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Caesar and Cleopatra
Egypt and the Mediterranean
• Once Rome had asserted itself as a dominant
Mediterranean power by defeating Carthage in
the first and second Punic Wars, Egypt became
keenly interested in allying with Rome
• Even before the Punic Wars Ptolemy II had made
a treaty with Rome
• Egypt was not fully a "client state" of Rome but
was subject to Roman intervention and was in
fact dependent on Rome and got into the habit of
appealing to Rome to settle problems within
Egypt
Egypt and Rome
• Ptolemy VIII (Cleopatra's grandfather) willed part of the
Ptolemaic empire (Cyrenaica) to the Romans if he died
without an heir (he didn't)
• The Romans for their part didn't try to annex Egypt at
this time: the senate feared that whoever was put in
charge of Egypt would have access to so much wealth
that he would be a threat to Rome
• Sulla (a powerful politician in Rome) intervened to the
extent that he placed a new king (Ptolemy XI) on the
throne during a time of political unrest
• The Alexandrians, however, killed Ptolemy XI (a
Macedonian practice)
Ptolemy XII
• Known as Auletes (the Piper) for his love
of music and also as Nothos (Bastard)
because his parents were Ptolemy IX and a
concubine
• He took Philopator (lover of his father) as
an official title (perhaps to emphasize the
legitimate side of his ancestry)
• 6 yrs later Cleopatra was born (70-69 BC);
at this time there was disagreement in
Rome over whether Egypt should be
annexed (Julius Caesar seems to have
been in favor)
Coin of Ptolemy XII
The Romans
• In 60 BC Caesar, Pompey and Crassus formed the First
Triumvirate and unofficially ruled the Roman world
• They agreed to support Auletes' rule in Egypt but
demanded payment in return
• Auletes borrowed the money from a Roman moneylender, Rabirius
• To repay it, Auletes had to impose taxes on his people
and they revolted
• He fled to Rome and meanwhile the Egyptians put his
eldest daughter Cleopatra VI on the throne
• Cleopatra VII may have gone with her father
Problems for Ptolemy XII
• Auletes' enemies at
Alexandria also sent a
deputation to Rome to
complain about the king
• A number of them were
killed upon their arrival in
Italy: various Romans were
accused of being involved
but it seems that Auletes
was primarily to blame
Ptolemy XII as Dionysus
Ptolemy XII restored to the throne
• After giving bribes to various Romans Auletes retreated
to Asia Minor to wait for the Romans to restore him to
the throne
• The Roman governor of Syria (by this time a Roman
province) Gabinius was given the job (again for a fee)
• In the course of the struggle, Cleopatra VI was killed or
exiled
• Gabinius' chief cavalry officer was Mark Antony so
Cleopatra probably first met him during this time (she
was about 14)
• Her older sister Berenike IV was executed leaving
Cleopatra as heir apparent
Rome and Egypt: Essentials
• Egypt was just one of the kingdoms ruled by the successors of
Alexander and there were frequent rivalries.
• Egypt needed Rome's power and frequently took help from Rome
against rival kingdoms.
• This meant that Rome needed a reward and several of the
Ptolemies bequeathed parts of their empire to Rome in their wills.
• Rome did not take them up on it—the senate feared that whoever
was assigned to Egypt as a provincial governor would have the
chance to acquire so much money and power that he would be a
threat to Rome.
• Julius Caesar and Crassus were anxious to make Egypt a province
but the senate did not let that happen and so Egypt remained
independent and Ptolemy XII known as Auletes the flute player
came to power.
Caesar and Crassus
Gaius Julius Caesar
Marcus Licinius Crassus
Ptolemy XII Auletes
• Ptolemy XII was hastily installed on
the throne despite being an
illegitimate son of Ptolemy IX by a
concubine in order to prevent the
Romans from taking advantage of
political disorder in the wake of the
murder of Ptolemy XI by the
Alexandrian people
• Auletes was extravagant—he called
himself the new Dionysus and
enjoyed parties and banquets
• He ignored financial problems and
allowed corruption to flourish
Ptolemy XII Auletes
Pompey
• Unlike Caesar and Crassus,
Pompey seemed content to
maintain Egyptian
independence
• In 64 BC he made Syria a
Roman province, removing one
of the threats to the Ptolemaic
kingdom
• In return, Auletes made an
alliance with him and sent him
cavalry for his wars
Pompey the Great
The First Triumvirate
• In 60 BC Pompey allied with Caesar and Crassus in the socalled First Triumvirate (an informal alliance that did not
have official legal status) which made Auletes nervous
• The Triumvirs agreed to support Auletes against rebellious
elements in Egypt (for a price).
