CAESAR IN EGYPT.
[Sidenote: Caesar after the battle of Pharsalia.]
Caesar surveyed the field of battle after the victory of Pharsalia, not
with the feelings of exultation which might have been expected in a
victorious general, but with compassion and sorrow for the fallen
soldiers whose dead bodies covered the ground. After gazing upon the
scene sadly and in silence for a time, he said, "They would have it so,"
and thus dismissed from his mind all sense of his own responsibility for
the consequences which had ensued.
[Sidenote: His clemency.]
[Sidenote: Caesar pursues Pompey.]
He treated the immense body of prisoners which had fallen into his hands
with great clemency, partly from the natural impulses of his
disposition, which were always generous and noble, and partly from
policy, that he might conciliate them all, officers and soldiers, to
acquiescence in his future rule. He then sent back a large portion of
his force to Italy, and, taking a body of cavalry from the rest, in
order that he might advance with the utmost possible rapidity, he set
off through Thessaly and Macedon in pursuit of his fugitive foe.
[Sidenote: Treasures of the Temple of Diana.]
He had no naval force at his command, and he accordingly kept upon the
land. Besides, he wished, by moving through the country at the head of
an armed force, to make a demonstration which should put down any
attempt that might be made in arty quarter to rally or concentrate a
force in Pompey's favor. He crossed the Hellespont, and moved down the
coast of Asia Minor. There was a great temple consecrated to Diana at
Ephesus, which, for its wealth and magnificence, was then the wonder of
the world. The authorities who had it in their charge, not aware of
Caesar's approach, had concluded to withdraw the treasures from the
temple and loan them to Pompey, to be repaid when he should have
regained his Dower. An assembly was accordingly convened to witness the
delivery of the treasures, and take note of their value, which ceremony
was to be performed with great formality and parade, when they learned
that Caesar had crossed the Hellespont and was drawing near. The whole
proceeding was thus arrested, and the treasures were retained.
[Sidenote: Caesar in Asia Minor.]
[Sidenote: He sails for Egypt.]
Caesar passed rapidly on through Asia Minor, examining and comparing,
as he advanced, the vague rumors which were continually coming in in
respect to Pompey's movements. He learned at length that he had gone to
Cyprus; he presumed that his destination was Egypt, and he immediately
resolved to provide himself with a fleet, and follow him thither by sea.
As time passed on, and the news of Pompey's defeat and flight, and of
Caesar's triumphant pursuit of him, became generally extended and
confirmed, the various powers ruling in all that region of the world
abandoned one after another the hopeless cause, and began to adhere to
Caesar. They offered him such resources and aid as he might desire. He
did not, however, stop to organize a large fleet or to collect an army.
He depended, like Napoleon, in all the great movements of his life, not
on grandeur of preparation, but on celerity of action. He organized at
Rhodes a small but very efficient fleet of ten galleys, and, embarking
his best troops in them, he made sail for the coasts of Egypt. Pompey
had landed at Pelusium, on the eastern frontier, having heard that the
young king and his court were there to meet and resist Cleopatra's
invasion. Caesar, however, with the characteristic boldness and energy
of his character, proceeded directly to Alexandria, the capital.
[Sidenote: Caesar at Alexandria.]
Egypt was, in those days, an _ally_ of the Romans, as the phrase was;
that is, the country, though it preserved its independent organization
and its forms of royalty, was still united to the Roman people by an
intimate league, so as to form an integral part of the great empire.
Caesar, consequently, in appearing there with an armed force, would
naturally be received as a friend. He found only the garrison which
Ptolemy's government had left in charge of the city. At first the
officers of this garrison gave him an outwardly friendly reception, but
they soon began to take offense at the air of authority and command
which he assumed, and which seemed to them to indicate a spirit of
encroachment on the sovereignty of their own king.
[Sidenote: The Roman fasces.]
[Sidenote: The lictors.]
Feelings of deeply-seated alienation and animosity sometimes find their
outward expression in contests about things intrinsically of very little
importance. It was so in this case. The Roman consuls were accustomed to
use a certain badge of authority called the _fasces_. It consisted of a
bundle of rods, bound around the handle of an ax. Whenever a consul
appeared in public, he was preceded by two officers called _lictors_,
each of whom carried the fasces as a symbol of the power which was
vested in the distinguished personage who followed them.
The Egyptian officers and the people of the city quarreled with Caesar
on account of his moving about among them in his imperial state,
accompanied by a life guard, and preceded by the lictors. Contests
occurred between his troops and those of the garrison, and many
disturbances were created in the streets of the city. Although no
serious collision took place, Caesar thought it prudent to strengthen
his force, and he sent back to Europe for additional legions to come to
Egypt and join him.
