In our previous episode, we talked about the second triumvirate and how Octavian,
Antony and Lepidus took over Rome, enacting bloody proscriptions
and solidifying their power. However, Brutus and Cassius had not been idle.
They too had effectively revived the Pompeian faction under their leadership as the Liberators,
and were amassing their forces for war. In this episode, we shall see how they mobilised
almost the entirety of the East and prepared for their confrontation with the Triumvirs.
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Brutus had seized Macedonia and the Legions located there from Antony’s brother,
Gaius, in 43BC. Worried that his men would just as easily defect back to Antony’s side,
Brutus had sailed across the Aegean to Asia Minor, hoping that the distance would prevent
any pro-Antony rumours from reaching them. From here, he consolidated his position rallying more
men to his cause particularly refugees fleeing the Triumvirate’s proscriptions in Rome.
Combined with the army previously under Gaius’ command, he had 8 Legions. Gaius Antonius proved
to be a constant problem though, attempting to instigate a number of mutinies among Brutus’
ranks. After the formation of the Second Triumvirate, it was decided that Gaius
was now too dangerous to be left alive, and he was executed at the start of 42BC.
Around this same time, Brutus, nervous of a potential revolt in Macedonia, crossed back
into Europe to handle any potential dissenters. He also undertook a minor expedition in Thrace,
winning the Thracian king Rhascupolis to the Pompeian cause.
After reaffirming his control of Macedonia, he once again pulled back to Asia Minor.
Meanwhile, in Syria, Cassius, following the death of Dolabella, had planned to march on Egypt.
Out of the 12 Legions that Cassius had procured from the Governors of the East, 4 had been sent
by Cleopatra to assist Dolabella before being intercepted en route. It was apparent then that
Cleopatra intended to side with the Triumvirs, and Cassius aimed to quash this possibility early.
As he began his march on Cleopatra however, word reached him of the formation of the Second
Triumvirate and that they had already begun moving forces into Greece, sailing 8 Legions across the
Adriatic. Immediately, Cassius abandoned his plan, marching to Asia Minor with all speed to combine
with Brutus, requesting aid from Eastern client kings, and even the Parthians, as he marched.
The two men met in Smyrna in Anatolia around late January 42BC. Initially,
Brutus suggested that they take their entire force of 20 Legions immediately to Macedonia
to confront the Triumvirs. He reasoned that if they attacked now,
they would be able to crush the 8 Legions and prevent any more from landing in Macedonia.
Cassius, on the other hand, disagreed. The triumvirs had their hands full in Rome,
and would also be nervous of Sextus Pompey amassing forces in Sicily. Moreover,
the Caesareans also had a number of allies in the area, namely the Rhodians and Lycians, with
strong navies that could effectively pin Cassius and Brutus in Greece if they were not careful.
Cassius thus suggested that their focus should be to eliminate these allies. In doing so, they could
flip the tables, forcing the Triumvirs to land a large force in Greece without an adequate naval
supply line to support them. Cassius was the more experienced and talented general: he had fought in
Crassus’ Parthian campaign and had distinguished himself in the aftermath. As such, the two men
decided to follow Cassius’ strategy. Brutus would handle the Lycians, and Cassius the Rhodians.
Cassius made for Myndus and began amassing a fleet of 80 ships to sail for Rhodes. He had been partly
raised and educated on the island and was well known in the city. Upon hearing of his approach,
the Rhodians sent peace delegations. Rhodes was technically an ally of the Roman Republic;
the Rhodians had a peace treaty with Rome and had promised to assist the Senate in times of war.
With the Senate now effectively controlled by the triumvirate, the Rhodians could not side
against them. Cassius rejected these arguments. He claimed the Senate was run by dictators, that
he and Brutus now were the true embodiment of the Republic, and that the Rhodians thus owed their
allegiance to them. Still, the Rhodians refused Cassius and began preparing their fleet for war.