• Auletes sent 6000 talents (millions of dollars) to Rome and
in return received official recognition as an ally and friend
of the Roman people.
• He borrowed the money from Rabirius, a Roman financier,
and the new taxes he had to impose in Egypt to repay it
were part of the cause of a major revolt that caused
Auletes to flee Alexandria.
Mark Antony
• Auletes went to Rome in 57 and
tried to get the Romans to
restore him to the throne.
• Rome finally agreed to intervene
and Pompey's forces invaded
under the leadership of Gabinius
the governor of Syria. His cavalry
commander was Mark Antony,
then 25 or 26.
• Auletes returned to power and
Roman forces remained in Egypt
as a military guard.
Mark Antony
Cleopatra’s early career
• When Ptolemy Auletes died in 51
BC his will named as his
successors Cleopatra (age 18)
and Ptolemy XIII (age 10).
• According to Ptolemaic dynastic
law they had to marry.
• Cleopatra took as a title
Philopator (she who loves her
father).
• Although she was co-ruler with
Ptolemy XIII, he was so young
she was effectively the sole ruler
Cleopatra VII, c. 50 BC
Cleopatra’s power
• She now had the powers of the Pharaohs—
she was the law, she owned her subjects as
well as the territory of Egypt, and she was a
living goddess; she personified the state.
Coin of Cleopatra
British ten pound note
Cleopatra’s education
• Her education would have been the same as a boy's since
daughters ruled alongside their brother-husbands.
• Scholarship was valued greatly in Alexandria.
• The course of study in the Hellenistic period was based on
Greek literature, rhetoric, and science. She also would have
learned to draw, play the lyre, sing, and ride horses.
• Plutarch tells us she had a particular talent for foreign
languages:
– “It was a pleasure merely to hear the sound of her voice, with
which, like an instrument of many strings, she could pass from one
language to another; so that there were few of the barbarian
nations that she answered by an interpreter; to most of them she
spoke herself, as to the Ethiopians, Troglodytes, Hebrews,
Arabians, Syrians, Medes, Parthians, and many others, whose
languages she had learned."
Alexandrian politics
• Bureaucracy was paralyzing the country; there
were famines in 50 and 49 BC, as well as peasant
rebellions and hostility within the royal family.
• Cleopatra’s younger sister Arsinoe IV wanted the
throne and her brother-husband Ptolemy XIII was
being manipulated against her by 3 advisors:
Pothinus (Egyptian eunuch servant), Theodotus
(Sicilian tutor), and Achillas (Greco-Egyptian
general).
Cleopatra and Rome
• She wished to avoid war with Rome and offered
Pompey her support in his rivalry with Julius Caesar for
control of Rome.
– Pompey had been an ally of the Ptolemies and at this time
seemed stronger than Caesar although Caesar had driven
him out of Rome in 49 BC.
• Cleopatra's aid to Pompey was not popular with the
Alexandrians but it was intrigues by Ptolemy and
Arsinoe that forced her to flee Alexandria and seek
refuge among the Arab tribes east of Egypt's border.
• She attempted to raise an army and re-enter
Alexandria but was stopped by Ptolemy's troops.
Caesar and Pompey
• Crassus had died in 53 leaving Caesar and
Pompey competing for power.
• Caesar crossed the Rubicon river in 49 BC
entering Italy with his army, a move that
constituted a declaration of civil war against
Pompey.
• Pompey was defeated in 48 BC at the battle of
Pharsalus in Greece. He fled to Egypt hoping
for asylum with the Ptolemies.
Pompey arrives in Egypt
• Ptolemy XIII's advisors decided that Pompey should be
killed because it would earn them Caesar's gratitude; also
Pompey had a claim on Ptolemy (Pompey had been
appointed as a guardian to Ptolemy) and Pompey was in
charge of the Roman troops in Egypt.
