Battle of Thapsus - Aftermath

Aftermath

Following the battle, Caesar renewed the siege of Thapsus, which eventually fell. Caesar proceeded to Utica, where Cato the Younger was garrisoned. On the news of the defeat of his allies, Cato committed suicide. Caesar was upset by this and is reported by Plutarch to have said: Cato, I must grudge you your death, as you grudged me the honour of saving your life.

The battle preceded peace in Africa—Caesar pulled out and returned to Rome on July 25 of the same year. Opposition, however, would rise again. Titus Labienus, the Pompeian brothers and others had managed to escape to the Hispania provinces. The civil war was not finished, and the Battle of Munda would soon follow. The Battle of Thapsus is generally regarded as marking the last large scale use of war elephants in the west.

This battle is featured in Rene Goscinny's comic Asterix the legionary, in which the battle confuses the belligerents due to all the soldiers looking the same, making friend and foe indistinguishable, and thus forcing Scipio to withdraw.