Rome 1.08 - Caesarion

After defeating Pompey at the Battle of Pharsalus, Caesar pursues him to Alexandria, not knowing that Pompey is already dead. He's greeted by the Pharaoh Ptolemy XIII, an insolent 12-year-old boy. He speaks defiantly to Caesar, while his advisers try to calm him down.

The Egyptians offer Caesar Pompey's head on a plate, expecting him to be happy at the death of his foe. I remember this story in my school lessons about Roman history. When Caesar saw Pompey was dead, he wept for his old friend. Even though they'd fought a battle, he never wanted Pompey dead. He would have been content with imprisoning him, or even giving him house arrest where Caesar could have visited him to talk about the good old days. Caesar told Ptolemy that he wanted the man who killed Pompey delivered to him. The advisers agree to this, despite Ptolemy's complaints. Then Caesar says that he wants immediate repayment of the debts invoked by Ptolemy's father, 17 million drachma. It's hard to say exactly how much that would be worth today, because there are disagreements on the value of a drachma, but assuming it was worth $50, that would be $85,000,000.

Caesar hands Ptolemy a scroll with a list of the debts. Ptolemy throws it on the floor and refuses to pay. The advisers try to be diplomatic. They say they're unable to pay such a large sum immediately, because there have been problems collecting taxes. They say that supporters of Ptolemy's older sister Cleopatra have been refusing to pay taxes. Caesar says that Cleopatra should come to the palace so that the arguments between the two can be settled. They say that they don't know where she is, which Caesar considers to be a lie.

Caesar sends Mark Antony back to Rome, even though Mark warns him that Caesar won't have enough men to defend himself if the Egyptians attack him.

Cleopatra is being held in house arrest in a nearby village. She's harmless. She's an opium addict. Now that Caesar wants to meet her, Ptolemy orders her death. He sends assassins to kill her. Vorenus and Pullo follow the assassins, and they kill them as soon as they enter Cleopatra's tent.

This is what Cleopatra looks like without her royal wig. She's not so glamorous. Her servants tell her that she's incapable of facing her brother because she's an opium addict. She says it's over. She throws her opium pipe on the ground and never smokes it again. She was a strong woman.

Some people claim that Cleopatra was the most beautiful woman who ever lived. Other historians say that this is propaganda, and her looks were only average. The TV series leans to the latter opinion. What really is true is that she was a highly intelligent woman and a shrewd politician.

Cleopatra says that she needs to have a child by Caesar, but she can't wait until she sees him, because her womb is between the flood, and the next day will be too late to conceive. She asks Vorenus to have sex with her, but he refuses. He sends Pullo to her, who doesn't hesitate to do his duty.

On the next day they travel to Alexandria. Vorenus and Pullo wrap her in a carpet, so that she can't be recognised when they bring her to the palace. When Caesar sees her he's immediately enamoured. Cleopatra reminds Caesar that his three wives only gave him one daughter between them, but she can give him a son. He doesn't need any more encouragement.

Caesar kills the advisers, but Ptolemy himself escapes. The expected attack comes. Caesar seals the castle, and a siege ensues. Apart from small skirmishes, the siege lasts ten months. At the end Caesar emerges, proudly carrying his new son Caesarion on his arm.

This was another remarkable victory for Caesar. He had only 4,000 soldiers to stand against 20,000 Egyptians. Even considering the better training of Roman soldiers, these were overwhelming odds. Caesar is often called the greatest general in history. Maybe that's true; maybe it's because the Gods were on his side.

The episode suggests that Pullo was Caesarion's father. Obviously that's fiction, because we have no way of knowing that Titus Pullo was with Caesar in Egypt. On the other hand, historians have doubts that Caesar was Caesarion's father. There are suspicions that he was infertile. He only had one daughter from his first marriage, and there are doubts whether she was his child. The modern consensus is that Caesarion was fathered by another man.

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