Caesar Destroys Republicans at Thapsus: Cato Takes Own Life
Caesar's legions routed the combined Republican forces at Thapsus in North Africa on April 6, 46 BC, in a battle that quickly devolved into a massacre. Caesar's veterans broke formation to slaughter the fleeing enemy against his orders, killing an estimated 10,000 Republicans. Cato the Younger retreated to Utica, where he read Plato's Phaedo twice, then stabbed himself in the abdomen. When a doctor sewed the wound, Cato tore out his own intestines rather than submit to Caesar's famous clemency. His death made him a martyr for the Republican cause and a symbol of Stoic virtue for centuries of philosophers. Caesar returned to Rome to celebrate four triumphs in a single month.
April 6, 46 BC
Key Figures & Places
Julius Caesar
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battle of Thapsus
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Marcus Porcius Cato (Cato the Younger)
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Julius Caesar
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Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius Scipio
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Cato the Younger
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Battle of Thapsus
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Años 40 a. C.
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Pompeyanos
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Titus Labienus
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Cesariano (facción)
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