Alexandrian war

Last updated

The Alexandrian war, also called the Alexandrine war, was a phase of Caesar's civil war in which Julius Caesar involved himself in an Egyptian dynastic struggle. Caesar attempted to mediate a succession dispute between Cleopatra and Ptolemy XIII and exact repayment of certain Egyptian debts.

Contents

Arriving in Alexandria in October 48 BC and seeking initially to apprehend Pompey, his enemy in the civil war, Caesar found that Pompey had been assassinated by Ptolemy XIII's men. Caesar's financial demands and high-handedness then triggered a conflict which put him under siege in Alexandria's palace quarter. Only after external intervention from a Roman client state were Caesar's forces relieved. In the aftermath of Caesar's victory at the Battle of the Nile and Ptolemy XIII's death, Caesar installed his mistress Cleopatra as Egyptian queen, with her younger brother as co-monarch.

Background

Egyptian dynastic struggle

Depiction of Ptolemy XII Auletes. Ptolemy XII, called "Auletes" (the "Flute Player"), 1st century BC, discovered in Egypt, Louvre Museum (7462971734).jpg
Depiction of Ptolemy XII Auletes.
Depiction of Cleopatra VII, one of the participants in the dynastic struggle after Ptolemy XII Auletes' death in 51 BC. Bust of Cleopatra VII - Altes Museum - Berlin - Germany 2017 (2).jpg
Depiction of Cleopatra VII, one of the participants in the dynastic struggle after Ptolemy XII Auletes' death in 51 BC.

Ptolemaic Egypt had been in a period of dynastic instability and domestic unrest, including native rebellions against the Hellenistic Ptolemies, for decades prior to the installment of Ptolemy XI Alexander II in 81 BC by Sulla. This instability and violence was caused by racial, regional, religious, and economic factors. [1] Internecine conflict between royal claimants, resentment of Roman interference by the Alexandrians, and Roman interventionism, further contributed to the kingdom's decline. [2] In 75 BC, Egyptian Cyrenaica was annexed by Rome. [3] In later years, Egypt tried to placate powerful Roman generals in the east during the Third Mithridatic War, such as Lucullus and Pompey. [4]

Ptolemy XII Auletes' rule was regularly challenged both by domestic rebellion and by other claimants requesting Roman support for their own claims against him. [2] Auletes attempted to cultivate good relations with Egyptian priests, tried to recentre religious practice around himself as a unifying force, and seek Roman support for his rule. [5] During Caesar's first consulship in 59 BC, he gave an enormous bribe to Caesar and Pompey to receive an official declaration that he was a Roman "friend and ally". [3] His seeking of Roman friendship was possibly in response to abortive Roman attempts to vassalise the rich kingdom in 65 BC. [3]

When Egyptian Cyprus was annexed by Rome in 58 BC, Auletes was driven from his throne by an Alexandrian mob. Cyprus itself was annexed at the initiative of Publius Clodius Pulcher, who appointed Marcus Porcius Cato as proquaestor pro praetore to liquidate the island's wealth, likely to fund a Roman grain project; Auletes' younger brother, who was king there, killed himself in preference to submission. [3] Driven from his throne and replaced by his daughter, Berenice IV, Auletes travelled to Rome, where he pled his case with Pompey's support. After apparent threat to his personal safety, he travelled to Ephesus where he sought sanctuary at the temple of Artemis. [6]

The consul of 57, Publius Cornelius Lentulus Spinther, was supposed to lead an army to restore Ptolemy, but Roman intervention was forestalled by a Sibylline oracle warning against deployment of an army. Further Roman debates in 56 BC on whether to intervene and, if so, who to send, were bitter and inconclusive. [lower-alpha 1] But after the irregular and contested election of Pompey and Crassus to a joint consulship in 55 BC, the governor of Syria – Aulus Gabinius – received a massive ten thousand talent bribe from Auletes and illegally left his province with his army to overthrow Berenice and install Auletes back to the throne. Many Roman troops, called the Gabiniani, stayed in Egypt to support the Ptolemaic dynasty and occupy the country. [8]

Auletes' return was marked with the murder of his daughter and her supporters. Gabinius, upon the expiration of his command, was successfully prosecuted for corruption and sent into exile; Gabinius protested that he had marched out of fear of Berenice's husband's fleet turning piratical, which was seemingly disbelieved. [9] When Auletes was unable to make payment on his bribes, he appointed a Roman representative to exact the appropriate monies, but the representative was driven from the kingdom by a mob. When Marcus Calpurnius Bibulus, as governor of Syria, sent his sons as ambassadors to recall the Gabiniani to defend against a possible Parthian counter-invasion in 50 BC, they were killed. [8]

