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One of the most famous affairs in world history was for Gaius Iulius Caesar (100–44) in 47 BC.
Chr. Slowly becoming a problem.
Because while the Roman general surrendered to the charms of the Egyptian queen Cleopatra, his enemies found time to gather their strength again after the fall of Pompey.
Especially in the province of Africa, which roughly corresponded to today's Tunisia, the Senate Party, led by the indefatigable Marcus Portius Cato (95-46), was able to bring together a veritable army, which was also joined by the Numid king Juba.
Until the Battle of Thapsus on April 6, 46 BC.
When the decision was made, Caesar demonstrated exceptional crisis management.
After he had freed himself from the arms of his beloved, he first turned to Asia Minor, where he defeated Zela in August Pharnakes II, son of the famous Rome enemy Mithridates VI.
and ruler of the Bosporan Empire.
The laconic message "Veni, vidi, vici" (I came, I saw, I won) was not only intended to document Caesar's quick triumph, but also to give him the legitimation that his victories had not only been achieved against the Romans, i.e. in the unloved civil war, to have achieved.
Nonetheless, the tasks piled up on his return to Rome.
It was not just his supporters who demanded that Caesar solve the dramatic debt problems that the years of party struggles and civil wars had caused.
This had caused bloody unrest in the city itself.
And many of his veterans loudly demanded that land be resigned for their services.
However, doing this through confiscations would have meant driving many who had long been on the side of the Senate back into the opposition.
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Eventually the legionaries turned into open mutiny, which made the hostile concentration of power in Africa even more threatening.
Once again Caesar demonstrated presence of mind by addressing his veterans not as “comrades” (commilitones) but as “citizens” (quirites) and promising them the land distribution until after his return from Africa.
Rejected in this way (and excluded from the distribution of the expected booty), the mutineers asked to be accepted back into the army.
Gaius Julius Caesar (101–44 BC) on the way to sole rule
Source: picture alliance / Luisa Ricciar
Time was of the essence.
After presiding over the elections for the coming year and thus somewhat restoring order, Caesar turned to the African problem.
Six legions, including numerous recruits, were rushed to march in the middle of winter.
But the desired element of surprise was destroyed by a storm.
The fleet was dispersed.
With only one freshly drawn legion, Caesar was faced with a superior enemy force near Hadrumetum (Sousse).
In order to supply his units, which were only slowly approaching him, a veritable guerrilla war for supplies ensued, in which Caesar's troops repeatedly lost out against Juba's superior cavalry.
A high-ranking officer on his staff describes in his pamphlet “Bellum Africanum” (which is handed down in Caesar's corpus) how his boss tried to prepare people for battle: “He did not drill with his troops like a general with one in the most difficult battles victorious veteran army, but like a gladiator fencing master with newbies, how many steps they had to withdraw from the enemy ... and how the projectiles should be used. "
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Because his opponents were not only in the majority with more than ten legions, but they also had the weapon with which the Carthaginian Hannibal had carried the war from Africa to Italy 170 years earlier: elephants.
They, too, forced Caesar to operate slowly and deliberately in order to get their own horses used to their smell, appearance and trumpets.
His most important opponent was Marcus Portius Cato, called "the younger" to distinguish it from his grandfather of the same name.
With moral integrity and an opponent of Caesar for a long time, many would have liked him to be Commander-in-Chief of the Senate Army.
But since he had previously only been praetor and had not yet held the office of consul, a consular, the Pompeian Metellus Scipio, took over the supreme command.
After all, Cato was able to use his authority to prevent the residents of the city of Utica, which served as a supply base, from being massacred because they were considered politically unreliable.
That was how the armies were imagined
Source: Wikipedia / Public Domain
On April 6, 46, the armies lined up for battle at Thapsus (at Cape Ras Dimas).
Caesar was trapped on both sides between the sea and a lake, but this prevented the enemy from using his superior cavalry effectively.
In his biography of the Roman, Plutarch writes that an epileptic fit would have thrown him down so that he could not give an order to attack.
According to the "Bellum Africanum", however, Caesar (or a person dressed like him) was the first to ride against the enemy on a horse.
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Convinced of their superiority, Caesar's men made short work of the Pompeians.
The elephants were driven to flight with spears and stones.
"All Scipio's soldiers were slaughtered, although they pleaded for Caesar's protection," says the "Bellum Africanum".
Even more.
Even high officers in their own army fell victim to the bloodlust "because they were seen as the originators of the war".
The sentence has been interpreted in various ways.
Did the mutiny continue to have an effect in Italy?
Or the anger against some high-ranking Caesarians who carried entire shiploads of luxury goods with them while the bulk of the army was starving?
"The duration and the bitterness of the civil war had finally torn down all barriers that set the moral and honor of the victor's vengeance," said Caesar biographer Werner Dahlheim, explaining the excesses.
But the most powerful bloody act was yet to follow.
When Cato, who had held the position in Utica, learned of the defeat, he decided to take his own life.
Because only a vanquished is forced to surrender himself to the grace of the victor.
After allowing numerous party friends to escape, he retired to sleep.
To read he had Plato's dialogue “Phaedo” given to him, which deals with the last hours of the philosopher Socrates.
The suicide of Cato - by Gian Battista Langetti (1625–1676)
Source: picture-alliance / akg-images /
Around midnight, Cato stuck a dagger in his abdomen.
Historian Cassius Dio reports that his son and some friends were able to gently push the intestines back into the abdomen.
But as soon as they left him, he fished with his hands in the wound, pulled everything out, and passed away.
Caesar was disappointed.
He would have gladly made his most persistent enemy the recipient of his proverbial clementia (mildness).
With his suicide, however, Cato once again provided an example that “the victim's submission to violence is incompatible with the freedom of a republican nobleman”, as the ancient historian Martin Jehne interprets the scene.
This made Cato a moral authority of world historical stature, which forever placed him on a par with the almighty victor.
They also had in mind the senators who, less than two years later, on the Ides of March, killed Caesar with their daggers.
The murder of Caesar on the Ides of March
Source: picture alliance / Heritage-Imag
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Anyone who has thoughts of suicide should turn to people they trust. Speaking often helps to clear out the thoughts, at least temporarily. Anyone who is open to other offers of help or who cares about close people can contact the telephone counseling service: They offer quick help and refer doctors, advice centers or clinics on 0800/111 01 11.