Battle of Zela (47 BC): Veni, Vidi, Vici Against Pharnaces

The Battle of Zela was fought on 2 August 47 BC near Zela in Pontus, in what is now northern Turkey, between Julius Caesar and Pharnaces II, king of the Bosporus. Caesar destroyed Pharnaces’ army in a few hours, only days after arriving on the scene. He summed up the campaign in three Latin words, “veni, vidi, vici”, “I came, I saw, I conquered”, which became one of the most famous phrases in history.

Background: Pharnaces seizes his chance

Pharnaces II was a son of Mithridates VI Eupator of Pontus, who had fought Rome for a quarter of a century in the Mithridatic Wars. In 63 BC Pharnaces led a revolt against his father, and after Mithridates’ death Pompey rewarded him with the Bosporan kingdom on the northern shore of the Black Sea, in the Crimea and the Kerch peninsula.

When Rome fell into civil war in 49 BC, Pharnaces saw an opportunity to recover his father’s kingdom. In 48 BC he crossed into Asia Minor and occupied Colchis, Lesser Armenia and parts of Cappadocia, lands belonging to Rome’s allies. Caesar’s governor in Asia, Gnaeus Domitius Calvinus, marched against him but was defeated at Nicopolis in Lesser Armenia late in 48 BC.

Pharnaces then overran Pontus. Ancient sources describe harsh treatment of Roman citizens and the people of the town of Amisus, where boys were castrated. Caesar, meanwhile, was trapped in the Alexandrian War in Egypt and could not respond for months.

Caesar’s march

Once the war in Egypt ended in early 47 BC, Caesar travelled north through Syria and Cilicia into Asia Minor, settling local affairs as he went. In Galatia the king Deiotarus, who had supported Pompey, asked for pardon. Caesar forgave him and accepted his help, including a legion of Galatian troops trained and armed in the Roman fashion.

Caesar’s army was small. His only veteran unit was the Sixth Legion, which had followed him from Alexandria and was reduced to fewer than 1,000 men. He also had Deiotarus’ legion and two legions from Calvinus’ defeated army. Pharnaces sent envoys offering gifts, including a golden crown, and promising obedience, but Caesar demanded that he withdraw from Pontus and return captives and property.

The battle

Pharnaces held a strong position on high ground near Zela, the same place where his father had defeated a Roman army under Gaius Valerius Triarius in 67 BC. Caesar approached during the night and occupied a hill close to the enemy, separated from them by a valley, and his soldiers began to build a fortified camp.

At dawn Pharnaces did something unexpected: he led his army down into the valley and up the slope to attack the Romans while they were still digging. Caesar’s account in the Alexandrian War presents this as reckless overconfidence, perhaps encouraged by the omens or by his father’s earlier success at the site. The attack caught the Romans off guard, and Pharnaces’ scythed chariots, war chariots with blades fixed to the wheels, charged at them.

Caesar’s men quickly formed a line and drove off the chariots with showers of javelins. The decisive fighting took place on the Roman right, where the veterans of the Sixth Legion broke the enemy. The rest of Pharnaces’ army then gave way and fled downhill, suffering heavy losses. Caesar’s soldiers stormed the royal camp. The whole battle is said to have been over within about four hours.

Veni, vidi, vici

Caesar’s three-word report is well attested. Plutarch says that Caesar wrote it in a letter to a friend at Rome, named Amantius in the manuscripts, and admired its brevity, since all three Latin words have the same form and ending. Suetonius records that during Caesar’s triumph over Pontus in 46 BC, the words were displayed on a placard carried in the procession, not to describe the events of the war but to stress the speed with which it was won.

Suetonius and Appian also say that Caesar remarked that Pompey had been fortunate to earn his title “the Great” by defeating such feeble enemies. The comment reflected both Caesar’s contempt for Pharnaces and his rivalry with the memory of Pompey, who had won his fame in the same region.

Consequences

Pharnaces escaped with a few horsemen to Sinope and from there sailed back to the Bosporus. He was killed later in 47 BC while fighting Asander, a governor who had rebelled against him during his absence. Caesar awarded the Bosporan kingdom to his ally Mithridates of Pergamum, although Mithridates was unable to take possession and died in the attempt.

Caesar spent little time in Pontus. He rearranged the kingdoms of Asia Minor, rewarded allies and punished those who had helped Pompey, and returned to Italy in the autumn of 47 BC. There he faced a mutiny among his veterans and the gathering Pompeian forces in North Africa, which he defeated at the Battle of Thapsus in April 46 BC.

Timeline

• 63 BC: Pharnaces rebels against his father Mithridates VI and receives the Bosporan kingdom.
• 48 BC: Pharnaces invades Asia Minor and defeats Domitius Calvinus at Nicopolis.
• 47 BC, early: Caesar ends the Alexandrian War in Egypt.
• 47 BC, summer: Caesar marches through Syria and Asia Minor to Pontus.
• 47 BC, 2 August: Caesar defeats Pharnaces at Zela.
• 47 BC: Pharnaces is killed fighting the rebel Asander in the Bosporus.
• 46 BC: Caesar celebrates a triumph over Pontus in Rome.

Why it matters

Zela restored Roman control over Asia Minor and ended the last attempt to revive the kingdom of Mithridates. Its lasting fame, however, comes from Caesar’s three words, which turned a short campaign into a byword for swift and complete success.