Upon Auletes' death in 51 BC, he left the kingdom to his son and daughter, Ptolemy XIII and Cleopatra (aged ten and seventeen, respectively). The appropriate will was deposited in the Roman state treasury and named the Roman people as guarantors. [10] A power struggle promptly began between Ptolemy XIII and Cleopatra, with Cleopatra attempting to find support from the common Egyptian people: she was the first of the Ptolemies to speak Egyptian and spent money freely to support traditional Egyptian religious cults. Ptolemy XIII's regents, Pothinus and Achillas, led the cause against her. [10]

Caesar's arrival

After Caesar's successful invasion of Macedonia and victory at Pharsalus in 48 BC, he put Pompey to flight across the Mediterranean. Pompey and his family fled first to Lesbos and thence to Alexandria in Ptolemaic Egypt; the new child king of Egypt, Ptolemy XIII, had likely been recognised by the Pompeian senate-in-exile and given Pompey as a guardian. [11] When he landed at Pelusium, he was assassinated by two Roman officers who were part of Gabinius' garrison. [10] Caesar arrived and learnt of the death of Pompey, his former son-in-law, three days later on 2 October. [12]

Siege of Alexandria

Map of the city of Alexandria c. 30 BC, according to Otto Puchstein, a 19th century German archaeologist. Plan of Alexandria c 30 BC Otto Puchstein 1890s EN.svg
Map of the city of Alexandria c. 30 BC, according to Otto Puchstein, a 19th century German archaeologist.

After arrival to Alexandria, Caesar's forces seemed to have been kept there by unfavourable winds. [13] With some time available and huge financial demands, he demanded payment of some 10 million denarii of the bribes promised to him during his consulship in 59 BC. He also announced that he would arbitrate the succession dispute between Ptolemy XIII and Cleopatra. [14]

Pothinus, the eunuch serving as regent for Ptolemy XIII, sent secret orders to Achillas to summon his army of some 20,000 men to Alexandria. They promptly besieged Caesar in the palace compound. After a short truce, Achillas launched an all-out attack. In repulsing one of these attacks, some sources say Caesar's men set a fire which spread to and destroyed the Library of Alexandria. Caesar sent messengers requesting aid, but it would take some time for it to arrive. [14]

At the start of the siege, the ostensible enemy leaders were present with Caesar in the palace compound. Cleopatra smuggled herself into the compound to meet with Caesar, aided by a manservant who rowed her across Alexandria's harbour while hidden in a laundry bag. [14] Cassius Dio claims that the queen intentionally seduced Caesar; regardless, the two quickly became lovers and Caesar then declared that Auletes' will required Ptolemy XIII and Cleopatra to be joint rulers. [15] After Pothinus was discovered to be communicating with the besiegers, he was executed. Arsinoe escaped and joined the Egyptian army, which proclaimed her queen, and then assassinated Achillas to take control of the force. Amid rumours of a plot to poison Caesar, he took to drink with his officers. [16]

The first reinforcements were former Pompeians making their way by sea. Caesar's men then fought a series of small naval battles to maintain control of the harbour and the possibility of resupply thereby. While suffering a setback in a defeat in the harbour where his men were routed to the sea before drowning by the hundreds, Caesar's forces maintained some control of the harbour. [17]

In late January or early February 47 BC, a deputation of Alexandrians asked Caesar to let Ptolemy XIII go. He did so in the hopes that Ptolemy XIII would call off the besiegers. He did not. After renewed assaults on Caesar's positions, a relief army from Syria came overland led by Mithridates of Pergamum and aided by 3,000 Jews contributed by High Priest Hyrcanus II and led by Antipater. After the relief army stormed Pelusium, the Ptolemies sent most of their forces to contest the crossing of the Nile delta. Caesar moved his men by sea to join with the relief army, leading to the Battle of the Nile. [18]

