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The Siege of Alexandria (48-47BC)

Brian Hayes

Junior Division

Historical Paper

2100 Words

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In the words of Julius Caesar, “All doubt being removed by this

circumstance, such a terror ensued among the troops that they fancied

themselves reduced to the last extremity”

(​classics.mit.edu/Caesar/alexandrian.html)

The Siege of Alexandria would end with Julius Caesar triumphantly taking control of

Egypt after ‘The Child Pharaoh’, Ptolemy, drowned. But after this event, Egypt tragically began a long decline of being ruled by foreign powers from Rome to the British. The Siege of Alexandria changed the history of North Africa for centuries to come.

1Former Friends

Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus had a secret alliance called The Triumvirate. The

Triumvirate was an alliance for all members political gain. But after Christ’s death in Persia, The

Triumvirate fell apart, with Caesar crossing the River Rubicon into Italy and Rome. Pompey fled with most of the senators into Greece. Caesar took his army and crossed through Bibulus’ blockade in the Adriatic Sea into Greece. Afte2r a game of cat and mouse, Caesar met Pompey

Magnus at the Battle of Pharsalus, where Caesar won a resounding victory. Cato, as the senator’s leader, fled to Namibia in north 3Africa, and Pompey fled to Egypt.

Pompey Arrives in Egypt

1 www.ancient.eu/pompey/.(Ancient History Encyclopedia), 27 Jan. 2013 ​ ​ ​ 2 Goldsworthy, Adrian. Caesar Life of a Colossus. Yale University, 2006 ​ ​ ​ 3 Caesar, Julius. "The Alexandrian Wars.(The Internet Classics Archive) ​ ​

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After Caesar’s resounding victory at Pharsalus, Pompey needed a place to flee. Gre4ece and other areas near it were too dangerous because Caesar and his troops were looking all over

Greece for him. The other senators, with Cato made as their leader, decided to flee to North

Africa to grow an army to start another civil war to patiently defeat Caesar. Antioch made sure that Pompey knew that he was not welcome in their city. Pompey decided not to go to Namibia with Cato. Instead he decided to go to Egypt to get support from the child Pharaoh, Ptolemy XIII.

Pompey knew that many members of Ptolemy’s army had served under him during many of his campaigns. He had also propped up Ptolemy’s father, Ptolemy XII Auletes. But the child king’s counselors thought that Pompey would undermine the Egyption army, so the child Pharaoh and his counselors had him assassinated at Pelusium.

Caesar Arrives in Egypt

Caesar, as soon as he learned that Pompey fled to Egypt, rushed to capture Pompey.

Caesar sent his right hand man, M5ark Antony, to oversee politics in Rome. Caesar took 4,000 men from 2 legions with him and arrived in Alexandra, the largest city in Egypt. At the time he arrived in the city, it was in turmoil. When Caesar arrived in the city, he was greeted as an honored guest by his officials, and as a gift, Caesar was given the severed head of Pompey

Magnus and his signet ring. In response, Caesar recoiled in tears. It was clear that Caesar wanted to integrate every pompeian, who would acknowledge his supremacy over them.

4"Pompey." Ancient History Encyclopedia, 27 Jan. 2013 ​ ​

5 Caesar, Julius. "The Alexandrian Wars.(The Internet Classics Archive) ​ ​

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The Riots

In response to Pompey's death, Caesar brought out his 4,000 men into the streets of

Alexandria. Caesar never asked for the Egyption permission to bring out his soldiers. His men paraded triumphantly through the streets of Alexandria like a conquering army. The Egyptians were obviously offended and started riots in response. In those riots, many of Caesar’s men were killed, and it was abundantly clear that it wasn’t safe for the Romans to stay on the streets. So

Caesar took his men and took control of the royal quarter, which had the king and many government buildings. Ptolemy's father had been only kept in the throne with a series of massive loans from Rome, and Rome was the beneficiary of his will.

Debts

Ten years before, Ptolemy XII Auletes had promised a Ten Million Denarii payment on those loans. Caesar demanded payment on these loans immediately. When Caesar approached

Ptolemy's counselors about this, they said that it would be awhile, and they would at some point pay the money back to Rome. Caesar said that he would be staying in Alexandria until Egypt’s debts to Rom6e were repaid.

