History Student Reacts to The Battle of Munda by Historia Civilis

Today we watch The Battle of Munda (45 B.C.E) by Historia Civilis.

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[jejeakle]

You have no idea what it was like for us waiting for the assassination video to release

[Dictator]

While Labienus had significantly more troops, it seems like most of his army was just levied from Spain. Most of these battles show that veteran legions can make up many times their number on the field.

[ArdensSedVirens]

1:51 I mean, I guess, but what Caesar did was very different from what Octavian did. Octavian came from a long line of individuals, such as Marius, Sulla, Pompey, Caesar, etc that had abused republican institutions, but none of them managed to bend Roman institutions in the way Octavian had. Whatever you might say of Caesar, there was precedence for much of what he did; Sulla had already been declared dictator for life. Pompey broke just about every rule in the book when it came to wielding power in the republic as well. Caesar's autocracy doesn't really resemble the Principate much at all, Octavian had truly created something new. I would encourage you to read about the First Settlement and especially the Second Settlement because Octavian was truly given extraordinary powers. In return for stepping down as consul he was then given a bunch of powers, he was given full tribunician powers (tribunicia potestas was for life) which included sacrosanctity, the right to submit legislation, summon the senate, a powerful veto, etc. He was then rewarded with *imperium maius* which granted him imperium greater than any other magistrate or promagistrate anywhere in the empire, he could revoke any order and appoint who he wanted to the provincial armies, giving him de-facto control over the "imperial" provinces (where most of the legions were stationed) and thus full control over the Roman military. This also gave him the right to exercise his power anywhere, including within the Pomerium. I just want to stress this as Octavian held no elected office at this time, *he was a private citizen* yet he had the ability to hamstring the Republic if he so chose and had effectively full control over the Roman military, this was all outside the scope of the normal government. Not to mention with his wealth he was easily able to pander to the plebs in various ways. All of this laid the groundwork for the basic powers of Emperor's going forward.

[cosmoreverb]

I reckon Caesar decided that he couldn't out-think Labienus and so it would simply come down to brute force

[Souledex]

Caesar really was the Tommy Shelby of the -00’s

[joecrazy]

I recommend checking out Kings and Generals video on the Shimabara Rebellion. It's about the failed Christian uprising in Japan that lead to many changes to how they deal with trading to the western world.

[jendreg]

After the next episode your sympathy for Ceasar will decrease.