Battle of the Bagradas River ( 49 BC ) The Battle of the Bagradas River ( 49 BC ) occurred on August 24 and was fought between Julius Caesar ' s general Gaius Scribonius Curio and the Pompeian Republicans under Publius Attius Varus and King Juba I of Numidia . The result was a crushing defeat for the Caesarean forces and the death of Curio . Background . Engaged in a civil war with the Roman general Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus and a hostile group of Republican senators , in 49 BC Julius Caesar sent a force to North Africa under the command of Gaius Scribonius Curio to deal with the Pompeian forces there . Overconfident and holding the usurping governor of Africa , Publius Attius Varus , in low esteem , Curio took fewer of his legions than were available to him , leaving two behind in Sicily . After getting the better of Varus ’ s Numidian allies in a number of skirmishes , he defeated Varus at the Battle of Utica , who fled into the town of Utica . In the confusion of the battle , Curio was urged to take the town before Varus could regroup , but he held himself back , as he did not have the means at hand to undertake an assault of the town . The next day however , he began to form a contravallation of Utica , with the intent of starving the town into submission . Varus was approached by the leading citizens of the town , who begged him to surrender and spare the town the horrors of a siege . Varus , however , had just learned that King Juba was on his way with a large force , and so reassured them that with Juba ’ s assistance , Curio would soon be defeated . Curio , also hearing that Juba ’ s army was less than 23 miles from Utica , abandoned the siege , making his way to his base on the Castra Cornelia . Preliminary operations . Quickly entrenching himself in the Castra Cornelia , he sent an urgent message to Sicily , requesting that his officers immediately send the two legions and the cavalry he had left behind . His initial plan was to defend his position until the reinforcements arrived , as he had access to the sea , allowing easy resupply and communications with Sicily , and locally there was sufficient water , food and timber to meet his needs . He quickly changed his mind , however , when some apparent deserters from Utica appeared with information about the approaching Numidian forces . They insisted that King Juba was nowhere in the vicinity , that in fact he was some 120 miles away near Leptis , dealing with an uprising there . They informed Curio that the approaching ‘ army ’ was in fact only a small body of troops under Juba ’ s military commander , Saburra . Relieved by this news , Curio sent his cavalry out after sunset with orders locate Saburra ’ s camp and then to wait for Curio and the rest of the army . Leaving a quarter of his forces guarding his own camp under the command of Marcius Rufus , Curio began his march to the Bagradas river about two hours before dawn . Saburra had his camp some 10 miles off the Bagradas , but his advance party had already reached the river . Curio ’ s cavalry stumbled upon them in the early hours of the morning as they slept in their tents and , taking advantage of their confusion , proceeded to attack . The Numidians were unable to mount any resistance ; the majority were either killed or captured and the rest of the advance scouting party fled . Flushed with success , the cavalry did not wait by the river , but rather rode back to find Curio , meeting him about six miles south of the Castra Cornelia . Curio questioned the prisoners , who informed him that Saburra was in command of the forces on the Bagradas . Proposing to attack Saburra whilst his forces were in disarray , Curio ordered a forced march towards the river ; he was unconcerned having to leave the majority of his cavalry behind due to the exhausted state of the horses , and proceeded with his reduced legions and 200 cavalry . In the meantime , Juba , whose camp was further down and on the other side of the Bagradas and about six miles to the rear of Saburra , heard word of the skirmish by the river . He immediately dispatched his Spanish and Gallic mercenary bodyguard , comprising some 2 , 000 cavalry , together with a handpicked body of infantry to reinforce Saburra . Juba then forded the river with the remainder of his troops and proceeded northward . Saburra , who was convinced that Curio would attack swiftly , gave orders to feign a retreat as soon as the Romans came into view , warning his men to be ready for a signal to turn around and attack . Battle near the Bagradas . Moving away from the river , Curio eventually saw the army of Saburra . When Curio saw the retreating backs of the Numidians , he believed his tactics were playing out as expected . Descending from the heights that bordered a sandy and waterless plain , he and his men moved to engage the Numidians . With a hot sun beating down on them , his soldiers were soon both tired and dying of thirst . Saburra gave the signal , and his forces turned around and engaged the flagging Romans . Relying solely on his cavalry , he kept his infantry in reserve and a good distance from the fighting . The open and level plain was perfect for the Numidian horsemen , who continually harassed the Roman legionaries . Nevertheless , the Romans fought well under the circumstances , and initially forced Saburra to give ground as they moved inexorably forward . However , their fatigue began to tell against Curio ’ s troops , and they were too tired to pursue the Numidians who were steadily falling back , and Curio ’ s cavalry were too few and too tired to take advantage of the break in the attack . Soon the Numidian cavalry had returned and began to envelop the Roman line , pushing in to attack the Roman rear . Each time a cohort would attempt to engage the enemy , the Numidians would disengage and swing away , before wheeling around and close around the legionaries , preventing them from rejoining the line and cutting them down where they stood . Even worse for the Romans was that Juba was continually reinforcing Saburra with fresh reserves , while the Romans continued to weaken as the battle went on . With Roman resolve weakening , Curio tried to bolster their spirits , calling on them to stand firm . But he soon realised that his forces were beginning to crack , so he ordered his army to retreat northward to some low hills that bordered the plain . Saburra saw what was happening and had his cavalry cut off Curio ’ s retreat . The Romans began to scatter , cut down as they ran , while others simply lay down on the ground exhausted , waiting for death . One of Curio ’ s legates , Gnaeus Domitius , rode up to Curio with a handful of men , and urged him to flee and make it back to the camp . Curio queried how he could ever look Caesar in the face after he had lost him his army , and turning to face the oncoming Numidians , fell fighting them to the very last . Only a few soldiers managed to escape the bloodbath that followed , while the three hundred cavalry that had not followed Curio into battle returned to the camp at Castra Cornelia , bearing the bad news . Aftermath . Marcius Rufus , left in charge of the detachment at Castra Cornelia , attempted to hold discipline after news of the disaster reached the camp . He ordered the captains of the transports and the other ships to have their boats ready to transport the troops back onto the ships . But with Juba ’ s army rapidly approaching , and Varus ’ s legions positioning themselves to attack , discipline rapidly broke down . The majority of the galleys and transports fled without waiting to collect the stranded soldiers , while the few who sent boats to ferry the soldiers back were quickly swamped by terrified soldiers , and many sank in the process . The soldiers fought with each other to get a place on the boats , and many of the boats , having seen what had happened to the first ones to shore , held back . The sailors on the boats finally agreed to take a few of the married soldiers who had families back home , while others swam out to the ships and were pulled aboard . Among the handful that escaped were Gaius Caninius Rebilus and Gaius Asinius Pollio . The remaining soldiers sent their centurions as delegates to Varus , seeking assurances that they would not be harmed ; Varus gave his word . However , when Juba arrived he decided to make an example of them , and apart from a handful of senators , executed Curio ’ s remaining soldiers . Juba , riding into Utica and escorted by a group of armed senators loyal to Pompey , met with Varus and took control of the city . Juba sent a message to Pompey and the Republican senators in Macedonia , who responded by granting him the title of King of Numidia . Caesar and the remains of the Roman Senate proclaimed him a public enemy . Juba then returned to Numidia , along with the captured senators for display and execution .