Battle of Dyrrhachium ( 48 BC ) The Battle of Dyrrachium ( or Dyrrhachium ) on 10 July 48 BC was a battle of Caesar ' s Civil War in the area of the city of Dyrrachium ( in what is now Albania ) . It was fought between Julius Caesar and the army led by Gnaeus Pompey with the backing of the majority of the Roman Senate . The battle was indecisive but is regarded as a victory for Pompey . The battle preceded the Battle of Pharsalus which was the decisive battle of the Civil War . Prelude . By the end of Julius Caesar ' s first year as consul he had accumulated a large list of lawsuits . Roman law gave government officials immunity from prosecution but only during their term of office . Once he became a private citizen Caesar knew he would be vulnerable and instead managed to obtain a proconsul position over the territories of Cisalpine Gaul and Illyricum , with the later addition of Transalpine Gaul . When his five years as proconsul ended Caesar assisted his allies Crassus and Pompey in being elected consuls and his pro - consulship was extended for a further five years . At the end of his term as Governor , having now met the condition on a minimum of ten years between elections as consul , the Senate ordered he resign command of his army . Caesar replied that he would agree to resign his military command if Pompey followed suit . Offended , the Senate demanded he immediately disband his army , or be declared an enemy of the people . In 50 BC , at his Proconsular term ’ s expiry , the Senate forbade Caesar ' s standing for election " in absentia " for a second consulship and because of this , Caesar thought he would be prosecuted and rendered politically marginal if he entered Rome without consular immunity or his army . Caesar responded by marching on Rome and he forced the unprepared Pompey and his allies to flee to Greece , starting the Great Roman Civil War . Caesar did not immediately give chase to Greece and instead consolidated power in Rome and Italy . He had other problems as well , Pompey had left him with no ships to cross the Adriatic and Spain had begun to mobilize against Caesar . After gathering the remainder of his forces from Transalpine Gaul he marched into Spain and subdued enough of the country that it wouldn ' t intervene during his campaign against Pompey . He then turned his full attention to Pompey . Having only built half the needed ships Caesar grew impatient and decided to gamble on sending half his army across , and to then have the ships travel back to Rome and transport the remainder . Travel across the Adriatic Sea to Greece would ordinarily be difficult , but was made more so given that it was winter and the sea was treacherous . In addition Pompey ' s fleet , commanded by Caesar ' s former junior consul Marcus Calpurnius Bibulus , lay between Caesar and Greece . As it was winter Bibulus was unprepared and Caesar was able to sail through the blockade easily and form a beachhead at Epirus with the first half of his army . Bibulus however was able to block Caesar ' s attempt to sail his ships back to Italy , burning most of them . Bibulus died shortly after and command fell to Lucius Scribonius Libo . Caesar ' s blunder had put him in the worst possible position any army could find itself in . His army had no way to resupply from Rome due to the naval blockade , he couldn ' t resupply locally as Greece was pro - Pompey and closed their gates to Caesar , and his army was only at half strength . So dire was his situation that he made several attempts to discuss peace with Pompey but was refused at every channel . Realizing he was going to have to fight his way out , he attempted another winter blockade run back to Italy to lead his remaining forces to Greece . His luck was not with him and the rough seas and storms forced him back . However , his Master of the Horse Marc Antony fired up his troops and after several attempts broke Libo ' s blockade and managed to make it north of Caesar ' s position . It was now a race against time as both Caesar and Pompey rushed to meet Antony . Although Pompey reached Antony first Caesar was right on his heels and Pompey prudently moved his forces to Dyrrachium to prevent becoming caught between the two forces . The Siege . Dyrrachium was a strong defensive position for Pompey . His back was guarded by the sea , and at his front there were hills that commanded the immediate area . This made an assault on the position nearly impossible . Caesar instead decided to revisit his Gallic Wars play - book and ordered his engineers to build walls and fortifications to pin Pompey against the sea . Pompey responded with wall and fortifications of his own to prevent any further advancement . Between these two fortifications a no mans land was created which saw constant skirmishes with little or no advancement — similar to the trench warfare of World War I . Caesar held the out - lying farmland but it had been picked clean and Pompey , with the sea to his back , was able to be resupplied by ship . However , as the siege wore on , their positions began to change . Pompey found it difficult with the limited land to create enough fodder for his horses , and other supplies such as fresh water became more and more difficult to maintain . Harvest was approaching and soon Caesar would have enough food to prolong his position . This caused Pompey to become desperate to break out of the siege . By mid summer , though , Pompey had a fortunate stroke of luck . Two Gallic auxiliary were caught stealing the pay from legionaries , but managed to escape to Pompey . With these two men on his side , Pompey was able to discover the weakest point in Caesar ' s wall . A section to the south of the lines hadn ' t yet been completed and it was the only viable target for attack . The Battle . Pompey mounted an attack of six legions against Caesar ' s line where it joined the sea and where Caesar ' s IX legion was stationed . Heavily outnumbering the Caesarian troops , the Pompeian army broke through the weakened fortifications , causing this segment of Caesar ' s force to pull back from the onslaught . Caesar swiftly reinforced the breach with twelve cohort s under Antony and then counterattacked , re - securing part of the wall and pushing Pompey ' s forces back . Although initially successful , Pompey ' s forces were simply too numerous and they began to flank Caesar ' s right wing . This buckled as it was threatened from the rear , and as the wing collapsed , Caesar ' s army began to rout . At first Caesar personally tried to stem the retreat , but then realised the potentially disastrous danger his army faced and instead began to co - ordinate the withdrawal of his army . Aftermath . Pompey ordered a halt , believing that Caesar had been decisively beaten , and also suspecting a trap . According to Plutarch , Caesar remarked on that decision saying , " Today the victory had been the enemy ' s , had there been any one among them to take it . " Caesar next captured the town of Gomphi , allowing his men to resupply and rest and then moved towards Pharsalus , where the decisive Battle of Pharsalus would soon be fought .