(1) Mox Caesar Alexandrīam vēnit. Ipsī quoque Ptolemaeus parāre voluit īnsidiās, quā causā bellum rēgī inlātum est. Victus in Nīlō periit inventumque est corpus eius cum lōrīcā aureā.

(2) Caesar Alexandrīā potītus regnum Cleopatrae dedit, Ptolemaeī sorōrī, cum quā consuetudinem stuprī habuerat. Rediēns inde Caesar Pharnacēn, Mithridātis Māgnī fīlium, quī Pompēiō in auxiliō apud Thessaliam fuerat, rebellantem in Pontō et multās populī Rōmānī prōvinciās occupantem vīcit aciē, posteā ad mortem coēgit.

    Caesar Defeats Ptolemy, 47 BCE

    (1) Alexandrīam vēnit: Caesar arrived at Alexandria three days after Pompey's death with a small force of less than 4,000 men. He attempted to settle the conflict between Ptolemy XIII and his sister, Cleopatra, and collect the money which Ptolemy had agreed to pay the triumvirs for their recognition of him. Ptolemy's minsters were offended by his autocratic behavior and incited the royal guards and city mob to attack him. Throughout the winter of 48/47 BCE Caesar was besieged in the palace quarters with Cleopatra who had been smuggled in. Reinforcements from Syria and Judaea under Mithridates of Pergamum arrived in early spring and enabled Caesar to defeat Ptolemy's army in the Nile Delta and the king died. The crown was awarded to Ptolemy XIV, a younger brother, but Cleopatra in effect ruled Egypt as co-regent (Bird).

    Ipsī: Caesarī, dative object of compound verb inlātum est (LS infero I.β)

    Victus in Nīlō: Caesar conquered the royal forces on the banks of the Nile (Hazzard)

    eius: refers to Ptolemy

    (2) Alexandrīā potītus: deponent verb potior takes an ablative object (LS potior I.γ). When Caesar set fire to the royal fleet, the flames consumed the great library of Alexandria, containing 400,000 volumes. In this fire some of the greatest literary treasures of antiquity perished (Hazzard).

    Cleopatrae: Cleopatra was the famous pharaoh who later aligned with Antony, cf. Brev. 7.6 and 7.7.

    cum quā consuetudinem stupri habuerat: "with whom he had had a shameful relationship" (Bird). consuetudō is a sexual relationship (= amor, concubitus), and stuprum suggests it was immoral.

    Pharnacēn: marching into Asia Minor via Syria Caesar swiftly defeated Pharnaces II of Bosporus on August 1, 47 BCE at Zela in southern Pontus, where Pharnaces’ father, Mithridates, had defeated C. Triarius in 67 BCE (Bird).

    Pompēiō in auxilium: Eutropius seldom uses the double dative (AG 382 n.1).

    vīcit aciē: It was after this battle that Caesar sent to the senate the famous message vēnī, vīdī, vīcī, "I came, I saw, I conquered" (Hazzard).

    Core Vocabulary | Numbers | Dates

     

    Caesar, aris, m.

    a family name in the Julian gens. (1) C. Iūlius Caesar, the famous dictator; (2) Sex. Iūlius Caesar, uncle of the dictator. Consul 91 B.C.; (3) C. Octāviānus, the emperor Augustus

    Alexandrīa, ae, f.

    a city in Egypt, at the mouth of the Nile, founded by Alexander the Great, 331 B.C.

    Ptolemaeus, ī, m.

    a name borne by the kings of Egypt after the time of Alexander the Great; (1) Ptolemaeus Philadelphius, 285247 B.C.; (2) Ptolemaeus Euergetēs, 247222 B.C.; (3) Ptolemaeus Philometor, 181146 B.C.; (4) Ptolemaeus Aulētēs, 4743 B.C.

    īnsidiae, ārum [īnsideō, to sit upon], pl. f.

    ambush; treachery

    Nīlus, ī, m.

    the river Nile

    lōrīca, ae [lōrum, a strap], f.

    a corselet of leather, a coat of mail

    potior, īrī, ītus sum [potis, able]

    to get possession, acquire

    Cleopatra, ae, f.

    the famous queen of Egypt

    stuprum, ī, n.

    debauchery, defilement, dishonor

    Pharnacēs, is, m., Gr. acc. Pharnacēn

    the son of Mithradates, who succeeded his father as king of Pontus

    Mithradātēs, is, m.

    surnamed the Great, king of Pontus 120–63 B.C.

    Pompēius, ī, m.

    (1) Cn. Pompēius, consul 89 B.C.; (2) Cn. Pompēius, surnamed Magnus, the triumvir, consul 70 B.C.; (3) Cn. Pompēius, son of the triumvir; (4) Q. Pompēius, consul 141 B.C.; (5) Sex. Pompēius, younger son of the triumvir

    Thessalia, ae, f.

    a large district in the northeastern part of Greece

    rebellō, āre, āvī, ātus

    to wage war again, rebel

    Pontus, ī, m.

    (1) Pontus Euxīnus, the Black Sea; (2) a country of Asia Minor on the Black Sea

     

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