The siege of Curicta was a military confrontation that took place during the early stages of

Caesar's Civil War Caesar's civil war (49–45 BC) was a civil war during the late Roman Republic between two factions led by Julius Caesar and Pompey. The main cause of the war was political tensions relating to Caesar's place in the Republic on his expected ret ...

. Occurring in 49 BC, it saw a significant force of

Populares ''Optimates'' (, ; Latin for "best ones"; ) and ''populares'' (; Latin for "supporters of the people"; ) are labels applied to politicians, political groups, traditions, strategies, or ideologies in the late Roman Republic. There is "heated ...

commanded by

Gaius Antonius Gaius Antonius (82 – 42 BC) was the second son of Marcus Antonius Creticus and Julia, and thus, younger brother of the Triumvir Mark Antony. Life Early life Like both of his brothers, Gaius started his life free from paternal guidance, ...

besieged on the island of Curicta by an

Optimate ''Optimates'' (, ; Latin for "best ones"; ) and ''populares'' (; Latin for "supporters of the people"; ) are labels applied to politicians, political groups, traditions, strategies, or ideologies in the late Roman Republic. There is "heated ...

fleet under

Lucius Scribonius Libo Several men of plebeian status were named Lucius Scribonius Libo during the Roman Republic and Roman Empire; they were members of the ''gens'' Scribonia. L. Scribonius Libo (praetor 204 BC) Lucius Scribonius Libo was a tribune of the plebs in 216 ...

and

Marcus Octavius Marcus Octavius was a name used for men among the gens Octavia (gens), Octavia. Marcus was one of the four chief Roman naming conventions, praenomina used by the Octavii, the other three being Gaius Octavius (disambiguation), Gaius, Gnaeus Octavius ...

. It immediately followed and was the result of a naval defeat by Publius Cornelius Dolabella and Antonius eventually capitulated under prolonged siege. These two defeats were some of the most significant suffered by the Populares during the civil war.

Background

Deteriorating relations between

Gaius Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war. He ...

and the

Roman Senate The Roman Senate () was the highest and constituting assembly of ancient Rome and its aristocracy. With different powers throughout its existence it lasted from the first days of the city of Rome (traditionally founded in 753 BC) as the Sena ...

, with the support of

Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (; 29 September 106 BC – 28 September 48 BC), known in English as Pompey ( ) or Pompey the Great, was a Roman people, Roman general and statesman who was prominent in the last decades of the Rom ...

("Pompey the Great"), culminated in Caesar

crossing the Rubicon The phrase "crossing the Rubicon" is an idiom that means "passing a point of no return". Its meaning comes from allusion to the crossing of the river Rubicon from the north by Julius Caesar in early January 49 BC. The exact date is unknown ...

river in January 49BC and thus being labelled as an enemy of the people. Caesar seized numerous cities, towns and settlements such as

Arretium Arezzo ( , ; ) is a city and ''comune'' in Italy and the capital of the province of the same name located in Tuscany. Arezzo is about southeast of Florence at an elevation of above sea level. As of 2022, the population was about 97,000. Kn ...

, Auximum, Asculum and most significantly

Corfinium Corfinium (Greek: ) was an ancient city now near modern Corfinio, in the province of L'Aquila (Abruzzo region). During the Social War (91-87 BC), Corfinium served as the headquarters of the Italic socii who fought for the extension of Rom ...

as he moved down the Italian Peninsula. In response, Pompey evacuated his army across the

Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Se ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. Despite failing to stop the evacuation at

Brundisium Brindisi ( ; ) is a city in the region of Apulia in southern Italy, the capital of the province of Brindisi, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. Historically, the city has played an essential role in trade and culture due to its strategic positio ...

, Caesar had succeeded in gaining full control of the peninsula.

Prelude

Following the Siege of Brundisium, Caesar gave command of a fleet of 40 ships to Publius Cornelius Dolabella and sent him to patrol the coastline of Illyricum in order to protect against the Pompeian fleet.