[Sidenote: Pompey's head sent to Caesar.]
[Sidenote: Caesar mourns Pompey.]
The tidings of Pompey's death came to Caesar at Alexandria, and with
them the head of the murdered man, which was sent by the government of
Ptolemy, they supposing that it would be an acceptable gift to Caesar.
Instead of being pleased with it, Caesar turned from the shocking
spectacle in horror. Pompey had been, for many years now gone by,
Caesar's colleague and friend. He had been his son-in-law, and thus had
sustained to him a very near and endearing relation. In the contest
which had at last unfortunately arisen, Pompey had done no wrong either
to Caesar or to the government at Rome. He was the injured party, so far
as there was a right and a wrong to such a quarrel. And now, after being
hunted through half the world by his triumphant enemy, he had been
treacherously murdered by men pretending to receive him as a friend. The
natural sense of justice, which formed originally so strong a trait in
Caesar's character, was not yet wholly extinguished. He could not but
feel some remorse at the thoughts of the long course of violence and
wrong which he had pursued against his old champion and friend, and
which had led at last to so dreadful an end. Instead of being pleased
with the horrid trophy which the Egyptians sent him, he mourned the
death of his great rival with sincere and unaffected grief, and was
filled with indignation against his murderers.
[Sidenote: Pompey's signet ring.]
[Sidenote: Caesar's respect for Pompey's memory.]
[Sidenote: Pompey's Pillar.]
[Sidenote: Origin of Pompey's Pillar.]
[Illustration: Pompey's Pillar.]
Pompey had a signet ring upon his finger at the time of his
assassination, which was taken off by the Egyptian officers and carried
away to Ptolemy, together with the other articles of value which had
been found upon his person. Ptolemy sent this seal to Caesar to complete
the proof that its possessor was no more. Caesar received _this_
memorial with eager though mournful pleasure, and he preserved it with
great care. And in many ways, during all the remainder of his life, he
manifested every outward indication of cherishing the highest respect
for Pompey's memory. There stands to the present day, among the ruins of
Alexandria, a beautiful column, about one hundred feet high, which has
been known in all modern times as POMPEY'S PILLAR. It is formed of
stone, and is in three parts. One stone forms the pedestal, another the
shaft, and a third the capital. The beauty of this column, the
perfection of its workmanship, which still continues in excellent
preservation, and its antiquity, so great that all distinct record of
its origin is lost, have combined to make it for many ages the wonder
and admiration of mankind. Although no history of its origin has come
down to us, a tradition has descended that Caesar built it during his
residence in Egypt, to commemorate the name of Pompey; but whether it
was his own victory over Pompey, or Pompey's own character and military
fame which the structure was intended to signalize to mankind, can not
now be known. There is even some doubt whether it was erected by
Caesar at all.
[Sidenote: Surrender of Pompey's officers.]
[Sidenote: Caesar's generosity.]
While Caesar was in Alexandria, many of Pompey's officers, now that
their master was dead, and there was no longer any possibility of their
rallying again under his guidance and command, came in and surrendered
themselves to him. He received them with great kindness, and, instead of
visiting them with any penalties for having fought against him, he
honored the fidelity and bravery they had evinced in the service of
their own former master. Caesar had, in fact, shown the same generosity
to the soldiers of Pompey's army that he had taken prisoners at the
battle of Pharsalia. At the close of the battle, he issued orders that
each one of his soldiers should have permission to _save_ one of the
enemy. Nothing could more strikingly exemplify both the generosity and
the tact that marked the great conqueror's character than this incident.
The hatred and revenge which had animated his victorious soldiery in the
battle and in the pursuit, were changed immediately by the permission to
compassion and good will. The ferocious soldiers turned at once from the
pleasure of hunting their discomfited enemies to death, to that of
protecting and defending them; and the way was prepared for their being
received into his service, and incorporated with the rest of his army as
friends and brothers.
[Sidenote: His position at Alexandria.]
[Sidenote: Caesar's interference in Egyptian affairs.]
Caesar soon found himself in so strong a position at Alexandria, that he
determined to exercise his authority as Roman consul to settle the
dispute in respect to the succession of the Egyptian crown. There was no
difficulty in finding pretexts for interfering in the affairs of Egypt.
In the first place, there was, as he contended, great anarchy and
confusion at Alexandria, people taking different sides in the
controversy with such fierceness as to render it impossible that good
government and public order should be restored until this great question
was settled. He also claimed a debt due from the Egyptian government,
which Photinus, Ptolemy's minister at Alexandria, was very dilatory in
paying. This led to animosities and disputes; and, finally, Caesar
found, or pretended to find, evidence that Photinus was forming plots
against his life. At length Caesar determined on taking decided action.
