The Egypt that greeted Caesar and his 1,200 men was in chaos. King Ptolemy and his sister, Queen Cleopatra, struggled for supremacy and the Roman consul was in a position to influence its future. As word spread that Caesar intended to appoint Egypt’s next ruler, Cleopatra arranged a secret meeting, hoping to ingratiate herself with the Roman leader. According to legend, the queen concealed herself aboard a small boat and sailed in the dark of night into the harbor at Alexandria, near the palace which Caesar occupied. Her lone servant exited the boat with a rolled-up carpet slung over his shoulder, which was common among travelers as a way to transport their belongings, and requested an audience with Caesar. Once in Caesar’s presence, the carpet was unfurled, and Cleopatra emerged.

Her full name and title, which referenced the ancient political domains and symbols of Egypt that had existed for several millennia, was Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator, Queen of the Upper and Lower Kingdoms, She of the Sedge and Bee. Cleopatra was the last of the Ptolemaic dynasty, which was Greek in origin and had ruled Egypt since the time of Alexander the Great. The fact that she was married to her brother was not unusual. Ptolemaic kings and queens were the products of several centuries of inbreeding.

But Cleopatra was irresistible. Most historians of the time say that she was a great beauty, though Plutarch disagrees slightly, writing that “her beauty, as we are told, was in itself neither altogether incomparable, nor such as to strike those who saw her.” But he also says the effect Cleopatra had on powerful men such as Julius Caesar was as if she was the most beautiful woman in the world.

Cassius Dio, a later Roman consul who wrote an 80-volume history of the city and its empire, perhaps described her most accurately: “[Cleopatra] was a woman of surpassing beauty, and at that time, when she was in the prime of her youth, she was most striking; she also possessed a most charming voice and knowledge of how to make herself agreeable to everyone. Being brilliant to look upon and to listen to, with the power to subjugate everyone, even a love-sated man already past his prime, she thought that it would be in keeping with her role to meet Caesar, and she reposed in her beauty all her claims to the throne.”

When Cleopatra emerged from the rolled-up carpet, she was twenty-one. Not unexpectedly, the Roman was smitten. He ordered his men to protect her until he could secure the throne for her. What followed became known as the Alexandrine War.

Alexandria Adventures

Caesar was in a precarious position in Alexandria. His force could hold the palace, but he required reinforcements to guard the harbor and perimeter, and they had yet to arrive. As a Roman, his presence was resented among the Egyptians in the capital. In backing Cleopatra to rule, he had made an enemy of Ptolemy and his advisers, who plotted against him.

Even among Cleopatra’s rivals, there were factions, which Caesar perhaps meant to exploit. The queen’s younger sister, Arsinoë – who also had designs on the throne – and Ptolemy escaped the palace to join Caesar’s opponents. Quarrels within her enemies’ camp could only strengthen Cleopatra’s claim to power and Rome’s supremacy over Egypt.

While Caesar was besieged at Alexandria, a disaster of incomprehensible proportions took place - one for which Caesar was to blame. There was a fleet of Egyptian galleys anchored in the harbor, and Caesar ordered them burned. Unfortunately the ships lay so near the shore that sparks from the blaze landed among buildings along the waterfront. These caught fire and soon a vast area of the city was engulfed in a conflagration. One of the buildings that burned was the library. The library at Alexandria housed the world’s greatest collection of ancient literature, some 700,000 papyrus scrolls that contained the accumulated knowledge of writers and scholars extending to the Stone Age. The burning of the Alexandrian Library was one of the greatest cultural calamities in history.

In a campaign to claim a lighthouse on a small island opposite the harbor, Caesar nearly perished. A 500-foot tower with a lantern at the top that was always kept burning and could be seen for 100 miles, the lighthouse was called the Pharos. At the time, it was regarded as one of the Seven Wonders of the World. It was as brilliant during the day as it was at night – ornamented with balustrades, galleries, and columns.

