User blog:BattleGames1/Deadliest Warrior Battle 5 - Julius Caesar vs Ramesses II



Julius Caesar, one of the greatest army generals of all time, having helped Rome rise up as a powerful Empire...

vs

Ramesses II, the most celebrated and most powerful Pharaoh of Egypt who made the Empire very powerful and rich over North Africa...

'Who... is... DEADLIEST?'

Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general, statesman, Consul and notable author of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the events that led to the demise of the Roman Republic and the rise of the Roman Empire. In 60 BC, Caesar, Crassus and Pompey formed a political alliance that was to dominate Roman politics for several years. Their attempts to amass power through populist tactics were opposed by the conservative elite within the Roman Senate, among them Cato the Younger with the frequent support of Cicero. Caesar's conquest of Gaul, completed by 51 BC, extended Rome's territory to the English Channel and the Rhine. Caesar became the first Roman general to cross both when he built a bridge across the Rhine and conducted the first invasion of Britain.

These achievements granted him unmatched military power and threatened to eclipse the standing of Pompey, who had realigned himself with the Senate after the death of Crassus in 53 BC. With the Gallic Wars concluded, the Senate ordered Caesar to lay down his military command and return to Rome. Caesar refused, and marked his defiance in 49 BC by crossing the Rubicon with a legion to march into the city itself.[6] Civil war resulted, from which he emerged as the unrivaled leader of Rome.

After assuming control of government, Caesar began a program of social and governmental reforms, including the creation of the Julian calendar. He centralised the bureaucracy of the Republic and was eventually proclaimed "dictator in perpetuity". But the underlying political conflicts had not been resolved, and on the Ides of March (15 March) 44 BC, Caesar was assassinated by a group of senators led by Marcus Junius Brutus. A new series of civil wars broke out, and the constitutional government of the Republic was never restored. Caesar's adopted heir Octavian, later known as Augustus, rose to sole power, and the era of the Roman Empire began.

Much of Caesar's life is known from his own accounts of his military campaigns, and from other contemporary sources, mainly the letters and speeches of Cicero and the historical writings of Sallust. The later biographies of Caesar by Suetonius and Plutarch are also major sources. Caesar is deemed to be one of the greatest military commanders of history.

Ramesses II
Ramesses II was the third Egyptian pharaoh (reigned 1279 BC – 1213 BC) of the Nineteenth dynasty. He led several military expeditions into the Levant, re-asserting Egyptian control over Canaan. He also led expeditions to the south, into Nubia, commemorated in inscriptions at Beit el-Wali and Gerf Hussein.

At age fourteen, Ramesses was appointed Prince Regent by his father Seti I. He is believed to have taken the throne in his late teens and is known to have ruled Egypt from 1279 BC to 1213 BC for 66 years and 2 months, according to both Manetho and Egypt's contemporary historical records. The early part of his reign was focused on building cities, temples and monuments. He established the city of Pi-Ramesses in the Nile Delta as his new capital and main base for his campaigns in Syria. This city was built on the remains of the city of Avaris, the capital of the Hyksos when they took over, and was the location of the main Temple of Set. He is also known as Ozymandias in the Greek sources from a transliteration into Greek of a part of Ramesses's throne name, Usermaatre Setepenre, "Ra's mighty truth, chosen of Ra".

Early in his life, Ramesses II embarked on numerous campaigns to return previously held territories back from Nubian and Hittite hands and to secure Egypt's borders. He was also responsible for suppressing some Nubian revolts and carrying out a campaign in Libya. Although the famous Battle of Kadesh often dominates the scholarly view of Ramesses II's military prowess and power, he nevertheless enjoyed more than a few outright victories over the enemies of Egypt. During Ramesses II's reign, the Egyptian army is estimated to have totaled about 100,000 men; a formidable force that he used to strengthen Egyptian influence.

By the time of his death, aged about 90 years, Ramesses had made Egypt rich from all the supplies and riches he had collected from other empires. He had outlived many of his wives and children and left great memorials all over Egypt, especially to his beloved first queen Nefertari. Since then, is successors and later Egyptians called him the "Great Ancestor." and some later Pharaohs took Ramesses as their regnal name but none of them could ever match the greatness of the original.

Weapons
Julius and his army of legionaries and sagittari come forth with...

