THAPSUS, BATTLE OF (47 B.c.). After his victory at Pharsalus Julius Caesar followed Pompey to Egypt, where the Pompeians accumulated a large army and were joined by Juba, king of Numidia. A battle was fought at Ruspina in which Caesar was almost overwhelmed, after which he moved to Veita and besieged it, withdrew on account of lack of supplies, and, in order to compel Scipio to battle, marched on Thapsus, an ancient city of North Africa in the province of Byzacium (the modern province of Tunis), on the coast more than loo m. north of Carthage. Thapsus contained large military stores, was strongly garrisoned and blockaded by Caesar's fleet. On Feb. 4, 47 B.C. he arrived before the city, and immediately besieged it. This drove Scipio into action, for he at once advanced on Thapsus and threw up two entrenched camps, one for his own men and the other for Juba's eight miles south of the city.
The manoeuvres which now followed were controlled by a salt water lake, the modern Sebka di Moknine, which lies to the south west of Thapsus. Caesar had entirely surrounded the town, but Scipio considered that it was still possible to relieve it from the south. Caesar had foreseen the likelihood of this move, and had built a strong fort in the centre of the strip of land which separates the eastern margin of the lake from the sea. When Scipio ad vanced he struck this fort, and being unable to take it turned back and decided to march round the lake and force the northern approach to the city. This he did, and constructed two camps north of the lake. Though Caesar would have preferred to defer battle until he had taken Thapsus, he now determined to attack Scipio before he had finished his entrenchments. Leaving As prenas, the pro-consul and two legions to carry on the siege, with the rest of his force he marched against Scipio. One half of his fleet he left to continue the blockade, and the other he ordered to sail down the coast, and make a demonstration against Scipio's rear. Placing his left on the coast, Scipio drew up his army in three lines with his elephants and light troops in front of his right and left wings, his Numidian cavalry on the left, and the rest of his cavalry and light troops on the right. Advancing on
him, Caesar also extended his army into three lines with the II. and X. legions on the right, the VIII. and IX. on the left, and five legions in the centre. His flanks he covered by five chosen cohorts supported by archers, slingers and cavalry.
As Scipio's camp was but half dug, Caesar's men wished to ad vance at once. Caesar, however, was not over anxious to precipi tate the battle because he was largely outnumbered by the Numidian cavalry. Whilst he hesitated, the X. legion suddenly sounded the charge which was repeated all down the line. The archers and slingers soon overwhelmed Scipio's elephants with their arrows and stones, driving them back on their own line, where they not only demoralized the infantry but scattered the left wing horse. The infantry lines then clinched, fighting each other until sunset, when Scipio's right wing became demoralized. This affected the centre, and soon the entire line broke and sought refuge in the half-completed camp, which was speedily captured by a double envelopment of Caesar's wings. Scipio's force was annihilated in an awful slaughter of which Mommsen writes : "If the hydra with which they fought always put forth new energies, if the army was hurried from Italy to Spain, from Spain to Mace donia, from Macedonia to Africa, and if the repose ever more eagerly longed for never came, the soldier sought, and not wholly without cause, the reason of this state of things in the unseason able clemency of Caesar." Fifty thousand corpses were strewn over the battlefield of Thapsus, and among them were several Caesarian officers known as opponents to the new monarchy.
In this battle neither strategy nor tactics are remarkable, but what is so is the insubordination of the men, and their growing sense of mastership in the new order which Caesar was creating. He wished to found an Empire, and aimed at a complete victory, constantly taking tremendous risks and ignoring the units. The soldiers wanted peace, so that they could return to their homes and families. At Thapsus a battle was begun between the will of Caesar and the desires of his men, it was slow and progressive, and did not end until Alaric had sacked Rome. See PHARSALUS, BAT