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| Cleopatra and Caesar (1866). Painting by Jean-Léon Gérôme (source) |
47 BC (June 23) Cleopatra VII gives birth to Ptolemy XV Philopator Philometor Caesar, nicknamed Caesarion, the last King of the Ptolemies.
His mother Cleopatra insisted that he was the son of Julius Caesar. Caesarion was said to have inherited Caesar's looks and manner, but Caesar apparently did not officially acknowledge him. Caesar's supporter Gaius Oppius wrote a pamphlet which attempted to prove that Caesar could not have fathered Caesarion. Nevertheless, Caesar may have allowed Caesarion to use his name.
www.ancientegyptonline.co.uk: "A decree in demotic (a shorthand version of hieroglyphs) was set up in the Serapeum at Saqqara and his lineage proclaimed on monuments across Egypt (including a famous scene in the Temple of Dendera. Caesar seems to have been very proud that he had finally had a son. His aides began to investigate the possibility of changing Roman Law so that he could acknowledge Caesarion as his heir despite the prohibition on marriages with foreigners and the fact that he was already married. He had a coin struck depicting Venus-Aphrodite and Cleopatra had a similar coin created in which she was depicted as Venus-Aphrodite nursing their son. "47 BC (Apr) Caesar returns to Rome, leaving Cleopatra in Alexandria.
"Caesar was criticised in Rome for failing to simply absorb Egypt into the empire and for remaining too long in Egypt after the defeat of Ptolemy XIII and there were still a number of factions loyal to Pompey including a number of his sons so he had a number of important matters to attend to, but he also had to visit his Jewish allies and reward their support in the Alexandrian war. He left three legions in Alexandria to support Cleopatra (and to confirm Egypt's status as a protectorate) and took the treasonous Arsinoe back to Rome with him as his prisoner. He also gave Cyprus back to Cleopatra and this increase in her revenues allowed her to reduce taxation while continuing to improve the Egyptian economy." (source)47 BC (Feb 27) Caesar, Cleopatra, and their allies smash the Ptolemaic forces under Ptolemy XIII at the Battle of the Nile, taking control of Egypt.
Caesar attacked the Ptolemaic troops in the traditional Roman manner, under a shower of pila (plural of the Roman spear, pilum). The pike-armed Egyptians were overwhelmed once the Romans used their shields and got past the pike's point, when they began laying about with their short swords (gladii). The Roman legions destroyed a Ptolemaic fort, and after heavy fighting stormed Ptolemy's camp. Thousands fled, including Ptolemy, who reputedly drowned when his ship capsized. Egypt was now in the hands of Caesar, who placed Cleopatra on the throne with another of her brothers, Ptolemy XIV. He then uncharacteristically lingered in Egypt until April, enjoying a liaison with the youthful queen.47 BC (Feb) Mithridates arrives to relieve Caesar at Alexandria. As he nears, Caesar goes out to meet the enemy as well.
47 BC (Jan) Egyptians begin to get upper hand in siege against Caesar's forces in Alexandria. Caesar sends for help to his ally Mithridates I of the Bosporus.
In the winter of 48/47 BC, Roman dictator Julius Caesar became trapped in Alexandria, Egypt. Caesar was besieged in Alexandria by the armies of Achillas, guardian and general for King Ptolemy XIII Theos Philopator. Mithridates raised an army and came to Caesar’s relief.
Mithridates I of the Bosporus sometimes known Mithridates of Pergamon, was a nobleman from Anatolia. Mithridates was one of the sons born to King Mithridates VI of Pontus from his mistress, the Galatian Celtic Princess Adobogiona the Elder.48 BC Caesar takes sids with Cleopatra in the civil war. His forces in Alexandria are besieged by the Egyptian army.
