Searching for “=+Caesar -Cicero”

Caesar, upon seeing her and hearing her speak a few words was forthwith so completely captivated that he at once, before dawn, sent for Ptolemy and tried to reconcile them, thus acting as advocate for the very woman whose judge he had previously assumed to be.

For this reason, and because the sight of his sister within the palace was so unexpected, the boy was filled with wrath and rushed out among the people crying out that he was being betrayed, and at last he tore the diadem from his head and cast it away. In the great tumult which thereupon arose Caesar’s troops seized the person of the prince and the Egyptian populace continued to be in an uproar.

They assaulted the palace by land and sea at the same time and might have taken it without a blow, since the Romans had no adequate force present, owing to the apparent friendship of the natives; but Caesar in alarm came out before them, and standing in a safe place, promised to do for them whatever they wished.

To all of them alike it seemed a shame to be ruled by a woman—for they suspected that Caesar on the occasion mentioned had given the kingdom ostensibly to both the children merely to quiet the people, and that in the course of time he would offer it to Cleopatra alone —

was filled with contempt for the sender, believing him afraid. So he called his soldiers together and by haranguing them at length in favour of Ptolemy and against Caesar and Cleopatra he finally roused their anger against the messengers, though these were Egyptians, so that they should defile themselves with their murder and thus be forced into a relentless war.

Caesar, apprised of this, summoned his soldiers from Syria and fortified the palace and the other buildings near it by a moat and wall reaching to the sea.

After this many battles occurred between the two forces both by day and by night, and many places were set on fire, with the result that the docks and the storehouses of grain among other buildings were burned, and also the library, whose volumes, it is said, were of the greatest number and excellence. Achillas was in possession of the mainland, with the exception of what Caesar had walled off, and the latter of the sea except the harbour.

Caesar, indeed, was victorious in a sea-fight, and when the Egyptians, consequently, fearing that he would sail into their harbour, had blocked up the entrance with the exception of a narrow passage, he cut off that outlet also by sinking freight ships loaded with stones; so they were unable to stir, no matter how much they might desire to sail out.

Now if he had talked to them thus of his own accord, he might have persuaded them to become reconciled; but as it was, they suspected that it was all prearranged by Caesar, and so did not yield.

So Caesar, having waited for a time when they were acting carelessly by reason of their success, suddenly sailed into the harbour, burned a large number of vessels, and disembarking on Pharos, slew the inhabitants of the island. When the Egyptians on the mainland saw this, they rushed over the bridges to the aid of their friends, and after killing many of the Romans in turn drove the remainder back to the ships.

While the fugitives were forcing their way into these in crowds anywhere they could, Caesar and many others fell into the sea. He would have perished miserably, being weighted down by his robes and pelted by the Egyptians (for his garments, being of purple, offered a good mark), had he not thrown off his clothing and then succeeded in swimming out to where a skiff lay, which he boarded.

For while Caesar could defend in a fashion those of them who came ashore on the Libyan side, yet near the mouth of the Nile the Egyptians deceived many of his men by means of signal fires, as if they too were Romans, and thus captured them, so that the rest no longer ventured to come to land, until Tiberius Claudius Nero at this time sailed up the river itself, conquered the foe in battle, and made it safer for his followers to come to land.

So then, finding themselves unable to seize him in any way, inasmuch as he was skilfully guarded, they pretended that they were worn out by their disasters and desired peace; and they sent to Caesar, making overtures and asking for Ptolemy, in order, as they claimed, that they might consult with him about the terms on which a truce could be effected.

Now Caesar believed that they had in very truth changed their mind, since he heard that they were cowardly and fickle in general and perceived that at this time they were terrified in the face of their defeats; but even in case they should be planning some trick, in order that he might not be regarded as hindering peace, he said that he approved their request, and sent them Ptolemy.

Now 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.