While its seizure was of little significance from a military perspective, Caesar, perhaps to win the admiration of his Egyptian queen, led a force on the island on which the Pharos sat. The men battled on the bridge that connected it to the mainland and were forced back until the only open route for escape was through the water. Frantically, they all piled into a single boat, which, under their combined weight, threatened to capsize or sink. Many of the men clung tightly to each other in terror. Caesar managed to wrest free of this entanglement and leap from the boat. He swam to safety, clutching his imperial cloak in his teeth to keep from losing it as he held important papers – probably containing military strategy – above his head. The boat, with all others on board, sank.

With the arrival of additional troops, Caesar’s grip tightened – he soon controlled both the harbor and the city. Ptolemy planned an ambush of one of Caesar’s troop transports in the Nile Delta. But Caesar learned of the plot and sent a sizeable contingent as escort. The Romans engaged Ptolemy’s army. The young king, attempting to retreat across the Nile, drowned.

Cleopatra welcomed the news of the demise of her brother/husband and the defeat of his forces. She could assume the throne uncontested. Arsinoë was dispatched to Italy.

Love Affairs and Other Conquests

Weeks of upheaval at an end, the Egyptian queen and her Roman companion took time to relax in the most sumptuous and extravagant way. The pair, who had grown increasingly enraptured with each other, boarded the royal boat for a leisurely cruise. The vessel that conveyed them up the Nile was fashioned from cedar and Cyprus, with gold-leaf accents. Caesar and Cleopatra reclined, dined, and watch the passing scenery – lit at night by the Pharos - as her slaves rowed them gently ahead of a small company of less-elegant boats ferrying other servants, generals, and retainers.

No greater love affair had ever occupied the world’s stage: Cleopatra, young and beautiful, queen of an ancient empire, and Caesar, fifty-three-years-old, Rome’s conquering hero and absolute ruler.

The Roman had never been shy with women. Suetonius maintained that that Caesar’s love affairs were “numerous and extravagant.” He was known to have seduced the wives of a number of prominent Roman noblemen, including his favorite, an exquisite woman named Servilia. Caesar showered Servilia with gifts, including an enormous pearl for which he paid 60,000 gold pieces. Servilia was the mother of Marcus Brutus, one of the eventual ringleaders of the conspiracy to assassinate Caesar.

Caesar had also taken his pleasure in the provinces. A crude ditty that made the rounds at the conclusion of his Gallic campaigns:

Home we bring our bald whoremonger;
Romans lock your wives away!
All the bags of gold you lent him
Went his Gallic tarts to pay.

The reference to Caesar’s baldness would have stung. He was vain, especially about his lack of hair, which he tried to conceal by combing it forward. During his later career, when Caesar was given laurel wreaths to wear, he kept them on for days.

What a conquest Cleopatra must have been for him. As he was for her.

But several pressing matters demanded the ruler of Rome’s attention, and in spring of 47 B.C., Caesar departed Alexandria for Asia Minor. There, he installed leaders and granted land as rewards for loyalty and allegiance in his conquests.

Next, he faced down another ambitious foe in Pharnaces, the son of Mithridates, whose kingdom was encroaching on Asia Minor from the east. Caesar gathered his soldiers and marched to the edge of Pontus to meet the invader, who quickly attacked. The hours-long fight ended with Pharnaces in retreat, and a short time later, dead. Sending word of the victory to Rome, Caesar summed it up: “Veni, Vidi, Vici” - I came, I saw, I conquered.

Rome Again

That summer, Caesar returned to Rome. In the year-and-a-half he had been gone, Antony had ruled, and the city had suffered for it. Disorder and gang violence was rampant, unopposed while Antony kept disreputable company and amused himself at the people’s expense. The poverty-stricken populace rose up in riots behind a young tribune who put forth a proposal that would forgive debts and eliminate rents. Antony responded with force.