In a large ditch effort to make peace, they sent Archelaus, Cassius’ old teacher, to negotiate.
Tearfully, Archelaus begged Cassius to spare the city. Cassius again refused. He pointed out that
the Senate had previously ordered all people east of the Adriatic should assist himself and Brutus.
This was true. However, if the Rhodians abided by that decree and assisted Cassius and Brutus,
they would simultaneously be breaking their peace treaty by going to war with the Roman Senate.
After many days of debating, they finally came to a conclusion.
Sailing with 33 of their best ships, they sailed to Myndus to fight Cassius’ navy.
Cassius reluctantly sailed out of port to meet them. Rhodians were renowned as some of the best
sailors of the ancient world and their ships were light and quick. The fighting was hard,
but Cassius’ larger navy was eventually able to surround the Rhodian fleet. Without room to
manoeuvre, the lighter Rhodian ships lost their advantage, and the heavy Roman ships were able
to close in. 3 Rhodian ships were captured, 2 sunk and many badly damaged before the Rhodians
withdrew from the battle. Cassius quickly made any necessary repairs to his fleet before pushing his
advantage and landing a force on the island. The Rhodian navy attempted to sally out of its port,
but was again quickly crushed. Cassius now had Rhodes besieged from both land and sea.
Rather than suffer the horrors of a prolonged siege, a faction within the city
opened the gates to Cassius. 50 leading Rhodians were executed, and their vast treasury was seized,
but the city was spared, Cassius forbidding his men from violence or looting.
Brutus, meanwhile, led his 8 Legions against important city of Xanthus in Lycia.
The Xanthians had prepared themselves well, creating a trench and embankment around the city.
However, many of the men under Brutus’ command had served under Caesar and had experience
of siege craft. Working day and night and under the protection of movable defences,
The Legions were able to completely besiege the city in a matter of days.
Battering rams were swiftly brought up to attack the walls and gates. The defences
were strong though, and Brutus’ men having only managed to inflict minor damage on the defences,
abandoned their siege engines. That night, the Xanthians sallied out to burn the rams. Suddenly,
Brutus’ men fell upon them in the darkness: the Xanthians had been lured into a trap.
Desperately, they tried to retreat into the city, but finding the gate had been closed,
they were trapped outside and many were killed in front of the gates.
The next day, the Xanthians again sallied out to burn the rams, and the Romans again attacked.
This time, the Xanthians kept their gate open, allowing their men to retreat back into the city,
but this also resulted in about 2,000 Romans also getting through. The Xanthians suddenly dropped
their portcullis, trapping the Romans inside. They too had lured the Romans into a trap. Desperately,
the 2,000 Legionaries trapped inside fought their way to the forum under constant missile fire,
taking refure in the temple of Sarpedon. At the same time, their colleagues on the outside were
determined to break in to rescue them, attempting to use grappling hooks to scale the walls,
some using crags in the wall to climb their way up. A small group was able to scale the walls, and
opened a small side gate allowing more legionaries inside. They fought their way to the portcullis
and with men hacking at it form the inside and outside were finally able to break it down,
allowing Brutus’ force to pour into the city. The city was lost and, according to Appian,
many of the citizens killed themselves, with Brutus only taking 150 men captive.
Following this siege, other cities in Lycia such as Patara and Myra, quickly surrendered to Brutus.
Soon, all of Lycia was pledged to him militarily and paid heavy tributes to him. In a few months,
Brutus and Cassius between them had thus neutered two powerful naval allies of the triumvirs,
as well as massively increasing their finances, ensuring that they would be able
to keep their legions loyal when the time came to confront the triumvirs in Greece.
Cassius and Brutus, hearing that Cleopatra was also sending a fleet to the Peloponnese
sent 80 ships of their fleet under Murcus to keep an eye out for her arrival.
