Battle of Ruspina
| Battle of Ruspina | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Caesar's Civil War | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Populares | Optimates | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Gaius Julius Caesar | Titus Labienus | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 15,000 Roman legionaries, 400 Gallic cavalry, 150 Cretan archers | 8,000 Numidian cavalry, 1,600 Gallic cavalry, 22,000 Pompeian legionaries and Numidian light infantry | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 6,000 | 2,000 | ||||||
The Battle of Ruspina was fought on January 4, 46 BC in the Roman province of Africa, between the Republican forces of the Optimates and forces loyal to Julius Caesar. The Republican army was commanded by Titus Labienus, Caesar's former supporter who had defected to the Republican side at the beginning of the civil war.
Prelude
Julius Caesar defeated Pompey at the Battle of Pharsalus in 48 B.C. Later that same year, Pompey was killed in Egypt. Caesar than traveled to Tunisia to battle his former lieutenant and friend, Titus Labienus.
The battle
As Labienus's force significantly outnumbered Caesar's, Caesar fell back onto high ground, drawing Labienus into land of his choosing. The Numidian cavalry began to wear the Caesarian troops down with missiles. This proved very effective, as the Caesarian legionnaires could not retaliate. The Numidians would simply withdraw to a safe firing distance and keep firing. Caesar's cavalry fought in vain to prevent being surrounded. The Caesarian cohorts faced a charge by the Pompeian cavalry and Numidian light troops. The Numidian light infantry bombarded the legionnaires with javelins. Caesar's legionnaires furiously threw their pila at the enemy, but this was a failure. The Caesarians legionnaires huddled together in the circular orbis formation.
Titus Labienus rode up to the front rank of Caesar's troops. He came very near to taunting the enemy troops. A veteran of the Tenth Legion came up to him. Labienus immediately recognized him. The veteran threw his pilum at Labienus's horse, killing it. "That'll teach you Labienus, that a soldier of the Tenth is attacking you", the legionnaire growled. Labienus had been shamed in front of his own men. This was a very noteworthy episode in Caesar's Civil War. Some men however began to panic. One aquilifer panicked and attempted to flee. Caesar grabbed the man, spun him around and shouted "the enemy are over there!".
Caesar gave the order to make the battle line as long as possible. He ordered that every second cohort to turn around, so the standards would be facing the rear. The legionnaries charged and threw their pilum, scattering the Pompeians. They pursued their enemy for a short distance, and began to march back to camp. However Marcus Petreius, and Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso appeared with 1,600 Numidian cavalry and a large number of infantry. The Caesarians were surrounded. They might have formed the testudo for protection. The Caesarians got ready for another breakout. They successfully broke out, but than both armies slowly retired to their camps.
The battle was a bloody affair, with Caesar losing as much as one-third of his forces. Caesar would again face Optimate forces three months later in the Battle of Thapsus, eventually achieving victory.
Ruspina is located in modern day Tunisia.