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6 "Ptolemy XIII."Livius.org 8 June 2017 ​ 7 Cox, Tom. "Ptolemy XIII Theos Philopator." (Ancient History Encyclopedia) 27 Feb. 2017 ​ ​

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Potential Civil War

Caesar decided that he would act as regent to the dead pharaoh’s will. The Pharaoh and his counselors found this terrible. Also, Caesar found out that Ptolemy was supposed to be co-monarch with his sister, Cleopatra. Cleopatra was at the moment busy in the south raising an

army, and a civil war was bound to happen. Caesar said that he would mediate Cleopatra’s and Ptolemy's dispute.8

Cleopatra's Entrance

Cleopatra's efforts to make an army in southern Egypt were failing. When Cleopatra learned that Caesar was mediating the potential civil war, she decided that she had to meet this person. She took one of her closest courtiers, Apollodorus, who was Italian and spoke perfect latin. So Cleopatra dressed herself in rags and started a hard eight day boat trip down the Nile.

They got to the Mediterranean, and they slipped past Pharos lighthouse and sailed into the great harbor of Alexandria. Then Cleopatra got into a linen bag, and Apollodorus carried it over his shoulder.9Then Apollodorus came into the city. Any guards they encountered, Caesar’s or

Ptolemy's, Apollodorus was able to talk his way through and snake10d into the royal quarter and into Caesar's private quarters. Then once inside, Apollodorus set the bag on the floor, opened it, and Cleop11atra came out. She was very dazed and dizzy from their eight day trip down the Nile

8 Cox, Tom. "Ptolemy XIII Theos Philopator." (Ancient History Encyclopedia) 27 Feb. 2017 ​ ​ 9 Romer, John. A History of Ancient Egypt From the Great Pyramid to the Fall of the Middle ​ ​ Kingdom. New York, St. Martin's Press, 2016 ​ 10 Fletcher, Joann, Dr. Cleopatra the Great the Woman behind the Legend 2008 ​ ​ 11 "War in Alexandria." Livius.org., 3 21 2017, ​ ​ ​

6 and from being in a sack for so long. Caesar was impressed and immediately got P12tolemy to see

Cleopatra and reconcile their differences. Ptolemy was shocked and so were his advisors. They were offended at this betrayal, to see his rival here and at Caesar’s side. It was very offensive. The young king and his advisors stormed out of Caesar’s quarters. Also, it didn't take very long to see that it was clear that Caesar and Cleopatra were having an affair. Caesar soon decided to side with

Cleopatra in the dispute and said that she would serve as co-monarch with her brother. Ptolemy was not very happy about this. A few days after Cleopatra's arrival, many Egyptian soldiers, commanded by Achilles, set upon the royal quarters and the proper siege had begun.

The First Move

Caesar fearfully sent out letters imploring help from Roman allied kingdoms and empires in the area. It only took a few hours, for no word could get in or out of the city. Achilles started with an assault on Caesar’s defending army and an assault on the Royal Harbor. Then Caesar decided to make a move. With very few troops, Caesar gained control of the Royal Harbor and b13 urned the Egyption Fleet. This fire spread throughout the city and consumed part of the Library of Alexandria. Another of the king’s sisters, Arsinoe, along with her tutor Ganymedes, escaped from Roman custody and had Achilles murdered. The army declared her queen and Ganymedes assumed command of the army in Arsinoe name. The fighting was hard. Caesar was not used to fighting in an urban environment, with no room to make any traditional battle movements or space to deploy his cavalry. Many other cities came to help, and people came in carrying sacks of weapons of all kinds. People argued and staged at public meetings, and walls and barricades were

12 "Cleopatra (c.69 BC - 30 BC)." BBC, British Government, 9 June 2014, ​ ​ ​ 13 Tyldesley, Joyce. Cleopatra Last Queen of Egypt. New York, Basic Books, 2008. ​ ​ ​

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14"Caesar and Cleopatra in Egypt." Penelope ​ made out of buildings. It was hard on the Romans, and Caesar who wasn’t a bad drinker, stayed up every night drinking himself to sleep. The Egyptians poisoned the Roman water supply. This

15was done by taking control of the channel which guided water from the Nile into the city. Soon the Ganymedes filled with seawater, and it caused a panic for a bit. Caesar solved this problem by digging wells. Caesar was slow to react to the poisoning and the digging of wells. The delayed reaction caused his army to criticize him openly.