48 BC (Sept 30 or soon after) Cleopatra smuggles herself into Caesar's chambers, becomes his mistress.
Eager to take advantage of Caesar's anger toward Ptolemy, Cleopatra had herself secretly smuggled into his palace to meet with him. Plutarch, in his Life of Julius Caesar gives a vivid description of how she entered past Ptolemy’s guards rolled up in a carpet that Apollodorus the Sicilian was carrying. At this point, Caesar abandoned his plans to annex Egypt, instead backing Cleopatra's claim to the throne.48 BC (Sept 30) Caesar arrives in Egypt, is horrified at Pompey's murder.
When Caesar arrived in Egypt two days later, Ptolemy presented him with Pompey's severed head, offered to him by Ptolemy's chamberlain Pothinus as a gift.; Caesar was enraged. Although he was Caesar's political enemy, Pompey was a Roman consul and the widower of Caesar's only legitimate daughter, Julia, who died in childbirth. Caesar seized the Egyptian capital and imposed himself as arbiter between the rival claims of Ptolemy and Cleopatra.
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48 BC (Sept 28) Pompey is murdered in Egypt by Ptolemy XIII, seeking favor with Caesar.
Pompey fled from the forces of Caesar to Alexandria, seeking sanctuary in Egypt. Ptolemy XIII, thirteen years old at that time, had set up a throne for himself on the harbor. From there he watched as on September 28, 48 BC, Pompey was murdered by one of his former officers, now in Ptolemaic service. He was beheaded in front of his wife and children, who were on the ship from which he had just disembarked. Ptolemy is thought to have ordered the death to ingratiate himself with Caesar, thus becoming an ally of Rome, to which Egypt was in debt at the time. This act proved a miscalculation on Ptolemy's part.48 BC (Aug) Caesar decisively defeats Pompey at Pharsalus and Pompey flees to Egypt.
48 BC (Jul) Pompey victorious against Caesar at the Battle of Dyrrachium (or Dyrrhachium) in Macedonia. Caesar barely avoids a catastrophic defeat and retreats to Thessaly.
48 BC (Jan) Caesar lands at Dyrrhachium (Durazzo) to pursue Pompey.
48 BC Cleopatra VII removed from power in Egypt. Ptolemy XIII her brother rules as sole monarch.
The sole reign of Cleopatra was finally ended by a cabal of courtiers, led by the eunuch Pothinus, in connection with a half-Greek general, Achillas, and Theodotus of Chios. Circa 48 BC, Cleopatra's younger brother Ptolemy XIII became sole ruler. Cleopatra tried to raise a rebellion around Pelusium, but was soon forced to flee with her only remaining sister, Arsinoë.49 BC (Oct) First appointment of Caesar as Roman dictator. He presides over his own election to consul and resigns after eleven days.
49 BC (Sept) Caesar, on his way from Hispania, receives the surrender of Massilia.
49 BC (Sept) Caesarian naval forces defeat the combined Pompeian-Massilian naval forces in the naval Battle of Massilia, while the Caesarian fleet in the Adriatic was defeated near Curicta.
49 BC (Aug. 24) Caesar's general Gaius Scribonius Curio, is defeated in North Africa by the Pompeians under Attius Varus and King Juba I of Numidia (whom he defeated earlier in the Battle of Utica, in the Battle of the Bagradas River), and commits suicide.
49 BC (Jul 30) Caesar surrounds the Pompeian forces at Lleida. They surrender Aug. 2.
49 BC (Jun) Caesar arrives in Hispania where he seizes the Pyrenees passes defended by the Pompeian forces.
49 BC (Apr 19) Caesar lays siege to Pompey's forces at Massilia (Marseilles).
49 BC (Mar 9) Caesar advances against Pompey's forces in Hispania.
49 BC (Feb) Pompey flees to Epirus (in Western Greece) with most of the Senate
49 BC (Jan 10) Julius Caesar leads his army across the Rubicon, which separates his jurisdiction (Cisalpine Gaul) from that of the Senate (Italy), and thus initiates a civil war.
49 BC (Jan 1) The Roman Senate receives a proposal from Julius Caesar that he and Pompey should lay down their commands simultaneously. The Senate responds that Caesar must immediately surrender his command.
