Battle of the Bagradas River

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. 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...