The Battle of Modena: it took place during the so-called War of Modena, between the troops loyal to the Senate of the consuls Gaius Vibius Pansa and Aulus Hirtius, supported by the legions of Caesar Octavian, and the Caesarian legions of Mark Antony, who had been besieging the troops of the assassin Decimus Brutus trapped inside the city since the winter. The battle took place a week after the bloody and uncertain Battle of Forum Gallorum, which ended with heavy losses on both sides and the mortal wounding of the consul Vibius Pansa. The other consul Aulus Hirtius and the young Caesar Octavian launched a direct attack on Mark Antony’s camps with the aim of breaking the encirclement around Modena. The fighting was very fierce and bloody; the Republican troops broke into the camps, but Antony’s veterans counterattacked; the consul Hirtius was killed in the melee. Octavian Caesar intervenes personally and manages to avoid defeat, while Decimus Brutus also takes part in the fighting with part of his forces locked up in the city.