Short Range - Crocea Mors
Crocea Mors, "Yellow Death," is the sword of Julius Caesar, first invented by Geoffrey of Monmouth. Not much is known about the sword's dimensions or material but it is said in Monmouth's Historia to inflict incurable and inevitably fatal wounds. Caesar looses it in the first battle with the British when it becomes lodged in the shield of the British prince Nennius. In Geoffrey's account, it is emblematic of the problems the Romans have with the British.

Medium Range - Hasta
A hasta was about six and one-half feet (2 m) in length, with a shaft generally made from ash, while the head was of iron. As opposed to the pilum, verutum or lancea, the hasta was not thrown, but used for thrusting.

Long Range - Arcus Composite Bow
The arcus was basically a composite bow made of horn, wood, and sinew held together with hide glue; they also contained reinforcing laths. The arrow (sagitta) was created with a wooden shaft and iron head.

Special - Plumbata
Roman infantrymen (maybe legionaries) often carried half a dozen lead-weighted throwing-darts called plumbatae (from plumbum = "lead"), with an effective range of ca. 30 m, well beyond that of a javelin. The darts were carried clipped to the back of the shield.

Ramesses II and his Egyptian maryannu soldiers and charioteers ride into battle with...

Short Range - Khopesh
Khopesh is the Egyptian version of the Canaanite "sickle-sword". A typical khopesh is 50–60 cm (20–24 inches) in length, though smaller examples do also exist. This blade was designed for hooking an opponent's shield or disarming them. These weapons changed from bronze to iron in the late period.

Medium Range - Javelin
Not a weapon of major importance, the javelin had better penetrating powers than the arrow, because of its greater weight. During the Old and  Middle Kingdom of Egypt's Dynastic period, it typically consisted of a pointed blade made of copper or flint that was attached to a long wooden shaft by a tang. However, in the New Kingdom, bronze blades became more common, attached to the shaft by means of a socket. These conventional spears were made for throwing or thrusting, but there was also a form of spear (halberd) which was fitted with an axe blade and thus used for cutting and slashing.

Long Range - Hyksos Composite Bow
The composite bow was adopted because of the inherent limitations of the simple bow. Achieving greatest possible range with a bow as small and light as possible was of utmost importance. The maximal draw length possible was the length of the archer's arm. By using a bow which was curving forwards when unstrung, one was putting it under an initial tension, to which the force exercised by the hand pulling the string was added. The draw weight was thus dramatically increased. This could not be done with a simple wooden bow. The wood had to be supported, otherwise it would break. In order to prevent this horn was added to the belly of the bow (the part of the bow facing the archer) which would be compressed during the draw and sinew to the back which could, thanks to its elasticity, withstand the tension.

Special - Flanged Mace
The mace is a wooden club with a head of some hard and heavy material fastened to it. At first stone was used but soon it was replaced by copper. Maces were extensively used in Egypt and neighbouring Canaan from the middle of the fourth millennium BCE to the middle of the third. The Egyptians tried to give the mace head a disk shaped form in order to increase their impact or even endow them with some cutting capabilities. The mace did not require a great deal of dexterity but rather great physical force.

Personal Edges
Short: The Crocea Mors is a deadly weapon given the myth surrounding its killing power with its slashes. The khopesh on the other hand is also a deadly slashing sword with one advantage - it can also help the Egyptian warrior disarm an enemy. It is also made of a lighter material than the iron of the Crocea Mors and thus it is more versatile.

EDGE: Khopesh

Medium: A thrusting spear vs a throwing spear... both are equally deadly but while the throwing spear has greater lethality and range, it is of no use if it misses its target.

EDGE: Hasta

Long: Both are essentially composite bows in shape and usage so it all comes down to material used - the sagitta gives the arcus a significant advantage since it is made of iron, but the Hyksos seems more versatile and perhaps capable of piercing armour

EDGE: Even

Special: While the mace is deadly when he battle gets close, the plumbata offers a bigger range for lethality and while it is made of lead, the person using them carries 12.

EDGE: Plumbata

Battle
Caesar:

Ramses:

TBA

Expert's Opinion
TBA

Battle Notes
The battle will either take place outside the city of Pi-Ramesses or somewhere in Sicily. Leave a message in your votes to decide where out of those two locations. For this battle, Casear will be on horseback and will be accompanied by two legionaries and two sagittari; Ramesses will be on a war chariot with an archer while another archer will have the other archer and two Egyptian soldiers. Again I must stress that I am including chariots in this for the Egyptians since it was used a lot.

Since this battle is written up on a Thursday in my end, I will have votes come in until Tuesday the week after next and the battle will be written up then as well as the briefing for the next one (which I am pumped about, to be honest).