Pharsalus

Pharsalus refers to an ancient Greek city in Thessaly and to the battlefield that bears its name. The ancient city was situated in central Thessaly on the Pharsalian plain and is commonly identified with the area near the modern town of Farsala in the Larissa regional unit of Greece. In classical sources Pharsalus is referenced as a settlement in Thessaly, and it continued to be known through the Hellenistic and Roman periods.

The most famous event associated with Pharsalus is the Battle of Pharsalus, fought in 48 BCE during Julius Caesar’s Civil War. Caesar’s forces defeated those of Pompey the Great on the Pharsalian plain, a victory that enabled Caesar to gain control of Rome and reshape the late Roman Republic. Pompey fled to Egypt after the battle, where he was murdered, and Caesar’s subsequent ascendancy had lasting political consequences.

In modern times the ancient site is identified with the area around the town of Farsala. The Pharsalian Plain remains a geographic reference in discussions of the battle, and the name Pharsalus appears in ancient and later texts to denote the Thessalian region where these events occurred. Archaeological remains and inscriptions from later periods have contributed to knowledge about the site, though extensive urban development has overlain portions of the ancient ground.