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Achillas
Achillas ( el, Ἀχιλλᾶς) was one of the guardians of the Egyptian king Ptolemy XIII Theos Philopator, and commander of the king's troops, when Pompey fled to Egypt in 48 BC. He was called by Julius Caesar a man of extraordinary daring, and it was he and Lucius Septimius who killed Pompey at the suggestion of the eunuch Pothinus and Theodotus of Chios. Achillas subsequently joined Pothinus in resisting Caesar, and having had the command of the whole army entrusted to him by Pothinus, he marched against Alexandria with 20,000 on foot and 2,000 cavalry. Caesar, who was at Alexandria, did not have sufficient forces to oppose him, and sent ambassadors to negotiate with him. However, Achillas murdered the ambassadors to remove all hopes of reconciliation. He then marched into Alexandria and occupied most of the city (Siege of Alexandria (47 BC)). Meanwhile, Arsinoe, the younger sister of Ptolemy, escaped from Caesar and joined Achillas. However, in 47, dissension broke out ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Temple Of The Muses
''The Temple of the Muses'' is a novel by John Maddox Roberts. It is the fourth volume of Roberts's SPQR series, featuring Senator Decius Metellus. Plot summary 60 BC: Decius Metellus the Younger accompanies his relative Quintus Caecilius Metellus Creticus on a diplomatic mission to Alexandria. The assignment is a polite form of exile, since his mortal enemy Clodius, is currently politically ascendant in Rome. Decius's friend Rufus assures him that he will enjoy himself, since Alexandria is a beautiful city and King Ptolemy's court always goes to absurd lengths to flatter and pamper Roman visitors, especially those of Senatorial rank. About a month after his arrival, Decius is pleasantly surprised to welcome his fiancée, Julia (Julius Caesar's niece) and her friend, Cornelia Fausta (the dictator Sulla's daughter). Because of her fascination with scholarship, Decius allows Julia to drag him on a guided tour of the famous library. While she is listening to a lecture, Deciu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Caesar And Cleopatra (play)
''Caesar and Cleopatra'' is a play written in 1898 by George Bernard Shaw that depicts a fictionalized account of the relationship between Julius Caesar and Cleopatra. It was first published with ''Captain Brassbound's Conversion'' and ''The Devil's Disciple (play), The Devil's Disciple'' in Shaw's 1901 collection ''Three Plays for Puritans''. It was first performed in a single staged reading at Newcastle upon Tyne on 15 March 1899, to secure the copyright. The play was produced in New York in 1906 and in London at the Savoy Theatre in 1907. Plot The play has a prologue and an "Alternative to the Prologue". The prologue consists of the Egyptian god Ra addressing the audience directly, as if he could see them in the theater (i.e., breaking the fourth wall). He says that Pompey represents the old Rome and Caesar represents the new Rome. The gods favored Caesar, according to Ra, because he "lived the life they had given him boldly". Ra recounts the conflict between Caesar and Pompey ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pompey
Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (; 29 September 106 BC – 28 September 48 BC), known in English as Pompey or Pompey the Great, was a leading Roman general and statesman. He played a significant role in the transformation of Rome from republic to empire. He was (for a time) a student of Roman general Sulla as well as the political ally, and later enemy, of Julius Caesar. A member of the senatorial nobility, Pompey entered into a military career while still young. He rose to prominence serving the dictator Sulla as a commander in the civil war of 83–82 BC. Pompey's success as a general while young enabled him to advance directly to his first Roman consulship without following the traditional '' cursus honorum'' (the required steps to advance in a political career). He was elected as Roman consul on three occasions. He celebrated three Roman triumphs, served as a commander in the Sertorian War, the Third Servile War, the Third Mithridatic War, and in va ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Theodotus Of Chios