Caesar’s Next Move

Caesar decided to make an assault on the Island of Pharos, which had its namesake lighthouse. Caesar took a part of his army and set off to Pharos. The Egyptians were defending their island and more reinforcements were coming. At the end of the day, Caesar only had control of a bit of the island. The next day, the Romans launched another assault on the bridge to Pharos but failed. The Egyptians had rebuilt their fleet out of anything they could find, even buildings.

This new fleet’s troops landed behind the Roman line, and the Romans were stuck between two armies. Many of16 the Romans, after noticing this predicament, fled back to their boats. Even

Caesar decided to retreat. The boat Caesar was in capsized, but with quick thinking, Caesar swam back to the shore. By now, half of the men that Caesar took to Pharos had died in the assault. An

Egyptian envoy went to Caesar sa17ying that the army would be more inclined to make peace if

Ptolemy were present. Caesar agreed, and he decided to let the pharaoh and his advisors go, but

14 Caesar, Julius. "The Alexandrian Wars.(The Internet Classics Archive) ​ ​

15 Beard, Mary. The Age of Caesar Five Roman Lives. 2017 ​ ​ ​ 16 "Gaius Julius Caesar." Livius, 9 Nov. 2018 ​ ​ ​ 17 "Mark, Joshua J. "Julius Caesar." Ancient History Encyclopedia, 17 April 2017 ​ ​ ​

8 only if they came back with a peace plan. Once they were let go, they ordered an all out assault on

Caesar's position. It seemed hopeless.

Reinforcements

Caesar sent for help from allied kingdoms, and Mithridates of Pergamum responded. He raised an army and rushed to Alexandria to help Caesar. But Ganymedes got word of this and sent a garrison to Pelsium to stop Mithreditis from relieving Caesar’s forces. Mithreditis thought that he needed to capture the fortress before they could dig in. Mithreditis captured the fort in a single day by replacing tired troops with more fresh troops

Escape

A ship was able to enter the the Royal Harbor with a letter, and Caesar learned that

Mithreditis had just entered Egypt with eighteen thousand soldiers. Caesar loaded most of his army onto the ships he still had and left a small garrison to hold the royal quarter. Caesar sailed to

Mithreditis’ army, and when he got there, Caesar immediately assumed command of the army.

The Battle of the Nile

Caesar was on the east side of the Nile so Ptolemy sent some of his cavalry to hold them off. This worked for a bit before Caesar’s German Cavalry were able to cross the river upstream.

Caesar’s infantry was able to lay tree trunks over the river making a bridge over the banks. Both groups charged18 at the same time, men tried to 19flee, but were 20killed in the pursuit. Ptolemy's

18 "The Siege of Pelusium Early 47 BC. 8 Sept 2018 ​ 19 "Ptolemy XIII Theos Philopator." Everipedia, Everipedia International, 17 July 2016, ​ ​ ​ 20 "Gaius Julius Caesar." Livius, 9 Nov. 2018 ​ ​ ​

9 main camp was on a hill, and it was near a fortified v21illage. Caesar decided to attack the village and follow the fleeing men to the camp. Caesar attacked the camp through22gh a gap and then sent some other men over to the other side. They23 then opened up a second front, to attack the castles

The village fell, however, the other part of his plan failed, and Caesar was still a distance from

Ptolemy's camp. His camp was on a hill by a branch of the Nile. It w24as protected by rocky terrain on one side, a marsh on the 25other, and the river at the back. because arrows were focused on them. During this attack, they left a part of their wall unguarded, and Caesar sent some men to overwhelm the 26defenders. This strategy worked, demoralised the soldiers, and the army fled.

The ship Ptolemy was on capsized, and Ptolemy drowned.

Aftermath

After Caesar’s victory, he went to Alexandria and told them of their king's death, their defeat. Soon the Alexandrians surrendered. Most historians agree that his captain was a disaster.