• If Pompey honored these obligations, Egypt would have
been Pompey's headquarters in what Ptolemy's advisors
recognized would be a doomed resistance to Caesar.
• The consequences would have been disastrous for Egypt
and the Ptolemies, particularly given Egypt's own internal
troubles over the succession and economic difficulties and
famine resulting from the failed harvest in 48 BC.
Caesar’s arrival in Egypt
• When Caesar arrived a few days later he did not
know of Pompey's fate and stayed on his ship not
sure what kind of reception he would get.
• Theodotus brought him Pompey's head and ring
as a tribute. It is said that Caesar wept at the
sight and then entered Alexandria reassured.
• With Pompey dead, Cleopatra's destiny
depended solely on Caesar.
Caesar and Cleopatra
• Cleopatra was not in
Alexandria when Caesar
arrived (she had gone into exile
east of Egypt's borders).
• Not clear whether she came to
Caesar of her own accord or
whether he summoned her
• Encounter has been
immortalized as the "carpet
scene" in which Cleopatra has
herself smuggled in to see
Caesar
“Cleopatra” (1964) starring Elizabeth Taylor
Caesar’s motives
• At this time Caesar 52 years old and Cleopatra 21 years old.
Our sources report a love affair.
• Caesar: although married now to Calpurnia (having
divorced his first wife Pompeia) he was known for his many
affairs (Suetonius calls him a husband to every woman and
a wife to every man and lists an impressive number of
queens Caesar was involved with); also seems to have been
fascinated with royalty and famous pedigrees
• Grant notes that it would have been easier for Caesar to
leave Cleopatra to her fate and support Ptolemy who was
favored by both Alexandrian political leadership and
Egyptian army so Cleopatra must have
convinced/captivated him
Cleopatra’s motives
• Cleopatra's motives
probably more
calculated:
– To secure her own power
– To maintain an
accommodation with
Rome
– To restore the glory of the
Ptolemies
– And perhaps to share in
world domination with
Caesar
Jean-Leon Gerome, “Cleopatra and Caesar” (1866)
Caesar’s decision
• Caesar appointed Cleopatra and Ptolemy
XIII joint rulers but all was not peaceful.
• His support of Cleopatra involved him in a
war with the Egyptians under Achillas
(Egyptian army outnumbered the Romans
5 to 1).
The Alexandrian War
•
•
The Romans burned the Egyptian fleet in the harbor of Alexandria (because success in
possession of the harbor was not assured).
In the resulting fire on land a large number of books were destroyed (not the library of
Alexandria but probably books awaiting transport to the library or perhaps export).
– The destruction of many Egyptian ships allowed Caesar to seize Pharos (the lighthouse at the
entrance to the harbor). The entrance was so narrow that no ship could enter without the consent
of whoever controlled Pharos.
•
•
•
•
Cleopatra's half-sister Arsinoe IV (who was supposed to be ruling with younger brother
Ptolemy XIV in Cyprus which Caesar had returned from Roman to Egyptian rule) made
her way to Achillas and was proclaimed queen by the army and the Alexandrian people
(an act of defiance against Romans).
Ptolemy XIII freed from house arrest and allowed by Caesar to leave and join the
Egyptian forces.
Caesar engineered the execution of Pothinus, alleging that he were plotting against him
but in fact it seems that Caesar learned of Pothinus' plan to join with Achillas and the
Egyptian troops.
Achillas was murdered in a struggle for power with a fellow Alexandrian.
Outcome of the war
• Cleopatra divorced Ptolemy XIII and Ptolemy disappeared in the
confusion of battle.
• Reports brought to Caesar stated that Ptolemy had drowned in the
Nile while escaping on an overloaded boat.
– According to Egyptian belief, drowning in the Nile conferred upon the
victim the blessing of Osiris. To prevent rumors that Ptolemy had used
this power to rise from the dead, Caesar had the Nile dredged and
when the body was found put Ptolemy's armor on display.
• Caesar married Cleopatra to her surviving brother, Ptolemy XIV and
installed them as joint rulers (with Cleopatra in charge).
