"Fortune, which has a great deal of power in other matters but especially in war, can bring about great changes in a situation through very slight forces." - Gaius Julius Caesar.
In The Ides of March...
He was stabbed 23 times...
By as many as 60 or so senators who feared that Caesar plotted to overthrow the Republic and become king. Killing was led by one of Caesar's most trusted friend, Brutus.
The great irony of Caesar's murder is that, after his death, the Republic was plunged into civil war, eventually overthrown and replaced by the Empire, headed by the first emperor, Octavius Augustus, Caesar's adopted heir. Another great irony is that he died at the foot of the statue of Pompey: the man who had opposed him, and who Caesar had fought and beaten in several battles before Pompey was murdered by the Egyptians.
Now let's talk about better things than Caesar and his death...
The Romans achieved world fame with their incredible army. It defeated pretty much everybody.
The Roman Legion was perhaps the most powerful army ever. Sure, they didn't have airplanes, tanks and battleships like today. But they were capable of defeating armies far larger than themselves, despite being equipped with the same basic weapons: shields, spears and swords.
Rome is truly the Greatest Civilization. Many people say "But Rome copied Greek art & culture, they don't have their own arts blah blah blah", well I acknowledge the influences of Greek culture & art on Roman culture & art, but do not insult Rome because of this. Actually, Rome has its own unique art, especially in architecture, sculpture & painting. Roman architecture is varied, and it is a unique mix of Etruscan and other Italic architectures and Greek architecture, Romans invented Domes, arches and vaults and many more architectural styles that became a trend in the ancient world/antiquity and even in the Renaissance and today! Renaissance architecture continued the Roman legacy in architecture, because Italy still admires her predecessor.
In sculpture, Rome is the best, though it was influenced greatly by greek art it is still unique. Roman sculpture were very realistic, naturalistic & illusionist-ic especially their busts portraiture and full-body statues, its legacy in sculpture were continued in Italy & Europe in the Renaissance, actually it is much more realistic & illusionist-ic than greek sculpture & other sculptures. Roman painting particularly mosaics were realistic too.
The Roman Civilization is not just great in culture & arts but in military and politics, laws too. Before Rome was a great empire, it was just a backwater village near the banks of river tiber, it was populated by Italians/italics particularly the Latins, but due to their hard work of the Romans and Italics they became the greatest empire & civilization in the entire human history! And also Rome didn't completely fall, her official religion the Roman Catholic Church is still alive continuously spreading Romano-Italic culture, latin language and the good news of the Lord and also Italia is her birthplace which is today an influential country.
If Rome did not fall, we would be thousands of years more advanced. We probably would have had the industrial revolution around 500 AD.
Rome is truly one of the greatest examples of a great civilization. Their technological advancements and adeptness in conquering made them one of the most superior empires Europe (probably the world) has ever seen. It is truly a shame that Rome fell, one of the greatest tragedies in all of humanity. If Rome just didn't adopt Christianity and were somehow able to conquer the barbarians, we could have skipped the medieval and renaissance eras. We wouldn't have had the Black Plague in Europe, because Rome was already so advanced in medicine, that who knows how cleanly they would be in future years.
Though it is difficult not to compare Rome so easily to Greece, what with Greece's own artistic and scientific advancement as well as the great Macedonian empire, they were not nearly as influential or contiguous as the amazing and marveling Romans.
No other civilization has effected western culture as much as the Romans have. They have revolutionized the world with their influences of on the Germanic languages and with their practical creation of the Latin ones. Their influence can be seen all over the world because of western domination: which would not have occurred without them.
Now about battles of centuries.
I. 168 BC: The Battle of Pydna, Macedonia. This is the supposed classic Roman legion vs. Greek phalanx battle. 38,000 Romans vs. 44,000 Greeks. The end result was 25,000 Macedonian casualties, the end of the Macedonian Kingdom and establishment of Roman rule on the Greek peninsula for the next 6 centuries. The battle is described in detail by Polybius, but the Greek loss seems to be more of a failure in leadership by Perseus than a supremacy of Legion over Phalanx.
II. 190 BC: The Battle of Magnesia, Asia Minor. Romans vs. the Seleucids under Antiochus. The Roman army consisted of some 33,000 men including 3,000 cavalry arrayed against nearly 70,000 seleucids. The battle was a complete rout with some 55,000 Seleucid casualties and only 349 reported Roman casualties. The result was the establishment of the Roman ally the Pergamums the dominate force in Asia Minor.
III. 102 - 101 BC, Aquae Sextiae and Vercellae. Gaius Marius & Catulus vs. the Teutones and Cimbri. The Teutones and Cimbri threatening Italia and perhaps Rome were annhilated in the 2 successive battles. Over 100,000 Teutones and at least 65,000 Cimbri were lost with minimal Roman casualties. The result was the safety of Rome and Italia and the reduction of the German threat for 2 centuries. Perhaps more importantly, it cemeted Marius legion reforms allowing landless professional soldiers and began to set the stage for the imperatorial system and the downfall of the Republic. However, these victories followed 3 major Roman defeats to these tribes, tarnishing the victories in my mind.
IV. 52 BC Alesia: Caesar over Vercingetorix and the Gallic Celt tribes. The impressive thing here is the Roman construction of fortications surrounding the town of Alesia more than the actual battle itself. Caesar established a two walled fortification keeping the besieged Celts in and the relief army out. A marvel of ancient technology. The end result of the siege was the surrender of the Gallic forces and the establishment of Rome as the ruler of Gaul for several centuries.
Of course there are more, such as Trajans victories in Dacia and Germanicus recovering of the lost eagles at Idavisto, Viggens previously mentioned battle of Naissus, Agricola over the Caledonians at Mons Graupius, the defeat of the Bouddicean rebellion in Britian, etc., but my most significant battle is:
V. 202 BC, the battle of Zama. Scipio Africanus vs. Hannibal. After a series of victories over Carthaginian forces in Spain, Scipio met with Hannibal in North Africa.
Hannibal formed up his forces with Numidian light cavalry on the left wing and other cavalry on the right. He placed 80 elephants in front of his lines. Behind the elephant screen, he formed up his infantry in three lines. First, there were Mago mercenary Ligurians and Gauls. Secondly, a line of newly-raised Carthaginian and African forces. Finally, a reserve line comprised of his own veterans - Africans and Bruttians.
Scipio placed his own cavalry opposite their equivalents - he had twice as many LH. He formed his infantry as usual except that the legions deployed with lanes between the maniples to allow the elephants to charge through without danger and be dealt with by the retiring velites. He also ordered trumpets and drums to be beaten to frighten the elephants. Hannibal begen by sending forward the Elephants. The Roman tactics succeeded in scaring them so that they fell back and disordered his own cavalry on both wings. The Roman cavalry charged and drove off the Punic horse. The Roman Hastati then advanced and overcame both the first and second line after a hard fight. Both armies then reorganised their lines and the whole Roman force attacked the veterans. This was hard fought and hannibal appeared to be starting to win when the Roman horse returned and charged them in the rear. The Carthaginian army was essentially destroyed; 20,000 being killed and 20,000 taken as prisoners. Roman losses are unclear but were probably around 5,000 killed out of 30,000 engaged. The end result was the establishment of Rome as a world power and the relegation of Carthage to a minor player who would be completely destroyed some 50 years later.