Battle of the Nile

After Caesar's arrival to Mithridates camp, Caesar and Ptolemy's forces engaged over across a Nile tributary. Bellum Alexandrinum – usually ascribed to Aulus Hirtius [19] – relates that Caesar's Germanic auxiliary cavalry acquitted themselves well in running down Ptolemy's light infantry as Caesar's heavy infantry crossed the river on a makeshift bridge, causing Ptolemy's army to rout. [20] After the victory, the narrative reports Caesar came upon Ptolemy's camp and besieged it. [21] After failing to take it by storm, it reports Caesar discovered and exploited a weak spot in the camp's defences; successfully taking the spot forced Ptolemy's army to flight during which Ptolemy's ship capsized and he drowned. [22]

Settlement

After the defeat of Ptolemy XIII's forces, Caesar remained in Egypt for some time. While Bellum Alexandrinum "gives the impression that... Caesar left Egypt almost immediately", many modern scholars believe he remained there until June or July, possibly holidaying on the Nile with Cleopatra. [23]

Caesar departed due to news of Pharnaces II's invasion of Roman Asia. He left Cleopatra and Ptolemy XIV Philopator (Cleopatra's yet-younger brother) to rule Egypt with the support of three legions. He also ceded Cyprus to Egypt. Around June, Cleopatra bore Caesarion, whom Caesar believed to be his child (contra Octavian's later protests). [24]

Notes

  1. ↑ The senate debated the topic on 13 January 56 BC: Bibulus' proposal was defeated. Hortensius' proposal was vetoed. After a delay, one tribune proposed recalling Spinther (then governor in Cilicia); another tribune proposed sending Pompey; Clodius' supporters then proposed sending Crassus. After a consul put all tribunician proposals on hold by declaring public holidays; one tribune threatened to veto the elections. Eventually, Isauricus' proposal received senatorial approval, but was then vetoed. [7]

Related Research Articles

Year 48 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Caesar and Vatia. The denomination 48 BC for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cleopatra</span> Queen of Egypt from 51 to 30 BC

Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator was Queen of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt from 51 to 30 BC, and its last active ruler. A member of the Ptolemaic dynasty, she was a descendant of its founder Ptolemy I Soter, a Macedonian Greek general and companion of Alexander the Great. Her first language was Koine Greek, and she is the only Ptolemaic ruler known to have learned the Egyptian language. After her death, Egypt became a province of the Roman Empire, marking the end of the last Hellenistic-period state in the Mediterranean, a period which had lasted since the reign of Alexander.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ptolemy XIII Theos Philopator</span> Pharaoh of Egypt from 51 to 47 BC

Ptolemy XIII Theos Philopator was Pharaoh of Egypt from 51 to 47 BC, and one of the last members of the Ptolemaic dynasty. He was the son of Ptolemy XII and the brother of and co-ruler with Cleopatra VII. Cleopatra's exit from Egypt caused a civil war to break out between the pharaohs. Ptolemy later ruled jointly with his other sister, Arsinoe IV.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ptolemy XII Auletes</span> King of Egypt, 80–51 BC

Ptolemy XII Neos Dionysus was a king of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt who ruled from 80 to 58 BC and then again from 55 BC until his death in 51 BC. He was commonly known as Auletes, referring to his love of playing the flute in Dionysian festivals. A member of the Ptolemaic dynasty, he was a descendant of its founder Ptolemy I, a Macedonian Greek general and companion of Alexander the Great.

Berenice IV Epiphaneia was a Greek princess and Queen of the Ptolemaic dynasty. From 58 to 55 BC, Berenice IV ruled Egypt during the political exile of her father Ptolemy XII Auletes to Rome. It is unclear if she was co-ruler of Egypt with her mother Cleopatra V or a possible sibling Cleopatra VI from 58 to 57 BC, but became sole ruler in 57 BC. On the return of Ptolemy XII to Egypt with Roman military aid and an army led by Aulus Gabinius, Berenice IV was overthrown and executed by her rival father, who later bequeathed his throne to his daughter Cleopatra VII and son Ptolemy XIII as co-rulers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Publius Cornelius Lentulus Spinther</span> Consul of the Roman republic in 57 BC

Publius Cornelius Lentulus Spinther was a Roman politician and general. Hailing from the patrician family of the Cornelii, he helped suppress the Catilinarian conspiracy during his term as curule aedile in 63 BC and later served as consul in 57 BC. Denied the opportunity to invade Egypt the following year, he nevertheless won some victories in his province of Cilicia and celebrated a triumph over it in 51 BC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arsinoe IV</span> Queen of Ptolemaic Egypt from 48 BC to 47 BC

