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Article: Help from Rome.
- Article from:
- Calliope
- Article date:
- November 1, 2004
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 Carus Publishing Co. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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In the fall of 48 B.C., the great city of Alexandria was not a safe place. A bitter civil war between Ptolemy XIII and his sister (and wife) Cleopatra had filled the streets with spies and assassins. Pompey, once one of the most powerful men in Rome, had just been murdered there. Even the Roman leader Julius Caesar felt unsafe in Alexandria.
Caesar, in fact, was in the most dangerous position of all. He had pursued Pompey to Egypt, only to find him dead when he arrived. Ptolemy XIII and his followers, who had been allies of Pompey, quickly surrounded Caesar. In the narrow, unfamiliar streets of the city, Caesar's forces were confused and outnumbered. The great ...