Battle of Forum Gallorum

Infobox Military Conflict


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conflict=Battle of Forum Gallorum
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date= April 14, 43 BC
place=Northern Italy| result=Republican victory
combatant1=Roman Republic
combatant2=Mark Antony's forces
commander1=Gaius Vibius Pansa Caetronianus†
Aulus Hirtius†
Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus
commander2=Mark Antony
strength1=
strength2=
casualties1=
casualties2=

The Battle of Forum Gallorum was fought near a village in northern Italy (perhaps near modern day Castelfranco Emilia), on April 14, 43 BC, between the forces of Mark Antony and the legions of the Roman Republic under the overall command of consul Gaius Vibius Pansa Caetronianus, aided by Aulus Hirtius and the untested Octavian (the future Caesar Augustus). After months of negotiations between the Senate and Antony did little to settle the questions of power and government after Caesar's assassination, this conflict became unavoidable.

Antony had Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus confined in position around "Mutina" (modern Modena), just south of the Padus (Po) River on the via Aemilia. Pansa was sent north from Rome to link with Hirtius and Octavian in order to provide Brutus with aid. Antony, seizing the central position, hoped to deal with the enemy in piecemeal fashion, destroying the columns one at a time.

On April 14, Antony's legions collided with those of Pansa, in the village of Forum Gallorum. Pansa's troops were routed and the general severely wounded. Jubilant, Antony called off the pursuit of the broken army but was then astonished to see Hirtius crashing into his own exhausted ranks. The victory was turned into a disaster, and Antony pulled back, having lost the initiative and the battle. Another conflict would take place six days later, at Mutina.

References

Information taken from Encyclopedia Britannica, Dictionary of the Roman Empire, and Osprey Essential Histories, Caesar's Civil War.