50 BC Cleopatra VII comes into conflict with the Roman troops garrisoned in Egypt.
In 50 BC Cleopatra came into serious conflict with the Gabiniani, the powerful Roman troops of Aulus Gabinius who had left them in Egypt to protect Ptolemy XII after his restoration to the throne in 55 BC. The Gabiniani killed the sons of the Roman governor of Syria, Marcus Calpurnius Bibulus, when they came to ask for their assistance for their father against the Parthians. Cleopatra handed the murderers over in chains to Bibulus, whereupon the Gabiniani became bitter enemies of the queen.This conflict was one of the main causes of Cleopatra's fall from power shortly afterward.51 BC (Aug) Cleopatra VII assumes control of the Egyptian state from her brother. "Cleopatra dropped his name from official documents and henceforth her face alone appeared on coins, a practice that went against Ptolemaic tradition of female rulers being subordinate to male co-rulers."
51 BC Caesar victorious in the Gallic wars.
51 BC (Mar) Ptolemy XII, King of Egypt, dies. His will makes his 18-year-old daughter Cleopatra VII and her brother, 10-year-old Ptolemy XIII, joint monarchs.
53 BC Crassus killed in battle against the Parthians. First Triumvirate continues as power sharing arrangement between Caesar and Pompey.
55 BC Ptolemy XII is restored the throne of Egypt with help of Roman troops under Aulus Gabinius, who leaves a Roman garrison (the Gabiniani) in Egypt to protect the king.
57 BC Pressure from the Roman public forces the Senate to restore Ptolemy XII to the throne of Egypt, apparently against the will of the Alexandrians.
Rome did not wish to invade Egypt to restore the king since the Sibylline books stated that if an Egyptian king asked for help and Rome proceeded with military intervention, great dangers and difficulties would occur. Egyptians heard rumors of Rome's possible intervention and disliked the idea of their exiled king's return. Cassius Dio reported that a group of one hundred men were sent as envoys from Egypt to make their case to the Romans against Ptolemy XII's restoration, but Ptolemy had their leader (a philosopher named Dion) poisoned and most of the other protesters killed before they reached Rome to plead their desires.
58 BC Ptolemy XII of Egypt is overthrown in a rebellion over taxation and the loss of Cyprus to the Romans.
In 58 BC, Ptolemy XII failed to comment on the Roman conquest of Cyprus, a territory ruled by his brother, thereby inciting the Egyptian population to start a rebellion. Egyptians were already aggravated by heavy taxes (to pay for the Roman bribes) and a substantial increase in the cost of living. Ptolemy XII fled to Rome, possibly with his daughter Cleopatra VII, in search of safety. His daughter Berenice IV became his successor.
Ptolemy XII's old ally Pompey housed the exiled king and his daughter and argued on behalf of Ptolemy's restoration in the Senate. During this time, Roman creditors realized that they would not get the return on their loans to the Egyptian king without his restoration.
58 BC Cato is sent to Cyprus as the new Roman proconsul.
58 BC Rome abruptly annexes Cyprus from Egypt, following refusal of Ptolemy XII to put up ransom when Publius Clodius Pulcher was kidnapped by Cilician pirates..
59 BC First Triumvirate: Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus.
63 BC Ptolemy XII begins a pro-Roman policy directed towards Pompey, giving him bribes and inviting him to come to Alexandria.
During his reign, Ptolemy XII attempted to secure his own fate and the fate of his dynasty by means of a pro-Roman policy. In 63 BC, it appeared that Pompey would emerge as the leader of a Roman struggle, thus Ptolemy sought to form a patron-client relationship with the Roman by sending him riches and extending an invitation to Alexandria. Pompey accepted the riches but refused the invitation.
80 BC Ptolemy XI is deposed and murdered after only a few days on the throne of Egypt. Ptolemy XII becomes king.
The will that made him king also required Ptolemy XI to marry Berenice III, who was his stepmother and half-sister (or possibly his natural mother – the ancient sources are unclear). However, nineteen days after the marriage, Ptolemy murdered his bride for unknown reasons, an unwise move since Berenice was very popular; Ptolemy was immediately lynched by the citizens of Alexandria.