Caesar put Cleopatra in power and peace was made. Cleopatra agreed to pay Egypt’s debts, to host a permanent Roman gar27rison, and to serve as co-monarch w28ith her brother, named

Ptolemy. Also, Cleopatra let Arsinoe return to Rome in chains, and Caesar allowed Egypt to take back Cyperous. After the battle, Caesar stayed in Egypt, where he embarked on a 3 month journey

21 Rickard, John. "Battle of the Nile Early 47 BC. 8 Spt 2018 ​ 22 Freeman, Philip. Julius Caesar. New York, Simon & Schuster, 2008 ​ ​ ​ 23Beard, Mary. The Age of Caesar Five Roman Lives. 2017 ​ ​

24 "Battle of the Nile (47 BC)." Everipedia.org, 24 July 2016 ​ ​ ​ 25"Caesar and Cleopatra in Egypt." Penelope ​

26 Cox, Tom. "Ptolemy XIII Theos Philopator." (Ancient History Encyclopedia) 27 Feb. 2017 ​ ​ 27 Watkins, Thayer. "The Timeline of the Life of Cleopatra." San José State University ​ ​ 28 Rickard, John. "Battle of the Nile Early 47 BC. 8 Spt 2018 ​

10 with the Roman Army. They said it was a demonstration, though Rome was supported by the queen, Pompeians were in North 29Africa making an army. Mark Antony made a mess in Rome, and 30even the journey was more like a really nice cruise. When the queen got back, she had a son, and named him Ptolemy. However, the Romans named him Caesarain, which was symbolic, because it meant Little Caesar. 31News started to come in, and it was bad news. It proclaimed that the worse, a king in Asia was slaying all Romans in his kingdom. It was clear that Caesar needed a better ‘second in command’.32

This is a map of the Siege of Alexandria

29 "Julius Caesar." PBS, Devillier Donegan Enterprises, 11 Jan. 2006, ​ ​ ​ 30 Freeman, Philip. Julius Caesar. New York, Simon & Schuster, 2008 ​ ​ ​ 31 "Battle of the Nile (47 BC)." Everipedia.org, 24 July 2016 ​ ​ ​ 32 "Arsinoe IV." www.livius.org/articles/person/arsinoe-iv/. 17 Jan. 2017 ​

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This is a drawing of the

fire fire that happened

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This is a drawing of what the chaos 33might have looked like

"Arsinoe IV." Livius, Unknown, 30 Jan. 2017, www.livius.org/articles/person/arsinoe-iv/. ​ ​ Accessed 4 Jan. 2019. The source gave me information about Arsinoe IV and what she did

during the event and it told me how she ended up in the end.

"Battle of the Nile (47 BC)." Everipedia.org, Everipedia International, 24 July 2016, ​ ​ everipedia.org/wiki/lang_en/Battle_of_the_Nile_%2847_BC%29/. Accessed 11 Dec.

2018. The source gave me information on the battle tactics of the battle of the nile and the

retrate that killed Ptolemy.

Beard, Mary. The Age of Caesar Five Roman Lives. Translated by Pamela Mensch, edited by ​ ​ James Romm, New York, W. W. Norton & Company, 2017. The source gave me

information on what Caesar did before that Siege of Alexandria and the Trumferant. This

also gave information on Caesar Crossing the Rubicon, his adriatic crossing and the Battle

of Pharsalus

Caesar, Julius. "The Alexandrian Wars." Translated by W. A. McDevitte and W. S. Bohn. The ​ Internet Classics Archive, Web Atomics, classics.mit.edu/Caesar/alexandrian.html. ​ Accessed 4 Jan. 2019. The source gave me my Quote and how Caesar felt during the event

also it told me how Caesar was an alcoholic during the event

"Caesar and Cleopatra in Egypt." Penelope, ​ ​ penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/miscellanea/cleopatra/egypt.html.

33 "The Siege of Alexandria and the Battle of the Nile, 48-47 BCE." Total War Center, Jelsoft ​ ​ ​ Enterprises Ltd., 6 June 2013,

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Accessed 4 Dec. 2018. The source gave me details of how Caesar and Cleopatra interacted

in Egypt and also their affair, there river cruise with the army.

"Cleopatra (c.69 BC - 30 BC)." BBC, British Government, 9 June 2014, ​ ​ www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/cleopatra.shtml. Accessed 13 Dec. 2018. The

source gave me information on what Cleopatra did during the event and information about

her cortier Apollodorus

Cox, Tom. "Ptolemy XIII Theos Philopator." Ancient History Encyclopedia, 1st ed., version 1, ​ ​ revision 1, 27 Feb. 2017, www.ancient.eu/Ptolemy_XIII_Theos_Philopator/. Accessed 3

Dec. 2018. The source gave information on Ptolemy and his counselors and how he died

and who his counselors were

Fletcher, Joann, Dr. Cleopatra the Great the Woman behind the Legend. New York, Harpercollins ​ ​ Publishers, 2008. The source gave me information on how she was raising an army in the

south of Egypt.