Theodotus of Chios ( el, Θεόδοτος) (died in 43 BC or 42 BC) was the rhetoric tutor of the young Egyptian king Ptolemy XIII. Biography Theodotus of Chios was a trained rhetorician and the tutor of Ptolemy XIII. He was one of the three influential men who led the guardianship for the young Egyptian king after the death of Ptolemy XII (spring of 51 BC). The most powerful of these men was the eunuch and minister Pothinus, the second in rank was the commander-in-chief Achillas and finally in third place was Theodotus. In autumn of 50 BC these three guardians succeeded in securing Ptolemy XIII the participation in the rule of Egypt together with his ambitious older sister Cleopatra VII who in the first year of her accession to the throne (spring of 51 BC) had been able to rule alone. At the end of 49 BC Pothinus and his comrades expelled the Queen from Egypt. So Ptolemy XIII became sole ruler but was still under the influence of his three guardians. The dethroned Queen soon org ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Siege Of Alexandria (47 BC)
The siege of Alexandria was a series of skirmishes and battles occurring between the forces of Julius Caesar, Cleopatra VII, Arsinoe IV, and Ptolemy XIII, between 48 and 47 BC. During this time Caesar was engaged in a civil war against remaining Republican forces. The siege was lifted by relief forces arriving from Syria. After a battle contesting those forces' crossing of the Nile delta, Ptolemy XIII and Arsinoe's forces were defeated. Events Prelude After the Battle of Pharsalus, Pompey abandoned his defeated army and fled with his advisors overseas to Mytilene and thence to Cilicia where he held a council of war. Pompey's council of war decided to flee to Egypt, which had in the previous year supplied him with military aid. Upon his arrival in Egypt, he was murdered by Achillas and Lucius Septimius, former soldiers in his army, under the orders of the eunuch Pothinus and Theodotus of Chios,Cassius Dio xlii. 4 advisors of the King Ptolemy who believed Caesar would be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cleopatra (1963 Film)
''Cleopatra'' is a 1963 American epic historical drama film directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, with a screenplay adapted by Mankiewicz, Ranald MacDougall and Sidney Buchman from the 1957 book ''The Life and Times of Cleopatra'' by Carlo Maria Franzero, and from histories by Plutarch, Suetonius, and Appian. The film stars Elizabeth Taylor in the eponymous role. Richard Burton, Rex Harrison, Roddy McDowall, and Martin Landau are featured in supporting roles. It chronicles the struggles of Cleopatra, the young queen of Egypt, to resist the imperial ambitions of Rome. Walter Wanger had long contemplated producing a biographical film about Cleopatra. In 1958, his production company partnered with Twentieth Century Fox to produce the film. Following an extensive casting search, Elizabeth Taylor signed on to portray the title role for a record-setting salary of $1 million. Rouben Mamoulian was hired as director, and the script underwent numerous revisions from Nigel Balchin, Dale W ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lucius Septimius
Lucius Septimius was a Roman soldier and mercenary who is principally remembered as one of the assassins of the triumvir Pompey the Great. At the time of the assassination (48 BC) Septimius was serving the Ptolemies of Egypt as a mercenary. He was dispatched with orders to murder Pompey by Ptolemy XIII's advisors who wanted to win the favour of Julius Caesar for their king. Life Septimius had served under Pompey in his eastern campaign in the 60s BC, and he was in the army with which Aulus Gabinius restored Cleopatra's father Ptolemy XII Auletes to the throne in 55 BC. He had stayed in Egypt as part of a mercenary garrison, known as the Gabiniani, to support the king.Beryl Rawson, ''The Politics of Friendship: Pompey and Cicero'' Volume: 6. Sydney University Press. 1978, p.177 In ''Commentarii de Bello Civili'', Caesar refers to him as a "military tribune". Septimius was a leading figure among the Gabiniani. When Pompey fled to Egypt in 48 BC following his defeat by Julius Caes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pothinus
Pothinus or Potheinos ( grc-gre, Ποθεινὸς; early 1st century BC – 48 or 47 BC), a eunuch, was regent for Pharaoh Ptolemy XIII Theos Philopator of the Ptolemaic Kingdom. He is most remembered for turning Ptolemy against his sister and co-ruler Cleopatra, thus starting a civil war, and for having Pompey decapitated and presenting the severed head to Julius Caesar according to some sources. When Ptolemy XII died in 51 BC, his will stated that Ptolemy XIII and Cleopatra VII were to become co-rulers of Egypt, with the Roman Republic as their guardians. Ptolemy XIII was underage and Pothinus was appointed as his regent. The general Achillas and the rhetorician Theodotus of Chios were also guardians of the Egyptian king. When Ptolemy and Cleopatra were elevated to the status of senior rulers, Pothinus was maintained as the former's regent. Most Egyptologists believed that Pothinus used his influence to turn Ptolemy against Cleopatra. In the spring of 48 BC, Ptolemy, under Pothi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ganymedes (eunuch)
