Directory

48 BCE

Julius Caesar lands at Dyrrhachium (Durazzo). Publius Servilius Vatia Isauricus, co-consul with Julius Caesar, destroys Caelius's magistrate's chair on his tribunal. Battle of Pharsalus: Julius Caesar decisively defeats Pompey at Pharsalus, who flees to Egypt. Pompey's army by and large is pardoned.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • Yuan becomes emperor of the Han Dynasty (until 33 BC).source
  • Consuls: Gaius Julius Caesar and Publius Servilius Vatia Isauricus. Caesar is named consul for a period of five years.source

Conflict & Security

  • January 4 – Julius Caesar lands at Dyrrhachium (Durazzo).source
  • March – Mark Antony joins Julius Caesar.source
  • April – Siege of Dyrrhachium: Julius Caesar builds a fortified line of entrenchments and besieges Pompey the Great.source
  • July 10 – Battle of Dyrrhachium: Julius Caesar barely avoids a catastrophic defeat to Pompey in Macedonia; he retreats to Thessaly.source
  • August – Battle of Pharsalus: Julius Caesar decisively defeats Pompey at Pharsalus, who flees to Egypt. Pompey's army by and large is pardoned.source
  • September 28 – Pompey the Great is assassinated on the orders of King Ptolemy XIII, after landing in Egypt (may have occurred September 29, records unclear).source
  • December – Battle in Alexandria: Forces of Caesar and his ally Cleopatra VII and those of rival King Ptolemy XIII and Queen Arsinoe IV. The latter two are defeated and flee the city, but during the battle part of the Library of Alexandria catches fire.source
  • December – Battle of Nicopolis: King Pharnaces II of Pontus defeats the Roman forces under Gnaeus Domitius Calvinus, a loyal partisan of Julius Caesar.source
  • Winter – Siege of Oricum: Julius Caesar captures the strategic city port of Oricum in Epirus (modern Albania). The garrison opens the town's gate and Lucius Manlius Torquatus surrenders to Caesar.source

Disasters & Accidents

  • May – Publius Servilius Vatia Isauricus, co-consul with Julius Caesar, destroys Caelius's magistrate's chair on his tribunal.source
  • The Roman temple to Bellona on the Capitolinus outside Rome is burnt to the ground.source

Culture & Society

  • October – Julius Caesar reaches Alexandria, a city founded by Alexander the Great. He is met by an Egyptian delegation from Ptolemy XIII. The Egyptians offer him gifts: the ring of Pompey and his head.source
  • Queen Cleopatra VII returns to the palace rolled into a Persian carpet and has it presented to Caesar by her servant. The Egyptian princess, only twenty-one years old, becomes his mistress.source

Births

  • Lucius Calpurnius Piso, Roman consul (d. AD 32)source
  • Lady Ban, Chinese concubine and female poetsource
  • Publius Cornelius Scipio, Roman consul and governorsource

Deaths

  • September 28 – Pompey (the Great), Roman politician (b. 106 BC)source
  • Afriana Carfania, Roman oratorsource
  • Titus Annius Milo, Roman politiciansource
  • Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Marcellinus, Roman statesmansource
  • Cotys I, Thracian client king of the Odrysian Kingdomsource
  • Marcus Caelius Rufus, Roman orator and politiciansource
  • Marcus Calpurnius Bibulus, Roman politiciansource
  • Lucius Cornelius Lentulus Crus, Roman politiciansource
  • Zhang Chang, Chinese scholar and officialsource