The new king, Ptolemy XII, was generally described as a weak, self-indulgent man, a drunkard, and a music lover." He was called Auletes, meaning pipes-player, referring to the king's love of playing the pipes.
80 BC Ptolemy XI is installed throne of Egypt by Sulla, who wanted a pro-Roman ruler on the throne. "Sulla wanted a pro-Roman ruler on the throne, and sent the young son of Ptolemy X to Egypt, displaying Ptolemy Alexander's will in Rome as justification for this obvious intervention.
80 BC Consulship of Sulla.
81 BC Ptolemy IX Lathyros dies, leaving no legitimate heir. Berenice III rules alone for a time.
81 BC Dictatorship of Sulla.
Sulla's dictatorship came during a high point in the struggle between optimates and populares, the former seeking to maintain the Senate's oligarchy, and the latter espousing populism.88 BC Ptolemy X Alexander I dies. His brother Ptolemy IX Lathyros becomes king.
88 BC Roman general Sulla is awarded a grass crown, the most prestigious Roman military honor, for his victory in the Social War (91 BC to 88 BC) a conflict between the Roman Republic and several of the other cities in Italy, which prior to the war had been Roman allies for centuries.
101 BC Ptolemy X Alexander I has his mother Cleopatra III killed. He rules alone or with his niece Berenice III.
106 BC The Romans finally defeat the Numidians in the Jugurthine War, owing in large part to the capture of the Numidian king by Sulla.
107 BC Ptolemy IX Lathyros. is deposed by his brother Ptolemy X Alexander I.
109 BC Ptolemy X Alexander I is deposed by his brother Ptolemy IX Lathyros.
110 BC Cleopatra III deposes her son Ptolemy IX Lathyros as King of Egypt, installing his brother Ptolemy X Alexander I as King of Egypt.
112 BC Start of Jugurthine War. Jugurtha, grandson of Massinissa of Numidia (in Roman Africa), claimed the entire kingdom of Numidia in defiance of Roman decrees and divided it between several members of the royal family. Rome declares war and invades in 111 BC. The first several campaigns are not successful.
138 BC Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix, commonly known as Sulla, is born in Rome.
He was born into a branch of the patrician gens Cornelia, one of the most distinguished of Roman famlies, but his family had fallen to an impoverished condition at the time of his birth. Lacking ready money, Sulla spent his youth amongst Rome’s comics, actors, lute-players, and dancers. Sulla retained an attachment to the debauched nature of his youth until the end of his life; Plutarch mentions that during his last marriage – to Valeria – he still kept company with "actresses, musicians, and dancers, drinking with them on couches night and day"168 BC End of the Third Macedonian War. Defeat and division of the Macedonian kingdom by Rome
196 BC Rome withdraws from Greece, restoring its freedom.
At the Olympiad Rome proclaims the "Freedom of the Greeks", which constituted Rome's (arguably misguided) new policy towards Greece. This was that Greece was now stable and Rome could completely remove itself from Greek affairs without risking more instability. It seemed that Rome had no further interest in the region, as they withdrew all military forces without even attempting to consolidate any gains, and subsequently returned to their prior apathy even when their Greek allies ignored later Roman requests.
218 BC Start of the First Macedonian War between Rome and Macedonia, after Philip V of Macedon allies himself with Hannibal against Rome in the Second Punic War. Small-scale Roman invasion of Greece.
Fearing possible reinforcement of Hannibal by Macedon, the Roman Senate dispatched a praetor with forces across the Adriatic. Rome's interest was not in conquest, but in keeping Macedon busy while Rome was fighting Hannibal. While a minor conflict, it opened the way for Roman military intervention in Macedon230 BC Attempt by the (Hellenstic) Seleucid Empire to conquer Ptolemaic Egypt is repulsed by Ptolemy IV.
305 BC Beginning of the Ptolemaic Dynasty (Πτολεμαῖοι, Ptolemaioi) in Egypt. Ptolemy, Macedonian satrap of Egypt, declares himself King Ptolemy I, later known as Soter (saviour). Start of the Ptolemaic Kingdom.