• Caesar did not annex Egypt for Rome (annexation as a province the
most frequent result for a foreign enemy conquered by Romans)
because he feared that it would provide too powerful a base for a
future Roman governor.
Cruising
• Early in 47 BC Caesar and Cleopatra took a
cruise up the Nile (where he would have
observed great temples and the depiction
of pharaohs including Cleopatra as gods)
• Cleopatra probably already pregnant with
a child (probably Caesar's) whom the
Egyptians would call Caesarion ("Little
Caesar”); his name was actually Ptolemy
XV.
Caesarion
Coin from Cyprus showing
Cleopatra with infant Caesarion
Basalt statue, probably Caesarion (c. 35-30 BC)
Caesar’s triumphs
• Between September 20 and October 1, 46 BC,
Caesar celebrated 4 triumphs including one
over Egypt in which Cleopatra's sister Arsinoe
IV was forced to march in chains.
• When the Roman people objected to her
execution, Caesar pardoned her and granted
her sanctuary at the temple of Artemis in
Ephesus.
Cleopatra in Rome
• Soon afterwards Cleopatra arrived in Rome with
Caesarion and Ptolemy XIV.
• There is little information about her stay. But we
do know a few things:
– Caesar installed her in a mansion across the Tiber
– He dedicated the Temple of Venus Genetrix including
a marble statue of Venus and perhaps also a gilt
bronze statue of Cleopatra (presumably as Venus).
This would allude to:
• Cleopatra's status as Isis (since Isis identified with Venus)
• Perhaps to Cleopatra as mother of a line of kings by Caesar
The Ides of March
• Caesar was assassinated in a meeting of the
Roman Senate on March 15, 44 BC.
• Cleopatra now left out in the cold
• Caesar's will named not Caesarion but his
great-nephew Octavian as his heir
• Cleopatra and her retinue slip away to Egypt.
Cleopatra’s influence on Caesar
• Her example may have encouraged his regal
and divine ambitions.
• On a more tangible level:
– Calendar reform (Julian calendar solar rather than
lunar, made with guidance of an Egyptian
astronomer)
– Public libraries (on model of library of Alexandria)
The Egyptian Perspective
Egyptian Cosmology
• Cosmos brought into existence by creator god Re-Horakty
• Cosmos is in constant conflict:
–
–
–
–
Creation vs. destruction
Order vs. chaos
Life vs. death
Light vs. dark
• In order for the cycle to continue (for light to overcome darkness
each day with the rising of the sun) the creator Re had to renew the
act of creation
• Prayer necessary to persuade him to perpetuate the universe and
maintain it in its original order (Ma'at)
– Ma'at is a feminine divine principle personifying cosmic equilibrium
and life but also the principles of the political and social order and the
permanent exchange between the human community and the creative
force
Family tree of the Egyptian gods
• Brother-sister marriage
• In first 2 generations:
complementary nature of the
couples (Shu [air, light] and Tefnut
[heat, water]; Geb [earth] and Nut
[sky])
• Dualism appears in third
generation with Osiris and his evil
brother Seth
– both Osiris and Seth have sisterconsorts
• The child of Osiris and Isis is
Horus, the earthly king by divine
right (Pharaoh)
The Pharaoh
• The Pharaoh is the earthly emanation of
Horus, called "the living Horus" but he also is
Horus
• As the descendent of Re, the Pharaoh is also
charged with perpetuating and transmitting
Ma'at (order, salvation from chaos)
• Therefore there must be a Pharaoh and it
does not matter whether he is Egyptian,
Persian, Macedonian, or finally Roman
Horus
• Horus is often represented as a falcon and at some
temples a living falcon was chosen as his incarnation
Horus wearing the crowns of Upper
And Lower Egypt
Horus as Imperator
• A living ruler (even a
Roman) could be
represented as Horus.