, the brother of

Marcus Antonius Marcus Antonius (14 January 1 August 30 BC), commonly known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman politician and general who played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic from a constitutional republic into the ...

, had also been appointed as Caesar's governor of Illyricum and had a significant force of 15 cohorts stationed on the island of Curicta and along the nearby shoreline. At some point during 49 BC,

and

were given command of Pompey's large fleet and directed to begin operations against Caesar's forces in the

Siege

The exact date of the siege is unknown, although most sources place it before Gaius Scribonius Curio's expedition to Africa and by taking the poet Lucan's astrological descriptions which he used to date the event in his work ''

Pharsalia ''De Bello Civili'' (; ''On the Civil War''), more commonly referred to as the ''Pharsalia'' (, neuter plural), is a Latin literature, Roman Epic poetry, epic poem written by the poet Lucan, detailing the Caesar's civil war, civil war between Ju ...

'', then that would mean that the events likely occurred in June 49 BC. Dolabella's fleet engaged with the Pompeian fleet nearby to Curicta and, being heavily outnumbered, was thoroughly beaten with the majority of his ships either destroyed or captured. Dolabella himself was also captured. Libo and Octavius then put in place a naval blockade around Curicta which drove Antonius and his men, who had seemingly no chance of relief, to near starvation. An attempt was made to break out from the siege using rafts which were sent in by

Lucius Minucius Basilus Lucius Minucius Basilus (died summer 43 BC) was a military commander and politician of the late Roman Republic, a trusted associate of Julius Caesar, who later participated in Caesar's assassination. It was to Basilus that Cicero wrote his first ex ...

on the mainland, however the Optimates managed to capture many of these in nets of

Cilician Cilicia () is a geographical region in southern Anatolia, extending inland from the northeastern coasts of the Mediterranean Sea. Cilicia has a population ranging over six million, concentrated mostly at the Cilician plain (). The region includ ...

design which rose up from below the water. Aided by the tide, two of these rafts managed to make it past the nets however one of them ran aground in the nearby shallows. On board were a band of 1000 Gallic auxiliaries from

Opitergium Oderzo (; ) is a ''comune'', with a population of 20,003, in the province of Treviso, in the Italy, Italian region of Veneto. It lies in the heart of the Venetian plain, about to the northeast of Venice. Oderzo is crossed by the Monticano river, ...

who engaged in a last stand against the Optimates for a whole day. Upon realising that they were completely surrounded with no chance of escape, they killed one another rather than surrender. During or shortly after these events, Antonius surrendered the island to the Pompeians.

Aftermath

Following the siege Antonius was captured along with the majority of his men, many of whom would soon switch sides and bolster Pompey's ranks. In fact, one of Caesar's few mentions of these events claims that a centurion named Titus Pullo who was set against him during the

Battle of Pharsalus The Battle of Pharsalus was the decisive battle of Caesar's Civil War fought on 9 August 48 BC near Pharsalus in Central Greece. Julius Caesar and his allies formed up opposite the army of the Roman Republic under the command of Pompey. ...

had been instrumental in undermining Gaius Antonius' efforts to defend Curicta. The battle was regarded as a disaster for the Caesarian cause. It seems to have had considerable significance to Caesar who mentions it alongside the death of Curio as one of the worst setbacks of the civil war. Of the four instances that

Suetonius Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (), commonly referred to as Suetonius ( ; – after AD 122), was a Roman historian who wrote during the early Imperial era of the Roman Empire. His most important surviving work is ''De vita Caesarum'', common ...

gives of the most disastrous defeats suffered by Populares in the civil war, both the defeat of Dolabella's fleet and the capitulation of the legions at Curicta are listed. It is also noted that all four major defeats were suffered by subordinates and not by Caesar himself. While the events at Curicta are referred to in Caesar's commentaries they are notably absent from his main narrative; this may be because Caesar had the defeat retroactively expunged or simply that he never got around to writing about it.

References

{{reflist Curicta Curicta 49 BC Curicta Ancient Italian history Populares Battles of Caesar's civil war