Arsinoë IV was the fourth of six children and the youngest daughter of Ptolemy XII Auletes. Queen and co-ruler of Ptolemaic Egypt with her brother Ptolemy XIII from 48 BC – 47 BC, she was one of the last members of the Ptolemaic dynasty of ancient Egypt. Arsinoë IV was also the half sister of Cleopatra VII. For her role in conducting the siege of Alexandria against her sister Cleopatra, Arsinoë was taken as a prisoner of war to Rome by the Roman triumvir Julius Caesar following the defeat of Ptolemy XIII in the Battle of the Nile. Arsinoë was then exiled to the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus in Roman Anatolia, but she was executed there by orders of triumvir Mark Antony in 41 BC at the behest of his lover Cleopatra VII.

Pothinus or Potheinos, a eunuch, was regent for Pharaoh Ptolemy XIII Theos Philopator of the Ptolemaic Kingdom. He is most remembered for turning Ptolemy against his sister and co-ruler Cleopatra, thus starting a civil war, and for having Pompey decapitated and presenting the severed head to Julius Caesar according to some sources.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caesar's civil war</span> War in the Roman Republic (49 to 45 BC)

Caesar's civil war was a civil war during the late Roman Republic between two factions led by Gaius Julius Caesar and Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (Pompey), respectively. The main cause of the war was political tensions relating to Caesar's place in the republic on his expected return to Rome on the expiration of his governorship in Gaul.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of the Nile (47 BC)</span> Battle of the Alexandrian War

The Battle of the Nile in early 47 BC saw the combined Roman–Egyptian armies of Julius Caesar and Cleopatra VII defeat those of the rival Queen Arsinoe IV and King Ptolemy XIII and secure the throne of Egypt.

Ganymedes was a eunuch in the court of Cleopatra VII who proved an able adversary of Julius Caesar.

<i>Caesar and Cleopatra</i> (play) Play by George Bernard Shaw

Caesar and Cleopatra is a play written in 1898 by George Bernard Shaw that depicts a fictionalized account of the relationship between Julius Caesar and Cleopatra. It was first published with Captain Brassbound's Conversion and The Devil's Disciple in Shaw's 1901 collection Three Plays for Puritans. It was first performed in a single staged reading at Newcastle upon Tyne on 15 March 1899, to secure the copyright. The play was produced in New York in 1906 and in London at the Savoy Theatre in 1907.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Achillas</span> 1st-century BC Greek general

Achillas was one of the guardians of the Egyptian king Ptolemy XIII Theos Philopator, and commander of the king's troops, when Pompey fled to Egypt in September 48 BC. He was called by Julius Caesar a man of extraordinary daring, and it was he and Lucius Septimius who killed Pompey at the suggestion of the eunuch Pothinus and Theodotus of Chios.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lucius Septimius</span> Roman soldier and mercenary who assassinated Pompey the Great

Lucius Septimius was a Roman soldier and mercenary who is principally remembered as one of the assassins of the triumvir Pompey the Great. At the time of the assassination in 48 BC, Septimius was serving the Ptolemies of Egypt as a mercenary. He was dispatched with orders to murder Pompey by Ptolemy XIII's advisors who wanted to win the favour of Julius Caesar for their king.

Theodotus of Chios was the rhetoric tutor of the young Egyptian king Ptolemy XIII.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siege of Alexandria (47 BC)</span> Battle of the Alexandrian War, Caesar vs Ptolemy XIII

The siege of Alexandria was a series of skirmishes and battles occurring between the forces of Julius Caesar, Cleopatra VII, Arsinoe IV, and Ptolemy XIII, between 48 and 47 BC. During this time Caesar was engaged in a civil war against remaining Republican forces.

The Gabiniani were 2000 Roman legionaries and 500 cavalrymen stationed in Egypt by the Roman general Aulus Gabinius after he had reinstated the Pharaoh Ptolemy XII Auletes on the Egyptian throne in 55 BC. The soldiers were left to protect the King, but they soon adopted the manners of their new country and became completely alienated from the Roman Republic. After the death of Auletes in 51 BC, they helped his son Ptolemy XIII in his power struggle against his sister Cleopatra and even involved Julius Caesar, the supporter of Cleopatra, during Caesar's Civil War up to the siege of Alexandria in violent battles.