Horus in Roman armor
Isis and Osiris
• In the myth Isis and Osiris
(god of vegetation) were
lovers even in their
mother's womb
• But Osiris was slain by his
evil brother Seth
• Isis seeks out his corpse,
briefly resurrects it, and
conceives Horus who kills
Seth and avenges his father
• On a mythic level, then,
Horus also defeats
destruction, darkness and
death
A painting on the wall of an unknown tomb at Tuna el Gebel
shows Isis and Osiris seated on their thrones
Anubis
• Divine guardian of the dead;
originally in the form of a
jackal; subsequently a human
figure with a dog's head
• He supervised embalming
and conducted the judgment
of the dead
• In the Hellenistic period he
was identified with Hermes
• He became part of the cult of
Isis
Relief showing Anubis
Apis
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•
•
The sacred bull worshipped at Memphis,
believed to have oracular powers
Bull identified by distinctive markings: the
black calf had a white diamond on its
forehead, an image of an eagle on its back,
double the number of hairs on its tail, and a
scarab mark under its tongue. Since the Apis
was so sacred, it stands to reason that its
mother (referred to as the "Isis cow") was
revered as well. (The god’s name in
Egyptian, Hapi, means “the hidden”—a
reference to this selection process by
discovering the bull within a herd)
When the bull died the body was embalmed
and carried in a procession to the
subterranean "great chambers" at Saqqara
Thousands of written requests for Apis to
bless individuals have been found there
The embalmed bull was called Osiris-Apis (>Sarapis)
The Buchis bull
• Another bull cult was the Buchis cult, which lasted until
about 362 AD. The Buchis bull was the representation
of the gods Re and Osiris, but it was also linked with
the god of war, Montu. A bull had to have the specific
colorings of a black face with a white body in order to
be considered Buchis.
• The center of the Buchis cult was the town of Armant.
Many generations of mummified Buchis bulls and their
mothers were laid to rest in a designated cemetery,
called the Bucheum, where the bulls were fastened to
wooden boards with metal staples that held the
forelegs and hindlegs in place
The Buchis Stele
• One of Cleopatra's first formal
appearances as queen was in
51 BC when the sacred bull at
Hermonthis died and
Cleopatra escorted a
replacement up the Nile, a
gesture that must have done
much to secure loyalty of
inhabitants of upper Egypt.
• The trip was commemorated
on an inscribed stone known
as the Buchis Stele.
The Buchis Stele
Sarapis (Latin Serapis)
• Greek form of Egyptian OsirisApis or Osorapis, the
combination of Osiris with the
Apis-bulls entombed at Saqqara
• Pilgrims to the site sought
healing by incubation (sleeping
in the sanctuary), oracles and
dream-interpretation
• The importance of Sarapis was
immediately understood by the
Ptolemies and they founded a
new Serapeum
• Hellenistic writers associate
Sarapis with Osiris, Dionysus,
Hades, Zeus, and Asclepius
• Statues tend to show the god
with ears of grain on his head
Serapis, 2nd c. AD
Isis: Iconography
•
•
Very ancient goddess: perhaps in origin the personification of the throne of the Pharaoh
One of her earliest and most fundamental roles that of mother, but not of Horus
–
•
•
•
•
Originally the mother of Horus was Hathor (the cow goddess) who was depicted with cow's horns encircling a solar
disc
This is the origin of Isis' crown consisting of cow's horns and a solar disc (2 of Isis' most common identifying
attributes although they happen to come from another goddess)
In fact, Isis and Hathor are often identified with one another
Elastic nature of Isis: she became a universal power identified with many other Egyptian goddesses and also
with some Greek and Roman divinities
Isis was assimilated with many beneficent goddesses including goddesses of sexual love but she is
especially a patron of sexual love within marriage
Isis, wall painting,
1360 BC
Isis and Hathor
Isis
Hathor
Isis and the Ptolemaic Queens
• Isis-Osiris brother-sister marriage a model for
the marriages of the Ptolemies
• Ptolemaic queens (esp. Arsinoe II) were
identified with Isis
Arsinoe II
Cleopatra’s self-presentation
• Cleopatra’s self-presentation involved
pageantry and spectacle (which the Romans
did also e.g. Julius Caesar's triumph)
• We can even think of her entry into Caesar's
quarters rolled up in bed linens as a sort of
staged action with a calculated result—to
display her courage and resourcefulness (even
her death had this staged quality—we'll get to
that later in the course)
Her Next Performance
•
•
•
•
Cruise up the Nile with Caesar
Historically: may have been a brief water
procession rather than the cruise later writers
have made it out to be
Symbolic meaning: the queen recently exiled
traveled up kingdom's main thoroughfare (and
its source of life and livelihood) with the man
who had recently become Rome's undisputed
ruler. This served to parade before her people
her newly confirmed monarchy and alliance with
mighty protector. The barge may have been
elaborately decorated but purpose would not
have been luxury for its occupants but show of
royal magnificence.