Caesar wasted no time working to solve the problems his absence had facilitated. To quell the riots, he eliminated rents below a certain amount. He made appointments to Senate seats that had gone unfilled and had himself elected consul for 46 B.C., ensuring the government’s essential functions were carried out efficiently and effectively.

There was more unrest on the city’s outskirts, this time among Caesar’s men, threatened the semblance of order that had been restored. The veteran soldiers felt their service to Caesar and Rome had not been property rewarded, and they marched on the city and camped outside its walls, demanding their promised compensation. Caesar met the men and pledged to discharge them and comply with their demands. But they took offense when he dismissed them as “citizens,” indicating they had been relieved of his command. “They could endure it no longer,” the Roman historian Appian wrote, “but cried out that they had repented of what they had done, and besought him to keep them in his service. But Caesar turned away and was leaving the platform when they shouted with greater eagerness and urged him to stay and punish the guilty among them.”

Into Africa

The men of the Tenth Legion, Caesar said, faced dismissal without a hearing, for their part in the march against Rome. This dishonorable discharge wounded them deeply, and they pleaded for death for the worst of their offenders and pardon for the rest. But this was mere political melodrama, and Caesar, Appian relates, “seeing that there was no need of stimulating them any further when they repented so bitterly, became reconciled to all and departed straightway for the war in Africa.”

The forces of Caesar’s most fierce political foes were gathering against him. In addition to Cato and Afranius, the alliance included Caesar’s once-trusted lieutenant Labienus, as well as two sons of his former Triumvirate partner and son-in-law, Pompey. His enemies had amassed an army of some 35,000 men and considerable cavalry. Numidia’s king Juba also marshaled his forces and those of his allies in opposition to Caesar.

In October of 47 B.C., Caesar steeled his troops for another fierce campaign, for which they were outnumbered and overmatched. His legions, a half dozen at best, were, for the most part, fresh and not yet battle-tested. Their enemy’s advantage went beyond numbers: They had prime positions in well-stocked and fortified towns.

With the help of many of his veteran soldiers, Caesar trained his inexperienced recruits on their journey to Africa. Then, with greater confidence and numbers, he set his army on the city of Thapsus.

Caesar’s forces had to navigate a narrow strip of land, bordered on either side by water, to reach the city. Scipio, who commanded Thapsus’ forces, tried to take advantage of this terrain to set a trap for Caesar, but his plan backfired. Charging in their defense, Caesar’s men overpowered their attackers, who stumbled in their retreat along the isthmus and were defeated.

The triumph in Thapsus helped Caesar win the war. Word of it sapped his enemy’s will, and the African alliance scattered, with Labienus and Pompey’s sons fleeing to Spain. Afranius was captured and executed; a dispute within his ranks cost Juba his life; and Cato took his own. Within a period of weeks, all of Roman Africa was in Caesar’s grasp.

Pageantry, Processions, and Plunder

More than any other endeavor, Caesar’s success in Africa won him the respect and renown of the Mediterranean world. In Rome, people lined up to pay him homage. The city’s celebration lasted forty days – a tribute to Caesar’s many victories in Gaul, Spain, Asia, and Africa. The triumphant processions that ensued were grander than any the city had seen. Rome’s streets were flooded with floral arrangements; the air was filled with the smoke of the incense burned on every altar. Citizens lined the parade route for each grand procession. Prime positions were gained, for the most part, by those who camped there overnight.

In one procession, the culture and customs of conquered Gallic nations was prominent. Flags and banners seized in the aftermath of battle flapped in the breeze. Rome’s magistrates led the procession, followed by a line of trumpeters and a convoy of wagons weighed down with gold, silver, and valuable gems. Exotic garments and dresses taken in plunder were paraded before the crowd, along with weapons and armaments retrieved from the corpses of enemy soldiers. Artwork commissioned by Caesar portrayed the nations, towns, and cities where he did battle

A cortege of priests followed, then a pack less joyous about their presence in the parade: animals and men selected for sacrifice to the gods. Among this doomed were captured kings and chieftains, including the great uniter of the Gauls, Vercingetorix, imprisoned since his surrender.