The Egyptians soon accepted the Ptolemies as the successors to the pharaohs of independent Egypt. All the male rulers of the dynasty took the name Ptolemy. Ptolemaic queens, some of whom were the sisters of their husbands, were usually called Cleopatra, Arsinoe or Berenice. The name Cleopatra is derived from the Greek name Κλεοπάτρα (Kleopatra) which meant "she who comes from glorious father" or "glory of the father" in the feminine form, derived from κλέος (kleos) "glory" combined with πατήρ (pater) "father"
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| The Macedonian Empire at the Death of Alexander (source) |
323 BC Death of Alexander the Great. After his death, Ptolemy , one of his seven bodyguards (somatophylakes) who served as his generals and deputies, is appointed satrap of Egypt.
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331 BC Founding of Alexandria (Ἀλεξάνδρεια) by Alexander the Great.
The city quickly grew to be one of the greatest of the Hellenistic world — second only to Rome in size and wealth.
Alexander's chief architect for the project was Dinocrates. Ancient accounts are extremely numerous and varied, and much influenced by subsequent developments. One of the more sober descriptions, given by the historian Arrian, tells how Alexander undertook to lay out the city's general plan, but lacking chalk or other means, resorted to sketching it out with grain. A number of more fanciful foundation myths are found in the Alexander Romance and were picked up by medieval historians.
Alexandria was intended to supersede Naucratis as a Hellenistic center in Egypt, and to be the link between Greece and the rich Nile Valley. If such a city was to be on the Egyptian coast, there was only one possible site, behind the screen of the Pharos island and removed from the silt thrown out by the Nile, just west of the westernmost "Canopic" mouth of the river. The site also offered unique protection against invading armies: the vast Libyan desert to the west and the Nile Delta to the east.
A few months after the foundation, Alexander left Egypt for the East and never returned to his city. After Alexander departed, his viceroy, Cleomenes, continued the expansion of the city.
Alexandria would become the seat of the Ptolemaic rulers of Egypt, a Greek dynasty that would away from Macedon to form their own kingdom after the death of Alexander.
332 BC Alexander of Macedon advances into Egypt, where is regarded as a liberator from the Persians and is pronounced a god.
He was pronounced son of the deity Amun at the Oracle of Siwa Oasis in the Libyan desert. Henceforth, Alexander often referred to Zeus-Ammon as his true father, and after his death, currency depicted him adorned with rams horn as a symbol of his divinity
334 BC Alexander invades the Persian Empire, conquering Asia Minor.
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| The Kingdom of Macedon in 336 BC, at death of Philip II and the accession of the Alexander, age 20 (source) |
336 BC Alexander becomes King (Basileus) of Macedon upon the assassination of his father Philip II.
343 BC Beginning of the Thirty-first Dynasty (2nd Persian Period) in Egypt.
356 BC (Jul 20/21) Alexander, son of Philip II of Macedon, is born in Pella, the capital of the Macedonian Kingdom.
359 BC Philip II becomes King of Macedon, a small kingdom in northern Greece. During his reign greatly expands his kingdom, conquering most of Greece.
380 BC (circa) Beginning of the Thirtieth Dynasty in Egypt.
398 BC (circa) Beginning of the Twenty-ninth Dynasty in Egypt.
404 BC (circa) Beginning of the Twenty-eighth Dynasty in Egypt.
460–454 BC Egyptian uprising against Persian rule, assisted by the Athenian fleet. Herodotus of Halicarnassus visits Egypt sometime soon after this.
509 BC (circa) Establishment of the Roman Republic. Election of the first consuls.
525 BC (circa) Persian conquest of Egypt culminating in the Battle of Pelusium. Beginning of the Twenty-seventh Dynasty (1st Persian Period) in Egypt.