7 years later she staged a similar spectacle with
Antony on the Cydnus River in Asia Minor. On
that occasion, according to Plutarch she was
dressed as the goddess Venus. This not only
suggested that she had the power and allure of
Venus but also cast her personal relationship
with Antony as a divine union (she may in fact
have been representing herself as Isis, who was
identified with Venus)
Cleopatra and Isis
• Perhaps the most significant way in which
Cleopatra projected an image of divine power to
her subjects was through identification of herself
with the goddess Isis, as queens always were in
Egypt.
• By the time Cleopatra came to power the cult of
Isis was already widespread in the Greekspeaking Hellenistic world. (Originally association
with Isis was how the Ptolemaic dynasty gave
themselves legitimacy with their Egyptian
subjects)
Cleopatra, Isis, and Motherhood
• Isis appropriate for the queens for several
reasons but perhaps on of the most important
is that she was the mother of the Pharaoh.
Isis and Horus
Cleopatra and
Caesarion
Temple of Hathor, Dendera
• Cleopatra presents herself and Caesarion to the
Egyptians, showing them looking like Isis and
Horus
• By identifying Caesarion with Horus Cleopatra
claims divinity for him and presents him as the
boy who could bring new prosperity to Egypt as
heir to the Egyptian empire (and perhaps to that
of Rome as well) since Julius Caesar had been
deified after his death (making him an Osiris
figure)
Dendera Temple Relief
The Nile Mosaic, Palestrina
Nile Mosaic: location
• A presentation of Egypt for a Roman audience
• The mosaic is currently displayed on a wall in the
archaeological museum in Palestrina (at the Temple of
Fortuna, 25 mi. east of Rome)
• Originally the mosaic was displayed on a floor in an apsed
hall. The viewer would have stood at the bottom and the
mosaic formed the floor of an artificial cave. It seems that
water flowed from the back wall so that the mosaic was
viewed through water. It was discovered in pieces and
reconstructed. The building in which the artificial cave and
mosaic were located may have served as a library and a
mosaic with the theme of exploration would have been
appropriate.
Nile Mosaic: composition
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In the upper parts of the mosaic fantastic exotic animals roam in a relatively barren
landscape. They are labeled with Greek names. In the middle, there is a nilometer
(Syene where height predicted), obelisks, pharaonic temple complex, flock of ibis
(Hermoupolis Magna where ibis worshipped, procession (may be ritual funeral
procession of Osiris). In the lower parts is a realistic scene of the Nile in flood and
the harbor of Alexandria. There is also a large building with columns and a tent-like
canopy that is prominently placed near the bottom of the mosaic. This may be the
procession of Ptolemy Philadelphos on the foundation of the games of the
Ptolemaea. The scene has figures in Greek dress, representing the age of the
Ptolemies
The artist uses the bends in the river to lead the viewer through the composition.
This travel works in several ways.
The scenes at the bottom of the mosaic represent the part of Egypt near the
Mediterranean coast and as we go up, we travel into the more remote regions of
the country.
Civilization gives way to wilderness: less inhabited as go up
May also represent time travel: labels at top refer to origins, when things received
their names
Nile Mosaic: origin?
• We are told it was a copy of a work in Egypt (worship of Fortuna at
this sanctuary was associated with Isis) and that it was a gift from
visitor to sanctuary
• Who visited? Often women who wanted to become pregnant, were
pregnant or had recently given birth
• One such woman who visited Italy around the time this mosaic was
made was Cleopatra and she had recently given birth to Caesarion
• She may already have been expecting Caesarion during the cruise
up the Nile with Caesar and the mosaic may be a way of thanking
Fortuna for the birth of Caesarion
• In addition it would have served to introduce the presence of this
Hellenistic queen to Rome as had the statue of her in the temple of
Venus Genetrix; perhaps the mosaic was even accompanied by a
statue of Cleopatra as Isis