Marcus Calpurnius Bibulus - Civil War and Death

Civil War and Death

Throughout the 50s, Bibulus continued to attack Pompey in the Senate, blaming him for the fighting between Publius Clodius and Titus Annius Milo in 56 BC, to the point where Pompey was convinced that Bibulus was in league plotters who were intent on assassinating him. He also voted against Pompey being granted permission to go to Egypt in person to restore Ptolemy XII Auletes to his throne. Nevertheless, by the end of the 50s, Pompey had been cynically embraced by the ‘’boni’’, who saw in him a champion to bring down Caesar. As a consular senator, in 52 BC, he proposed an unconstitutional and illegal resolution, which the Senate accepted, allowing Pompey to serve as sole consul in 52 BC to deal with the breakdown of order in Rome after the murder of Publius Clodius.

As a result of a law passed by Pompey during his sole consulship, proscribing that governorships could not be held by persons who had served as praetor or consul within five years of leaving office, Bibulus was appointed governor of Syria in 51 BC. He offended the army there by claiming the victory won by Gaius Cassius Longinus over the Parthians at Antioch, for which the Senate granted Bibulus a thanksgiving of twenty days. With the Parthian threat still present, Bibulus sent two of his sons to Egypt in 50 BC to demand the recall of the Roman soldiers who had settled there, but were killed by the soldiers who refused to march. When Cleopatra sent him the murderers to be punished, he returned them saying it was up to the Senate to punish them.

Finishing his governorship, he returned to the west in 49 BC, to find that civil war had erupted between Caesar and Pompey. Joining up with Pompey, he was placed in charge of Pompey’s fleet in the Adriatic, to ensure that Caesar and his troops could not cross from Brundisium in Italy to Epirus. Letting his guard down because winter was approaching and assuming that Caesar would not cross any time soon, Bibulus was caught by surprise when on the evening of November 6, 49 BC, Caesar and his fleet successfully crossed the Adriatic, landing at Palaeste. Although Bibulus was stationed near Corcyra, some 50 miles south of Palaeste, he had not sent out scouts and his ships were not ready to be put out to sea to intercept Caesar’s transports. When he finally heard of Caesar’s crossing, he ordered his rowers to return to their ships, and sailed northward, hoping to capture the ships carrying Caesar’s reinforcements from Brundisium. Again too slow, he managed to get there for their return journey to Italy, capturing and burning 30 of Caesar’s transports. He then managed to prevent any further ships crossing to reinforce Caesar, but only succeeded in capturing one transport, which was charted by some private individuals and had refused to obey Bibulus’s orders. Enraged, he ordered the killing of the entire crew of the transport.

Bibulus then proceeded to blockade all the harbors along the coast, hoping to prevent any further crossings from Italy, and leaving Caesar stranded in Epirus. Unfortunately, he found that he could not resupply his ships without abandoning the blockade, and so he attempted to bluff Caesar’s legates at Oricum into getting Caesar to agree to a temporary truce in order that he could resupply. Caesar however, when Bibulus refused to guarantee the safety of Caesar’s envoys to discuss a peaceful settlement with Pompey, realised it was a bluff and pulled out of negotiations. Determined to continue with the blockade, Bibulus pushed himself too hard; he fell ill in early 48 BC and died near Corcyra before the end of winter.