672 BC (circa) Beginning of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty in Egypt. Start of the Late Period.
732 BC (circa) Beginning of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty in Egypt (to 653 BC).
732 BC (circa) Beginning of the Twenty-fourth Dynasty in Egypt (to 720 BC)
753 BC (circa) Legendary founding of Rome.
837 BC (circa) Beginning of the Twenty-third Dynasty in Egypt (to 728 BC).
945 BC (circa) Beginning of the Twenty-second Dynasty in Egypt (to 720 BC)
1069 BC (circa) Beginning of the Twenty-first Dynasty in Egypt. Start of the Third Intermediate Period. Egypt not unified.
1189 BC (circa) Beginning of the Twentieth Dynasty in Egypt.
1274 BC Egyptian and Hittite empires negotiate a peace treaty following the Battle of Kadesh.
1293 BC (circa) Beginning of the Nineteenth Dynasty in Egypt.
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| The maximum territorial extent of ancient Egypt (15th century BC) (source) |
1549 BC (circa) Beginning of the Eighteenth Dynasty in Egypt. Start of the New Kingdom. Egyptian Empire reaches maximum extent over the next century.
1580 BC (circa) Beginning of the Seventeenth Dynasty in Egypt (to 1549 BC).
1650 BC (circa) Beginning of the Abydos Dynasty in Egypt (to 1600 BC)
1660 BC (circa) Beginning of the Sixteenth Dynasty in Egypt (to 1600 BC).
1674 BC (circa) Beginning of the Fifteenth Dynasty in Egypt (to 1535 BC). Start of the Second Intermediate Period. Egypt no longer unified.
1705 BC (circa) Beginning of the Fourteenth Dynasty in Egypt (to 1690 BC). Invasion of the Hyksos.
1803 BC (circa) Beginning of the Thirteenth Dynasty in Egypt.
1991 BC (circa) Beginning of the Twelfth Dynasty in Egypt.
2061 BC (cica) Beginning of the Late Eleventh Dynasty in Egypt. Start of the Middle Kingdom.
2134 BC (circa) Beginning of the Early Eleventh Dynasty in Egypt.
2130 BC (circa) Beginning of the Tenth Dynasty in Egypt (continues to 2040 BC)
2160 BC (circa) Beginning of the Ninth Dynasty in Egypt.
2181 BC (circa) Beginning of the Seventh and Eighth Dynasties in Egypt. Start of the First Intermediate Period. "At this time Egypt was not unified."
2345 BC (circa) Beginning of the Sixth Dynasty in Egypt.
2498 BC (circa) Beginning of the Fifth Dynasty in Egypt.
2560 BC (circa) Construction of the Great Pyramid of Giza (481 ft), It is believed the pyramid was built as a tomb for Fourth Dynasty Egyptian pharaoh Khufu (often Hellenicised as "Cheops") and was constructed over a 20-year period.
2613 BC (circa) Beginning of the Fourth Dynasty in Egypt.
2667-2648 BC (circa) Construction of the Pyramid of Djoser (Step Pyramid).
2686 BC (circa) Beginning of the Third Dynasty in Egypt. Start of the Old Kingdom.
2890 BC (circa) Beginning of the Second Dynasty in Egypt.
3100 BC (circa) Beginning of the First Dynasty in Egypt. Menes is the first individual known by name in recorded history.
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| Map of Ancient Egypt, showing the Nile up to the fifth cataract (source) |
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| (source) Henri Béchard (active 1870s & 80s); 'Le Sphinx Armachis, Caire' (The Sphinx Armachis, Cairo), about 1880; Albumen print; 21 x 27cm Don McCullin is one of Britain's greatest photographers. For his latest project he has photographed archaeological remains around the Mediterranean. On a recent visit to the Museum, to coincide with the opening of a major exhibition of his work, Don made a personal selection of photographs from the National Media Museum's collection, revealing how these sites were recorded by earlier photographers such as Francis Frith and Maxime Du Camp. Don McCullin: "It's very difficult to talk about the Spinx because it is so well known.This is a very simple, almost postcard-like image, but nevertheless if you look into it you see more and more. It's extraordinary. This is a remarkable photograph and here it is in this album, hidden away. It deserves a better place in the world really. |
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