Fortunately for the Liberators though, a storm had devastated Cleopatra’s fleet, forcing her to
return to Egypt. Not wanting to keep such a large fleet idle, Murcus instead sailed to Brundisium to
blockade the port and prevent the triumvirs from sending more men across the Adriatic.
Antony, in command of the forces in the area, attempted to break the blockade with his own
ships, but did not have the numbers, and was forced to send for Octavian to assist him.
Octavian was currently engaged in a campaign against Sextus Pompey. The son of Pompey the Great
had taken advantage of the chaos caused by the assassination of Caesar, its aftermath, and the
conflict between the Senate and Antony to rebuild his position in Sicily. Gathering men from across
the Mediterranean, he had gradually been building his force. This force grow larger still during the
proscriptions of the Triumvirate which had forced many influential men to take refuge with him.
Shortly after the formation of the triumvirate, he had used this force to besiege the governor
of Sicily and, with the help of some of the Senators who had fled to him, forced him to
surrender the province. The triumvirs had only just begun treating him as a serious threat,
Octavian sending his top general at the time, Salvidienus, to handle the matter.
However, Sextus had dealt Salvidienus a minor but important victory in the straits of Messina.
Octavian had taken up the campaign himself, but upon receiving Antony’s summons,
immediately sailed to Brundisium, leaving Sicily and Sextus alone for the time being.
Upon Octavian’s arrival, Murcus retreated not wanting to be trapped between the forces of Antony
and Octavian. Instead, he planned to harass any ships attempting to cross the Adriatic.
The triumvirs were far more audacious than Murcus assumed, however, and with favourable winds
they made a number of quick and risky crossings, without military ships so as not to draw too much
attention. Soon, Antony and Octavian had managed to move 11 Legions across the Adriatic, leaving
Lepidus in Rome to control the city. Murcus was furious, but nevertheless held his position
determined to at the very least prevent any supplies or munitions from reaching the triumvirs.
Ahenobarbus, son of the same man who had fought against Caesar,
was sent with a further 50 ships to support him, giving him a total of 130.
Octavian and Antony quickly sent the 8 Legions who had landed in Greece earlier in the year
towards Thrace under the command of Decidus and Norbanus to hold the Corpilan and Sapaean passes,
two important routes into Greece for any force crossing from Asia Minor. Meanwhile, Brutus and
Cassius crossed the Aegean into Greece, landing in Sestus in August 42BC. Thrace, at the time, was
ruled by two brothers, Rhascupolis and Rhascus. Brutus had previously won Rhascupolis to his side,
and the Thracian king now went with 3,000 cavalry to reinforce the Liberators, while
his brother Rhascus sided with the triumvirs, leading 3,000 cavalry to Decidus and Norbanus.
The board was now set. Appian claims that Antony and Octavian had roughly 100,000 men
consisting of 19 Legions, the eleven recently transported from Italy and the 8 holding the
Thracian passes, as well as 13,000 cavalry. Cassius and Brutus also had approximately 100,000,
consisting of 19 Legions, some of which were understrength, 20,000 allied cavalry and 4,000
horse archers from the Parthians, Medes and Arabs. Some modern historians, however, have questioned
whether such large armies could realistically be maintained logistically and have suggested
numbers closer to 60,000 on both sides. Whatever the true number, it is agreed that the triumvirs
had a slightly infantry advantage and the Liberators a slight edge in the number of cavalry.
Even if the more modest number of 60,000 each side is accepted, both armies would still be colossal,
larger even than the armies fielded by Caesar and Pompey at Pharsalus.
In many ways, it was a case of history repeating itself. The Caesareans, this time under Antony and
Octavian, had landed a large army in Greece but had a precarious supply route with their enemies
controlling the sea behind them. The Pompeians, under Cassius and Brutus, also had a large
army and with a secure supply line, they could focus on trying to force a situation where they
could starve their opponents into submission. In our next episode, we will talk about the
pivotal battle of Philippi, so make sure you are subscribed and have pressed the bell button to
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