He sent orders both to Ptolemy and to Cleopatra to disband their forces,
to repair to Alexandria, and lay their respective claims before him for
his adjudication.
[Sidenote: Cleopatra.]
Cleopatra complied with this summons, and returned to Egypt with a view
to submitting her case to Caesar's arbitration. Ptolemy determined to
resist. He advanced toward Egypt, but it was at the head of his army,
and with a determination to drive Caesar and all his Roman
followers away.
[Sidenote: Caesar's guilty passion for Cleopatra.]
When Cleopatra arrived, she found that the avenues of approach to
Caesar's quarters were all in possession of her enemies, so that, in
attempting to join him, she incurred danger of falling into their hands
as a prisoner. She resorted to a stratagem, as the story is, to gain a
secret admission. They rolled her up in a sort of bale of bedding or
carpeting, and she was carried in in this way on the back of a man,
through the guards, who might otherwise have intercepted her. Caesar was
very much pleased with this device, and with the successful result of
it. Cleopatra, too, was young and beautiful, and Caesar immediately
conceived a strong but guilty attachment to her, which she readily
returned. Caesar espoused her cause, and decided that she and Ptolemy
should jointly occupy the throne.
[Sidenote: Resistance of Ptolemy.]
[Sidenote: The Alexandrine war.]
Ptolemy and his partisans were determined not to submit to this award.
The consequence was, a violent and protracted war. Ptolemy was not only
incensed at being deprived of what he considered his just right to the
realm, he was also half distracted at the thought of his sister's
disgraceful connection with Caesar. His excitement and distress, and the
exertions and efforts to which they aroused him, awakened a strong
sympathy in his cause among the people, and Caesar found himself
involved in a very serious contest, in which his own life was brought
repeatedly into the most imminent danger, and which seriously threatened
the total destruction of his power. He, however, braved all the
difficulty and dangers, and recklessly persisted in the course he had
taken, under the influence of the infatuation in which his attachment to
Cleopatra held him, as by a spell.
[Sidenote: The Pharos.]
[Sidenote: Great splendor of the Pharos.]
The war in which Caesar was thus involved by his efforts to give
Cleopatra a seat with her brother on the Egyptian throne, is called in
history the Alexandrine war. It was marked by many strange and romantic
incidents. There was a light-house, called the Pharos, on a small island
opposite the harbor of Alexandria, and it was so famed, both on account
of the great magnificence of the edifice itself, and also on account of
its position at the entrance to the greatest commercial port in the
world, that it has given its name, as a generic appellation, to all
other structures of the kind--any light-house being now called a Pharos,
just as any serious difficulty is called a Gordian knot. The Pharos was
a lofty tower--the accounts say that it was five hundred feet in height,
which would be an enormous elevation for such a structure--and in a
lantern at the top a brilliant light was kept constantly burning, which
could be seen over the water for a hundred miles. The tower was built in
several successive stories, each being ornamented with balustrades,
galleries, and columns, so that the splendor of the architecture by day
rivaled the brilliancy of the radiation which beamed from the summit by
night. Far and wide over the stormy waters of the Mediterranean this
meteor glowed, inviting and guiding the mariners in; and both its
welcome and its guidance were doubly prized in those ancient days, when
there was neither compass nor sextant on which they could rely. In the
course of the contest with the Egyptians, Caesar took possession of the
Pharos, and of the island on which it stood; and as the Pharos was then
regarded as one of the seven wonders of the world, the fame of the
exploit, though it was probably nothing remarkable in a military point
of view, spread rapidly throughout the world.
[Sidenote: It is captured by Caesar.]
And yet, though the capture of a light-house was no very extraordinary
conquest, in the course of the contests on the harbor which were
connected with it Caesar had a very narrow escape from death. In all
such struggles he was accustomed always to take personally his full
share of the exposure and the danger. This resulted in part from the
natural impetuosity and ardor of his character, which were always
aroused to double intensity of action by the excitement of battle, and
partly from the ideas of the military duty of a commander which
prevailed in those days. There was besides, in this case, an additional
inducement to acquire the glory of extraordinary exploits, in Caesar's
desire to be the object of Cleopatra's admiration, who watched all his
movements, and who was doubly pleased with his prowess and bravery,
since she saw that they were exercised for her sake and in her cause.
[Sidenote: Situation of the Pharos.]
[Sidenote: Caesar's personal danger.]
[Sidenote: Caesar's narrow escape.]
