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| Siege of Apamea | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Belligerents | |||||||
| Caesarians Kingdom of Judea | Pompeians Parthia Arabs | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Lucius Statius Murcus Quintus Marcius Crispus | Quintus Caecilius Bassus Deiotarus | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 3 Legions (Approximately 10,000–15,000 men) Jewish Contingent | 1–2 Legions (Approximately 5,000–10,000 men) Slaves, Galatians, Parthians, Jewish opponents ofAntipater | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Unknown | Unknown | ||||||
 | |||||||
Thesiege of Apamea was an abortive siege ofApamea inRoman Syria.Lucius Statius Murcus andQuintus Marcius Crispus led the attempt to capture the city, the equestrianQuintus Caecilius Bassus led its defence.
FollowingJulius Caesar's victories in the east during thecivil war, he set about establishing his administration in the eastern provinces. He appointedCleopatraclient king ofEgypt. He next reaffirmed relations with the Kingdoms ofGalatia andCappadocia through their kingsAriobarzanes andDeiotarus, allowing them to remain kings despite previously supportingPompey in theCivil War. Finally, Caesar dealt withSyria by appointing his cousin,[1]Sextus Julius Caesar as governor of the province.[2]
The following year, a Pompeianequite by the name ofQuintus Caecilius Bassus, who had fought at theBattle of Pharsalus, spread a rumour that Caesar had been defeated and killed inAfrica. In this way, Bassus gained a following among the local aristocracy and soldiers, who started a large-scalerevolt.[3] Caesar was at this time occupied with a revolt led by the sons ofGnaeus Pompeius Magnus,Sextus andGnaeus. Unable to directly confront the Syrian revolt, Caesar sent reinforcements instead.[4] Bassus meanwhile had managed to capture the city ofTyre, in modern-dayLebanon, and established it as his base of operations. Despite this early success, Bassus was soon wounded in a pitched battle by Sextus, using his reinforcements from Caesar.[5] but managed to escape the battle on horseback and fled to the province ofCilicia, in modern-dayTurkey. He continued his revolt against Sextus, however, and encouragedmutinies and revolts inSyria, one of which resulted inSextus being killed.[6][7] Sextus was replaced with acting governorQuintus Cornificius.[8][9]
The death of Sextus put the province into disarray and paved the way for Bassus to grab power. He assembled an army of slaves, vassals, regional kinglets, Parthians, and the Jewish opposition ofAntipater of Idumea, including theGalatianTetrarch,Deiotarus. Bassus then invadedSyria, meeting little resistance and capturing the majority of the province. He placed himself as acting governor, with his own government, administration, and military forces (militia).[10] By now, Caesar had sent reinforcements underGaius Antistio Veto, who was to replace Cornificius; Veto arrived shortly thereafter and was received cordially by Cornificius.[11] Vetus's army besieged a city loyal to Bassus, and was initially successful, even being hailed asimperator by the troops.[12] However, theParthian princePacorus I and an old ally of the Parthians, theArabian kingAlcaudonius, attacked and drove the Caesarians away from the city, badly bloodied.[13] Caesar immediately ordered another campaign to finally bring Bassus to heel.
In the later part of 45 BC, Caesar ordered a new campaign led byLucius Statius Murcus andQuintus Marcius Crispus.[14] They were further reinforced by a substantial force sent by the king ofJudea,Antipater.[15] Bassus retreated to his stronghold ofApamea,[16] on the banks of the riverOrontes. We know little of the siege itself, but upon arriving at the city, they established a siege camp. The town was heavily fortified and could not be assaulted directly. As a result, the two Roman commanders decided to besiege it, until the city was starved into submission.[17] The siege continued into 44 BC,[18] when news of the assassination of Caesar arrived. Despite the news, the siege continued until one of Caesar's key assassins,Gaius Cassius Longinus, arrived and killed theSenate's replacement for Vetus,Publius Cornelius Dolabella, atLaodicea. When Cassius arrived at the siege, he offered Bassus and Murcus amnesty to put an end to the siege, although this mercy was not extended to Crispus.[19] This siege was one of the last engagements inCaesar's Civil War.[20][21]
With the end of the siege, Murcus was given command of the fleet, while Crispus went to governBithynia before being stripped of the role by Cassius and probably retiring from public life. Bassus meanwhile disappeared from history and is never mentioned again. He may have fought for Cassius andMarcus Junius Brutus before being killed byAugustus andMark Antony. The remains of this conflict climaxed in theLiberators' Civil War, in which the former Caesarians, led by Augustus, Antony, andMarcus Aemilius Lepidus, fought the former Pompeians and assassins of Caesar, led by Cassius and Brutus. The war was ultimately concluded with theBattle of Philippi, and both Cassius and Brutus committed suicide when the battle was lost. Relations between Augustus and Antony broke down, and anothercivil war occurred, which was won by Augustus, led by the generalAgrippa at theBattle of Actium. Antony committed suicide in Egypt, and Augustus became master of the Roman republic and eventually its first emperor, thus ushering in a new period in Roman history.
