18:16 Antony continued to extend his defenses down in the marshes.

18:19 For whatever reason, maybe inexperience, or ignorance, or both,

18:24 Brutus moved some soldiers away from the hill that was overlooking the marsh.

18:29 The grass was quite tall, he might not have even known anybody was down there.

18:33 Somebody probably should have told him, because this was clearly a mistake.

18:37 Antony took the hill, and quickly reinforced his new position.

18:42 Days passed, weeks passed, and Brutus became increasingly frustrated.

18:47 From this new position Antony could threaten Brutus's supply lines,

18:50 and there wasn't much he could do about it.

18:53 Brutus held out hope for reinforcements, but they never came.

18:57 When he learned that the ships carrying

19:00 fresh legions had been intercepted and destroyed, he fell into despair.

19:05 With no viable options left,

19:07 and with his tactical advantages dwindling by the day,

19:10 Brutus gave the order to attack.

19:12 It was October 23rd, 20 days after the initial clash.

19:17 This is known as The Second Battle of Philippi because

19:19 it was the second battle and because it was near Philippi.

19:24 Both sides were pretty inexperienced when it came to warfare on this scale,

19:28 and so there were no complicated maneuvers.

19:32 Just brute force.

19:34 Two sides pushing against each other like their lives depended on it.

19:40 The legions under Brutus broke first.

19:43 It turned into a total route.

19:50 Brutus retreated, and considered raising new legions and continuing the fight,

19:54 but then thought better of it.

19:56 He escaped into the nearby hills with some friends,

19:59 where they spent several days together drinking and reciting Greek poetry.

20:04 At the end of the final day he told his friends

20:08 that Antony and Octavian would be

20:10 remembered for their unjustness and wickedness,

20:12 while he would be remembered for his virtue.

20:16 He told them that while he blamed his current predicament on bad luck,

20:21 he would nevertheless die a happy man.

20:26 With that he took his own life.

20:38 Back on the battlefield, the victorious legions hailed Antony as Imperator.

20:44 Not Octavian, just Antony.

20:47 All Octavian got was insults and mockery for hiding in his tent.

20:52 Which is...

20:56 fair.

20:58 Philippi resulted in a crushing victory for the Triumvirs.

21:02 Antony, Lepidus, and Octavian now stood

21:06 atop the Roman state completely unopposed.

21:10 Mostly unopposed.

21:11 A little bit opposed, but we can't get into it now.

21:15 It's hard to imagine how they could possibly screw this up,

21:18 unless they turned on each other or something.

21:20 But why would they do a stupid thing like that?

21:40 Octavian sent Brutus's head sent back to Rome on a ship,

21:43 but when the weather turned bad, the superstitious sailors chucked it overboard

21:46 as an offering to the god of the sea.

21:48 I guess it worked.