Battle of Philippi

Overview

The Battle of Philippi was the final battle in the Liberators' civil war between the forces of Mark Antony and Octavian and the leaders of Julius Caesar's assassination, Brutus and Cassius, in 42 BC, at Philippi in Macedonia. The Second Triumvirate declared the civil war ostensibly to avenge Julius Caesar's assassination in 44 BC, but the underlying cause was a long-brewing conflict between the Optimates and the Populares.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Significance

The Battle of Philippi was the decisive engagement of the Liberators' Civil War, ending armed resistance by the faction responsible for Julius Caesar's assassination in 44 BC. The conflict brought Brutus and Cassius, along with their supporting commanders Allienus, Serapion, and Tyre, into direct confrontation with the Triumvirs Mark Antony and Octavian at Philippi in Macedonia. Although the Second Triumvirate framed the war as an act of vengeance for Caesar's murder, the battle resolved a deeper and longer-running contest between the Optimates and the Populares for the direction of Roman political life. Triumvir casualties of 16,000 against Liberator losses of 8,000 indicate the engagement was hard-fought despite its conclusive result, with forces on both sides numbering in the tens of thousands. The outcome extinguished the Liberators as a military force and left Antony and Octavian as the dominant powers in the Roman world, setting the conditions for the subsequent rivalry between them.

Forces & casualties

Commanders (7)