WordNet
n. Caesar defeated Pompey in 48 BC [syn: Pharsalus]
Wikipedia
The Battle of Pharsalus was a decisive battle of Caesar's Civil War. On 9 August 48 BC at Pharsalus in central Greece, Gaius Julius Caesar and his allies formed up opposite the army of the republic under the command of Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus ("Pompey the Great"). Pompey had the backing of a majority of the senators, of whom many were optimates, and his army significantly outnumbered the veteran Caesarian legions.
The two armies confronted each other over several months of uncertainty, Caesar being in a much weaker position than Pompey. The former found himself isolated in a hostile country with only 22,000 men and short of provisions, while on the other side of the river he was faced by Pompey with an army about twice as large in number. Pompey wanted to delay, knowing the enemy would eventually surrender from hunger and exhaustion. Pressured by the senators present and by his officers, he reluctantly engaged in battle and suffered an overwhelming defeat, ultimately fleeing the camp and his men, disguised as an ordinary citizen.
The Battle of Pharsalus was fought in late 1277 at the plain of Pharsalus in Thessaly between an invading Byzantine army led by the megas stratopedarches John Synadenos and megas konostaulos Michael Kaballarios, and the forces of John I Doukas, ruler of Thessaly. This was the first major Byzantine campaign against Thessaly after the failure of the previous expedition at the Battle of Neopatras (dated variously to 1273–1275). The battle resulted in a crushing victory for John Doukas: Synadenos was captured, while Kaballarios died shortly afterwards of his wounds.
Battle of Pharsalus or Pharsala/Farsala can refer to:
- Battle of Pharsalus, one of the decisive battles of the Roman civil wars, fought in 48 BC between the forces of Julius Caesar and Pompey
- Battle of Pharsalus (1277), between a Byzantine army and the forces of the ruler of Thessaly, John Doukas
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, between the Greeks and the Ottomans in the Greco-Turkish War of 1897
Usage examples of "battle of pharsalus".
Then he went to Greece and defeated Pompey’s vastly superior forces at the battle of Pharsalus.
He had been in Greece with his father when the Battle of Pharsalus had been lost and he was in the ship with his father when Pompey fled to Egypt.