The Battle of Tauroento was a naval battle fought off the coast of Tauroento during

Caesar's Civil War Caesar's civil war (49–45 BC) was one of the last politico-military conflicts of the Roman Republic before its reorganization into the Roman Empire. It began as a series of political and military confrontations between Gaius Julius Caesar and ...

. Following a successful naval battle outside

Massilia Massalia (Greek: Μασσαλία; Latin: Massilia; modern Marseille) was an ancient Greek colony founded ca. 600 BC on the Mediterranean coast of present-day France, east of the river Rhône, by Ionian Greek settlers from Phocaea, in Western An ...

, the Caesarian fleet commanded by

Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus (27 April 81 BC – September 43 BC) was a Roman general and politician of the late republican period and one of the leading instigators of Julius Caesar's assassination. He had previously been an important support ...

once again came into conflict with the Massiliot fleet and a Pompeian relief fleet led by

Quintus Nasidius Quintus Nasidius, sometimes referred to as Lucius Nasidius, was a Roman naval commander who lived during the 1st century BC and sided with the Optimates during Caesar's Civil War. Biography Nasidius is first mentioned, under the name Lucius, in J ...

on 31 July 49 BC. Despite being significantly outnumbered, the Caesarians prevailed and the

Siege of Massilia The siege of Massilia, including two naval engagements, was an episode of Caesar's Civil War, fought in 49 BC between forces loyal to the Optimates and a detachment of Caesar's army. The siege was conducted by Gaius Trebonius, one of Caesar's s ...

was able to continue leading to the eventual surrender of the city.

Background

On his way to confront Pompey's legions in

Hispania Hispania ( la, Hispānia , ; nearly identically pronounced in Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, and Italian) was the Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula and its provinces. Under the Roman Republic, Hispania was divided into two provinces: Hispania ...

, while passing through southern

Gaul Gaul ( la, Gallia) was a region of Western Europe first described by the Romans. It was inhabited by Celtic and Aquitani tribes, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, most of Switzerland, parts of Northern Italy (only during ...

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 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, and ...

was forced to quickly initiate a siege of the independent Greek coastal city of

against Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus. After preparations were complete, Caesar continued west leaving

Gaius Trebonius Gaius Trebonius (c. 92 BC – January 43 BC) was a military commander and politician of the late Roman Republic, who became suffect consul in 45 BC. He was an associate of Julius Caesar, having served as his legate and having fought on his side dur ...

in command of the land forces while

was in command of the Caesarian fleet. Brutus had been ordered to build 12 new ships and put these to good use in a naval battle off the coast of the city during which the Pompeians saw their attempt at breaking the naval blockade defeated.

Prelude

Lucius Nasidius, sailing up the coast of the Italian Peninsula from

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

on orders from Pompey, managed to get in contact with Ahenobarbus and convinced him that the time was right for a second attempt at breaking the blockade. In the month since the previous naval defeat on 27 June, the Massiliots had managed to build 9 new ships thus replenishing the ships they had lost and leaving them with 17 ships in total. This fleet from Massilia met up with Nasidius' relief force at Tauroento, a nearby Massiliot fortress, which consisted of another 17 ships. Therefore, in total the Pompeians had assembled a fleet of 34 ships. This significantly outnumbered the Caesarian fleet which consisted of the 12 ships built at

Arelate Arles (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Arle ; Classical la, Arelate) is a coastal city and commune in the South of France, a subprefecture in the Bouches-du-Rhône department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, in the former province of ...

along with another 6 taken from the Massiliots in the previous battle, totalling 18 ships overall. Decimus Brutus guided the Caesarian fleet south to confront the Pompeians and the two sides clashed in the bay outside of Tauroento.

Battle

Caesar writes that the Massiliot's acquitted themselves very well during the battle, Decimus Brutus' ships had drifted far from one another giving a favourable situation to the Massiliots who were able to take advantage using their skill at quickly manoeuvring their ships. Whenever an attempt was made to board one of the Pompeian ships, a number of these swift vessels would move in to defend it. Many missiles were involved, inflicting massive damage on the light ships of the Caesarians. During the battle, an incident occurred where Decimus Brutus found his easily recognisable flagship charged from both sides by two oncoming

trireme A trireme( ; derived from Latin: ''trirēmis'' "with three banks of oars"; cf. Greek ''triērēs'', literally "three-rower") was an ancient vessel and a type of galley that was used by the ancient maritime civilizations of the Mediterranean S ...

s. Foreseeing the outcome, Brutus accelerated his ship leading the two vessels to collide with one another. These heavily damaged ships were then quickly sunk by other ships of the Caesarian fleet. Despite being considerably outnumbered, Brutus' fleet came out of the battle victorious and the opposing fleet was very badly damaged. So much so that only 7 of the 17 Massiliot ships managed to return to port; 5 were sunk, 4 were captured, and another retreated to Nasidius. Nasidius did not commit his fleet to the battle after having seen the fate of the Massiliots and so not one ship of his 17 was lost and he quickly withdrew.

Aftermath

The naval victory at Tauroento meant that the siege of Massilia could continue with a naval blockade in place. Nasidius decided that, given the state of the Massiliot fleet, it would be prudent to lend his support to Pompey's forces in

Hispania Citerior Hispania Citerior (English: "Hither Iberia", or "Nearer Iberia") was a Roman province in Hispania during the Roman Republic. It was on the eastern coast of Iberia down to the town of Cartago Nova, today's Cartagena in the autonomous community of ...

rather than continue to assist operations in Gaul. The city of Massilia was dismayed to learn of the destruction of their fleet but nonetheless prepared for many more months under siege. Soon after the defeat Ahenobarbus fled from Massilia and managed to escape capture under cover of a violent storm. Six months after Ahenobarbus' flight, having reached the point of famine, Massilia surrendered to the Caesarians.Caesar, ''De Bello Civili'', II, 22

References

{{reflist Tauroento Tauroento 49 BC Ancient Italian history Ancient Massalia Tauroento Julius Caesar Tauroento