The Roman Civil Wars

460,000

estimated total dead

Each dot below represents 1,000 human lives. Scroll to watch the scale unfold.

Military Dead

310,000 soldiers killed in combat, from wounds, or from disease. Each = 1,000 lives.

Caesarian Faction — 120,000 military dead

Republican Opposition — 190,000 military dead

Civilian Dead

150,000 civilians killed — from violence, famine, disease, and displacement. Wars are not fought only by soldiers.

Civilian dead — 150,000

Deadliest Engagements

Battle of Philippi40,000

Battle of Munda33,000

Battle of Naulochus20,000

Battle of Pharsalus18,000

Battle of Thapsus14,000

incl. 2,000 civilians

Alexandrian War13,000

incl. 5,000 civilians

Battle of Actium12,000

Battle of Zela9,000

For Perspective

How Roman Civil Wars's dead compare to other conflicts and events.

Roman Civil Wars — total dead460,000

Battle of Cannae (216 BC)70,000

Roman Civil Wars total military310,000

Proscriptions of 43 BC (civilian)150,000

Population of Rome (~44 BC)800,000

Caesar's legions at peak (50 BC)60,000

Milestones of Loss

150,000 dead

Civilian casualties include approximately 2,300 condemned in the Proscriptions of 43 BC, plus displaced persons, famine, and disease in provinces disrupted by the campaigns.

310,000 dead

Military casualties across 18 years of intermittent civil war (49–31 BC). Actual totals are uncertain — ancient sources report battle deaths but rarely count disease, desertion, and post-battle executions of prisoners, which may have doubled the figure.

All figures are historical estimates and vary across sources. The true human cost of war is impossible to fully quantify — these numbers represent the best scholarly consensus. Each number was a person with a name, a family, and a life unlived.