Freeman, Philip. Julius Caesar. New York, Simon & Schuster, 2008. The source gave me ​ ​ information on how many men he had how many men Mithdatites had and how MIthdrites

got to Caesar

"Gaius Julius Caesar." Livius, 9 Nov. 2018, www.livius.org/articles/person/caesar/caesar-01/. ​ ​ Accessed 4 Dec. 2018. The source gave me information on what Caesar did in Egypt and

how Caesar got control of the royal harbor

Goldsworthy, Adrian. Caesar Life of a Colossus. Yale University, 2006. The source gave me ​ ​ details of Caesar's life and how he crossed the river Rubcain and how he took control of

rome.

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"Julius Caesar." PBS, Devillier Donegan Enterprises, 11 Jan. 2006, ​ ​ www.pbs.org/empires/romans/empire/julius_caesar.html. Accessed 13 Dec. 2018. The

source gave me details on how she gave egypt Cyperus and how the treaty between rome

and Egypt was.

"Mark, Joshua J. "Julius Caesar." Ancient History Encyclopedia, Social Enterprise UK, 28 Apr. ​ ​ 2011, www.ancient.eu/Julius_Caesar/. Accessed 13 Dec. 2018. The source gave me

information on how Caesar Tried to capture Pharos Island.

"Pompey." Ancient History Encyclopedia, 27 Jan. 2013, www.ancient.eu/pompey/. Accessed 20 ​ ​ Dec. 2018. The source gave me details on what Pompy did before the event the Battle of

Pharsalus and that cato was the leader of the Seters and how they fled to north africa.

"Ptolemy XIII." Livius, 1st ed., version 1, revision 2, Liv1us, 8 June 2017, ​ ​ www.livius.org/articles/person/ptolemy-xiii/. Accessed 6 Dec. 2018. The source gave me

information on what Ptolemy was doing during the event.

"Ptolemy XIII Theos Philopator." Everipedia, Everipedia International, 17 July 2016, ​ ​ everipedia.org/wiki/lang_en/Ptolemy_XIII_Theos_Philopator/. Accessed 13 Dec. 2018.

The source gave me details of Ptolemy's life.

Rickard, John. "Battle of the Nile Early 47 BC." www.Historyofwar.org, 4 Sept. 2018, ​ ​ www.historyofwar.org/articles/battles_nile_47BC.html. Accessed 21 Nov. 2018. The

source gave me a summary of the Battle of the Nile.

"The Siege of Pelusium Early 47 BC." www.Historyofwar.org, 4 Sept. 2018, ​ ​ www.historyofwar.org/articles/siege_pelusium.html. Accessed 21 Nov. 2018. The source

Information on the siege of Pesium and how Mithridates captured the for in a day

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Romer, John. A History of Ancient Egypt From the Great Pyramid to the Fall of the Middle ​ Kingdom. New York, St. Martin's Press, 2016. 2 vols. The source gave me details on what ​ the Middle Kingdom was doing during the event.

"The Siege of Alexandria and the Battle of the Nile, 48-47 BCE." Total War Center, Jelsoft ​ ​ Enterprises Ltd., 6 June 2013,

www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?480346-The-Siege-of-Alexandria-and-the-Batt

le-of-the-Nile-48-47-BCE. Accessed 4 Feb. 2019. I got the 3 picture that I have on my

project

Tyldesley, Joyce. Cleopatra Last Queen of Egypt. New York, Basic Books, 2008. The source ​ ​ information on what Cleopatra did during the event.

"War in Alexandria." Livius.org., 3 21 2017, ​ ​ www.livius.org/sources/content/plutarch/plutarchs-caesar/war-in-alexandria/. Accessed 4

Dec. 2018. The source gave a summary of the main event as a whole.

Watkins, Thayer. "The Timeline of the Life of Cleopatra." San José State University, edited by ​ ​ Thayar Watkins, www.sjsu.edu/faculty/watkins/cleopatra.htm. Accessed 13 Dec. 2018.

The source gave me a timeline of the life of Cleopatra and what her life was before and

how she got to alexandrea and her 8 day boat ride.