Roman History, 42.43

Cassius Dio  translated by Earnest Cary

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43But the Egyptians, when they secured the lad, took not a thought for peace, but straightway set out against Mithridates, as if they were sure to accomplish some great achievement by the name and by the family of Ptolemy; and they surrounded Mithridates near the lake, between the river and the marshes, and routed his forces. 2Now Caesar did not pursue them, through fear of being ambushed, but at night he set sail as if he were hurrying to some outlet of the Nile, and kindled an enormous fire on each vessel, so that it might be widely believed that he was going thither. 3He started at first, then, to sail away, but afterwards extinguished the fires, returned, and passed alongside the city to the peninsula on the Libyan side, where he came to land; and there he disembarked the soldiers, went around the lake, and fell upon the Egyptians unexpectedly about dawn. They were immediately so dismayed that they made overtures for peace, but since he would not listen to their entreaty, a fierce battle later took place in which he was victorious and slew great numbers of the enemy. Ptolemy and some others tried in their haste to escape across the river, and perished in it.

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