The Pharos was built upon an island, which was connected by a pier or
bridge with the main land. In the course of the attack upon this bridge,
Caesar, with a party of his followers, got driven back and hemmed in by
a body of the enemy that surrounded them, in such a place that the only
mode of escape seemed to be by a boat, which might take them to a
neighboring galley. They began, therefore, all to crowd into the boat in
confusion, and so overloaded it that it was obviously in imminent danger
of being upset or of sinking. The upsetting or sinking of an overloaded
boat brings almost certain destruction upon most of the passengers,
whether swimmers or not, as they seize each other in their terror, and
go down inextricably entangled together, each held by the others in the
convulsive grasp with which drowning men always cling to whatever is
within their reach. Caesar, anticipating this danger, leaped over into
the sea and swam to the ship. He had some papers in his hand at the
time--plans, perhaps, of the works which he was assailing. These he held
above the water with his left hand, while he swam with the right. And to
save his purple cloak or mantle, the emblem of his imperial dignity,
which he supposed the enemy would eagerly seek to obtain as a trophy, he
seized it by a corner between his teeth, and drew it after him through
the water as he swam toward the galley. The boat which he thus escaped
from soon after went down, with all on board.
[Sidenote: The Alexandrian library.]
[Sidenote: Burning of the Alexandrian library.]
During the progress of this Alexandrine war one great disaster occurred,
which has given to the contest a most melancholy celebrity in all
subsequent ages: this disaster was the destruction of the Alexandrian
library. The Egyptians were celebrated for their learning, and, under
the munificent patronage of some of their kings, the learned men of
Alexandria had made an enormous collection of writings, which were
inscribed, as was the custom in those days, on parchment rolls. The
number of the rolls or volumes was said to be seven hundred thousand;
and when we consider that each one was written with great care, in
beautiful characters, with a pen, and at a vast expense, it is not
surprising that the collection was the admiration of the world. In fact,
the whole body of ancient literature was there recorded. Caesar set fire
to some Egyptian galleys, which lay so near the shore that the wind blew
the sparks and flames upon the buildings on the quay. The fire spread
among the palaces and other magnificent edifices of that part of the
city, and one of the great buildings in which the library was stored was
reached and destroyed. There was no other such collection in the world;
and the consequence of this calamity has been, that it is only detached
and insulated fragments of ancient literature and science that have come
down to our times. The world will never cease to mourn the
irreparable loss.
[Sidenote: Caesar returns to Rome.]
Notwithstanding the various untoward incidents which attended the war in
Alexandria during its progress, Caesar, as usual, conquered in the end.
The young king Ptolemy was defeated, and, in attempting to make his
escape across a branch of the Nile, he was drowned. Caesar then finally
settled the kingdom upon Cleopatra and a younger brother, and, after
remaining for some time longer in Egypt, he set out on his return
to Rome.
[Illustration: Cleopatra's Barge]
[Sidenote: Subsequent adventures of Cleopatra.]
The subsequent adventures of Cleopatra were as romantic as to have given
her name a very wide celebrity. The lives of the virtuous pass smoothly
and happily away, but the tale, when told to others, possesses but
little interest or attraction; while those of the wicked, whose days are
spent in wretchedness and despair, and are thus full of misery to the
actors themselves, afford to the rest of mankind a high degree of
pleasure, from the dramatic interest of the story.
[Sidenote: Her splendid barge.]
[Sidenote: Anthony and Octavius.]
[Sidenote: Death of Cleopatra.]
Cleopatra led a life of splendid sin, and, of course, of splendid
misery. She visited Caesar in Rome after his return thither. Caesar
received her magnificently, and paid her all possible honors; but the
people of Rome regarded her with strong reprobation. When her young
brother, whom Caesar had made her partner on the throne, was old enough
to claim his share, she poisoned him. After Caesar's death, she went
from Alexandria to Syria to meet Antony, one of Caesar's successors, in
a galley or barge, which was so rich, so splendid, so magnificently
furnished and adorned, that it was famed throughout the world as
Cleopatra's barge. A great many beautiful vessels have since been called
by the same name. Cleopatra connected herself with Antony, who became
infatuated with her beauty and her various charms as Caesar had been.
After a great variety of romantic adventures, Antony was defeated in
battle by his great rival Octavius, and, supposing that he had been
betrayed by Cleopatra, he pursued her to Egypt, intending to kill her.
She hid herself in a sepulcher, spreading a report that she had
committed suicide, and then Antony stabbed himself in a fit of remorse
and despair. Before he died, he learned that Cleopatra was alive, and he
caused himself to be carried into her presence and died in her arms.
Cleopatra then fell into the hands of Octavius, who intended to carry
her to Rome to grace his triumph. To save herself from this humiliation,
and weary with a life which, full of sin as it had been, was a constant
series of sufferings, she determined to die. A servant brought in an asp
for her, concealed in a vase of flowers, at a great banquet. She laid
the poisonous reptile on her naked arm, and died immediately of the bite
which it inflicted.