Serapion was strategos of Cyprus and an admiral of the Ptolemaic navy during the reign of Cleopatra VII in 43 BC. Against the intention of the Egyptian queen, he supported in the Roman civil war Gaius Cassius Longinus, but had to take refuge in Tyre and was finally handed over to Cleopatra in 41 BC. Perhaps he is identical with that Serapion, who was instructed by Julius Caesar to negotiate in 48 BC with the Egyptian commander Achillas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Early life of Cleopatra</span> Partial history of Queen Cleopatra VII

The early life of Cleopatra VII covers the period from Cleopatra's birth in early 69 BC to her accession to the throne during or before March 51 BC. Cleopatra was born to the reigning pharaoh of Ptolemaic Egypt, Ptolemy XII Auletes; the identity of her mother is disputed and is presumed to have been Cleopatra V or Cleopatra VI, who may have been the same person. During her early childhood, Cleopatra was brought up in the palace of Alexandria in Egypt and received a primarily Hellenistic Greek education. By adulthood she was well-versed in many languages, including Egyptian, Ethiopian, Hebrew, Arabic, Median, Parthian, Latin, and her native Koine Greek.

Caesar's invasion of Macedonia occurred as part of Caesar's civil war, starting with his landing near Paeleste on the coast of Epirus, and continuing until he forced Pompey to flight after the Battle of Pharsalus.

References

Citations

  1. ↑ Thompson 1992, pp. 313, 317.
  2. 1 2 Thompson 1992, p. 318.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Thompson 1992, p. 319.
  4. ↑ Thompson 1992, pp. 317–319.
  5. ↑ Thompson 1992, pp. 318–19.
  6. ↑ Thompson 1992, pp. 319–20.
  7. ↑ Wiseman 1992, p. 392.
  8. 1 2 Thompson 1992, p. 320.
  9. ↑ Thompson 1992, p. 320; Drogula 2019, p. 195.
  10. 1 2 3 Thompson 1992, p. 321.
  11. ↑ Rawson 1992, p. 433.
  12. ↑ Goldsworthy 2006, p. 431; Rawson 1992, p. 433.
  13. ↑ Goldsworthy 2006, p. 440.
  14. 1 2 3 Goldsworthy 2006, p. 441.
  15. ↑ Goldsworthy 2006, pp. 441–42.
  16. ↑ Goldsworthy 2006, p. 442.
  17. ↑ Goldsworthy 2006, pp. 442–43.
  18. ↑ Goldsworthy 2006, pp. 443–44.
  19. ↑ Way 1955, p. ix.
  20. ↑ BAlex., 29.
  21. ↑ BAlex., 30.
  22. ↑ BAlex., 31.
  23. ↑ Rawson 1992, p. 434; Goldsworthy 2006, pp. 444–45.
  24. ↑ Rawson 1992, p. 434.

Modern sources

  • Crook, John; Lintott, Andrew; Rawson, Elizabeth, eds. (1992). The Cambridge ancient history. Vol. 9 (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press. ISBN   0-521-85073-8. OCLC   121060.
    • Rawson, Elizabeth. "Caesar: civil war and dictatorship". In CAH2 (1992), pp. 424–467.
    • Thompson, Dorothy J. "Egypt, 146–31 BC". In CAH2 (1992), p. 310–326.
    • Wiseman, TP. "Caesar, Pompey, and Rome, 59–50 BC". In CAH2 (1992), pp. 368–423.
  • Drogula, Fred K (2019). Cato the Younger: life and death at the end of the Roman republic. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN   978-0-19-086902-1. OCLC   1090168108.
  • Goldsworthy, Adrian (2006). Caesar: Life of a Colossus. Yale University Press. ISBN   978-0-300-13919-8.
  • Goldsworthy, Adrian Keith (2016) [First published 2003]. In the name of Rome: the men who won the Roman Empire (1st Yale University Press ed.). New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN   978-0-300-21852-7. OCLC   1242336101.
  • Way, AG (1955). Introduction. Caesar: Alexandrian war, African war, Spanish war. By Pseudo-Caesar. Loeb Classical Library. Translated by Way, AG. Harvard University Press. ISBN   978-0-67499-443-0.

Primary sources

  • Pseudo-Caesar (1955). "The Alexandrian War". Caesar: Alexandrian war, African war, Spanish war. Loeb Classical Library. Translated by Way, AG. Harvard University Press. ISBN   978-0-67499-443-0 – via LacusCurtius.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.