Battle of Tauris

Caesar's Civil War had begun in 49 BC due to the escalating tensions over the previous decade between Gaius Julius Caesar and the Roman Senate, who turned to his old ally Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus ("Pompey the Great"). Caesar famously crossed the Rubicon river in January, being labeled as "enemy of the people" by the senate. Caesar would go on to conquer Italy, Spain, Sardinia, and Sicily. Caesar would next invade Greece and although suffering a setback at Dyrrhachium, he eventually crushed Pompey at the Battle of Pharsalus. Pompey fled to Egypt, where he was assassinated by the Egyptians in an attempt to appease Caesar. Caesar then intervened in the Egyptian civil war to avenge Pompey, eventually deciding to help Egyptian pharaoh, Cleopatra, to the throne after defeating her younger brother, Ptolemy XIII after the Battle of the Nile. The young Ptolemy was killed and Cleopatra was put on the throne.

Despite the military victory in Egypt, and with a friendly ruler in Egypt, problems swiftly began to rise. In Hispania a pro-Pompeian rebellion arose against Caesar's governor in Spain, Quintus Cassius Longinus led by Marcellus. In the East Pontic ruler, Pharnaces II, the son of the more famous Mithridates VI, had invaded and begun attacking Rome's client states that Pompey had once set up. Meanwhile, a Pompeian fleet arrived near Dalmatia under the command of Marcus Octavius.

The Pompeians initially had power and influence over Illyria and Dalmatia after a Pompeian force led by Octavius and Lucius Scribonius Libo starved a Caesarian force into surrendering at the Siege of Curicta, as one of Casear's worst set backs of the war.[1] However, the Pompeians suffered a serious setback as a force led by Octavius failed to take the pro-Caesarian town of Salona in a siege. Dalmatia would be secure as Caesar would defeat Pompey in Greece.

By 47 BC, however, Octavius returned to the region with another fleet and began to blockade several Dalmatian ports inflicting severe damage on the Caesarean shipping. He began to assault many towns and raided the countryside. The Caesarean governor Lucius Cornificius, in need of help, sent a message requesting aid. In response, Publius Vatinius gathered a force of soldiers in Brundisium who had been too sick to join Caesar in Greece to fight Pompey. Vatinius, only possessed a small number of ships consisting of a few heavy war ships and several smaller vessels, in contrast to Octavius who had a powerful and large enough fleet to easily defeat the Caesareans. Aware of the fact that his fleet was vastly weaker than that of Octavius, he decided to focus quality over quantity, equipping his fleet with beaks, or metal-wooden protrusions affixed to the bow or front of the ships.[2] From there he finished his final preparations for the campaign and set sail from Brundisium aiming for Epidaurum where he received reports was in the process of being blockaded. He eventually reached the island of Tauris (likely modern day Sipan Island) and the two commanders were unaware of each other's presence.

Once they were near the island, Vatinius, unaware of the enemy's presence, was caught off guard when an enemy ship approached. The reason for this was because Octavius's fleet had been out of formation, spread far and wide from each other to avoid crashing due to a storm presently at sea there.[3] The two fleets then quickly became aware of the other's presence, drawing up a battle line to the side of the island. Vatinius's fleet was much weaker than that of Octavius, drawing up his ships with the warships in the center, including his own flagship, a large quinquereme. Octavius mirrored his formation, drawing up his ships with his flagship, a Quadrireme also in the middle. Although outnumbered, Vatinius decided to rely entirely on his veteran men and lowered his sails and signaled for his men to attack and advanced towards the Pompeians.

His ships quickly fell upon the enemy, his own flagship rowing head on into Octavius's advancing flagship and managed to destroy the beak of Vatinius's quinquereme pulverized and knocked away Octavius's beak and further lodged itself into the quadrireme's hull so that the two became interlocked and that all around these two now a naval battle raged.[4] The attack of the Caesareans was so aggressive and vicious that despite being outnumbered, their morale was high and they were experienced as veterans. Those that had been left behind in Italy because of sickness and were unable to participate in Caesar's campaign saw it as way to regain honor and prove their dedication and loyalty to Caesar. Officers on both sides of the fleets came to the side of their respective captain's flagship's side and so arose a naval combat in such close quarters that the size and numbers of the two opposing fleets mattered less and was rendered equal as brutal combat continued. Eventually Vatinius's gamble proved successful as his veterans managed to board the enemy's ships and slaughter them, starting a chain rout. Many ships capsized due to panic, including Octavius's flagship and he nearly drowned, however he was able to remove his heavy armor and swim to a light galley before retreating to Africa to join the Pompeian army under Gnaeus Pompeius.

Vatinius achieved a great personal victory and for Caesar as well. This win secured the province of Illyria, stamped out the last remnants of the Pompeiian faction, and ended all traces of the Civil War there. Octavius would flee to Africa where he would command the Pompeian fleet along with Publius Attius Varus. Caesar's Civil War finally ended with the Battles of Thapsus and Munda. Octavius disappears from history, although he possibly fought in the service of Mark Antony against Augustus and fought in the Battle of Actium, where he was probably killed. Vatinius would go on to govern Dalmatia and even being awarded a triumph in 42 BC.

• Caesar's Civil War
• Julius Caesar