Thapsus was a rare battle in that it showed Caesar not as the consummate warlord but as a general that at times had no control over his own army. The action was joined after one of his wings charged the enemy of their own volition and unable to call his men back, Caesar was forced to order an all-out attack. Again at the end of the battle, we see another instance of Caesar having no power over his men when the enemy army collapsed a large number attempted to surrender. In many cases, the Caesarian soldiers ignored the attempted surrender and proceeded to slaughter the defenseless victims. In one case the blood rush was such that a group of Caesar’s officers was mistaken for the enemy and butchered before the confusion could be put to rights. Between Thapsus and Munda, the final battles of the Civil War were not Caesar the General’s most exceptional performances.
Thapsus was a rare battle in that it showed Caesar not as the consummate warlord but as a general that at times had no control over his own army. The action was joined after one of his wings charged the enemy of their own volition and unable to call his men back, Caesar was forced to order an all-out attack. Again at the end of the battle, we see another instance of Caesar having no power over his men when the enemy army collapsed a large number attempted to surrender. In many cases, the Caesarian soldiers ignored the attempted surrender and proceeded to slaughter the defenseless victims. In one case the blood rush was such that a group of Caesar’s officers was mistaken for the enemy and butchered before the confusion could be put to rights. Between Thapsus and Munda, the final battles of the Civil War were not Caesar the General’s most exceptional performances.
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The song we used - Crusade - Video Classica by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100884
Artist: http://incompetech.com/
This weeks main source - Masters of Command by Barry Strauss
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