Battle of Munda — Caesar's Final Victory
Caesar fought his last battle in southern Spain on 17 March 45 BC and said afterwards that he had often fought for victory and this time had fought for his life. The Pompeian cause had survived Pharsalus and Thapsus by moving west. Pompey's sons Gnaeus and Sextus, with Titus Labienus — Caesar's best legate in Gaul, who had gone over to the other side in 49 — raised thirteen legions in Further Spain, drawing on veterans settled there and on provincials alienated by Caesar's governors. Caesar came from Rome in twenty-seven days, which is a remarkable rate for the distance. The battle was fought on a slope, uphill for the attackers, between armies of roughly 40,000 each, with the Pompeians in a strong position and no room for manoeuvre on either flank. It was a straight infantry fight for most of a day, and both sides were largely composed of Roman veterans who knew exactly what they were doing. The line held until Caesar's Tenth legion made ground on the right, Labienus moved troops to counter it, and his own men read the movement as a retreat. Some 30,000 Pompeians were killed, including Labienus. Gnaeus Pompeius was hunted down and beheaded; Sextus escaped and became a naval power for another decade. Caesar returned to Rome and celebrated a triumph over fellow citizens, which offended people who had accepted the earlier ones over foreigners. He was made dictator for life the following February and murdered a month after that. Munda is also the last time a Roman army of the Republic fought another one over what the Republic should be. Everything after it was a contest between individuals for who would hold what Caesar had assembled.
- Year: 45 BCE
- Category: Military