Ganymedes (died 47 BC) was a eunuch in the court of Cleopatra VII who proved an able adversary of Julius Caesar. Life Ganymedes was the tutor of Cleopatra's half-sister and rival, Arsinoë. When civil war broke out between Ptolemy XIII and Cleopatra, Arsinoë sided with Ptolemy, escaping the palace in Ganymedes's company to take command of the army. She executed Achillas, who was the general of the army and Pothinus's co-conspirator in the murder of Pompey, and appointed Ganymedes in his stead. While Achillas besieged Alexandria, Ganymedes' army was in possession of the sources of the river, which gave him control of the canals that provided Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ... with water, and, by extension, Caesar's water supply. With this in mind, he se ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arsinoe IV Of Egypt
Arsinoë IV ( grc-gre, Ἀρσινόη; between 68 and 63 BC – 41 BC) was the fourth of six children and the youngest daughter of Ptolemy XII Auletes. Queen and co-ruler of Ptolemaic Egypt with her brother Ptolemy XIII from 48 BC – 47 BC, she was one of the last members of the Ptolemaic dynasty of ancient Egypt. Arsinoë IV was also the half sister of Cleopatra VII.. For her role in conducting the siege of Alexandria (47 BC) against her sister Cleopatra, Arsinoë was taken as a prisoner of war to Rome by the Roman triumvir Julius Caesar following the defeat of Ptolemy XIII in the Battle of the Nile. Arsinoë was then exiled to the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus in Roman Anatolia, but she was executed there by orders of triumvir Mark Antony in 41 BC at the behest of his lover Cleopatra VII. History Arsinoë was the third, possibly fourth daughter of Ptolemy XII by an unknown woman (presumably since Cleopatra VII's probable mother Cleopatra V had died or been repudiated n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Giulio Cesare
''Giulio Cesare in Egitto'' (; , HWV 17), commonly known as ''Giulio Cesare'', is a dramma per musica ('' opera seria'') in three acts composed by George Frideric Handel for the Royal Academy of Music in 1724. The libretto was written by Nicola Francesco Haym who used an earlier libretto by Giacomo Francesco Bussani, which had been set to music by Antonio Sartorio (1676). The opera was a success at its first performances, was frequently revived by Handel in his subsequent opera seasons and is now one of the most often performed Baroque operas. The opera's plot is loosely based on historic events during the Roman Civil War of 49–45 BC. Composition history ''Giulio Cesare in Egitto'' was first performed at the King's Theatre in the Haymarket, London on 20 February 1724. The opera was an immediate success. A contemporary wrote in a letter on 10 March 1724: ...the opera is in full swing also, since Hendell's new one, called Jules César – in which Cenesino and Cozzun ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ptolemy XIII Theos Philopator
Ptolemy XIII Theos Philopator ( grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος Θεός Φιλοπάτωρ, ''Ptolemaĩos''; c. 62 BC – 13 January 47 BC) was Pharaoh of Egypt from 51 to 47 BC, and one of the last members of the Ptolemaic dynasty (305–30 BC). He was the son of Ptolemy XII and the brother of and co-ruler with Cleopatra VII. Cleopatra's exit from Egypt caused a civil war to break out between the pharaohs. Ptolemy later ruled jointly with his other sister, Arsinoe IV. Biography Co-ruler of Egypt, inner turmoil Son of the Egyptian Pharaoh Ptolemy XII (r. 80–58 BC and 55–51 BC), Ptolemy XIII succeeded his father as pharaoh of the Ptolemaic Kingdom in the spring of 51 BC at the age of 11. His father had stipulated that Ptolemy XIII would be married to his older sister Cleopatra (r. 51–30 BC), with the couple ruling as co-rulers. In October 50 BC, Ptolemy XIII was promoted to senior ruler along with her, although the eunuch Pothinus acted as regent for him. In the sprin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