At one point during this procession, the axle on Caesar’s chariot broke, and he nearly toppled out. He leapt to the pavement and carried on, flanked by two columns of elephants acting as torchbearers.

There were three more celebrations, one for each of Caesar’s conquests. Their order was not chronological, for his most recent success in Egypt was next to be commemorated.

Among the conquering hero’s honored guests was Cleopatra. The queen’s sister, Arsinoë, was among the captives awaiting execution. Cleopatra hated her, but when she saw her sister walking in chains, she turned her head in shame.

Subsequent celebrations honored the victory over Pharnaces, and then, most troublesome for Caesar, his campaign in North Africa, in which he shed the blood of fellow Romans. To avoid that painful issue, the focus was put on the annexation of the kingdom of Numidia.

The grand pageantry and parties featured generous gestures to the common people. Some 20,000 people attended a banquet hosted by Caesar and each received gifts of money, grain, and oil. Caesar’s veteran soldiers were also rewarded with land grants and long-promised bonuses. He paid his high-ranking officers and centurions more handsomely.

Spectacles were staged in the arena and theater. Four hundred lions were hunted for sport in a single stadium. Gladiators fought to the death against fellow warriors and a litany of beasts. Equestrian shows took place in the circus. Plays and battle re-enactments performed in multiple languages captured Romans’ imaginations.

To stage a sea battle, an immense artificial lake, large enough for two fleets of galleys, with 2,000 rowers and 1,000 fighters each, was built near the Tiber. Prisoners taken in Caesar’s conquests – Egyptians to one side, Asiatics to the other – were forced to fight and die until the lake was red with blood.

The sun beat down on spectators lining the Forum for the celebration, so silk awnings were erected to provide shade. “Such a throng flocked to all those shows from every quarter,” Suetonius wrote, “that many strangers had to lodge in tents pitched in the streets or along the roads, and the press was often such that many, including two senators, were crushed to death.”

Call to Battle, Absolute Rule

Labienus and Pompey’s sons, who had survived by fleeing the fight in Egypt, rebuilt their force with the remnants of the Pompeian party in Spain. Rome’s loyal Spanish commanders had failed to quash the resurgent rebellion, prompting Caesar to join the fray in November of 46 B.C. It was to be his last military campaign.

Caesar’s army initially drove back its foes with few significant gains or losses. The decisive battle came on the outskirts of Munda, a town in the north. The Pompeians had the high ground and charged Caesar’s approaching troops. The fighting wore on the Roman army, but spurred on by their commander, the legions struck the Pompeian’s left flank, driving it back. Caesar sent his cavalry the opposite direction. Labienus’s maneuver to counter this attack was misconstrued by his legionaries as a signal of retreat, and as they scattered, Caesar’s men decimated them. Labienus was killed, marking the end of Rome’s long civil war.

Caesar returned to Rome to still more honor and acclaim. His dictatorship, which he previously held for just two weeks, was restored by the state, this time for a term of ten years. He controlled Rome’s government, with the purview to nominate candidates for key offices and a pledge from the Senate that his decrees would be carried out unopposed.

His image loomed large over the city, which soon bristled with statues in his likeness and temples dedicated to him. Even the month of his birth, Quintilis, took his name: Julius.

Some in the Senate held out hope that Caesar, as he had before, would be satisfied with shedding his dictatorship to become consul, maintaining Rome’s constitutional rule. Others feared the opposite extreme – a tearing down of the establishment by a rash of revolutionary decrees. The truth of Caesar’s intentions was likely somewhere in between: He intended to remain dictator, but also to operate within the confines of the law.

His legislative agenda was largely aimed at improving the situation of the masses. He sought debt relief for the poor, extended voting rights, and cracked down on corruption in elections. The strides he made for the common people would ingratiate Caesar to them, but fueled hatred of him among the aristocracy.