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He then sent boats to aid his men who were in danger and saved some of them; but the vessel which he had left, being weighed down by numbers, went to the bottom with the men in it. In this battle Cæsar lost about four hundred legionary soldiers, and still more rowers and fighting men. As the author describes it, the affair seems to have been badly managed, and the result was discreditable to the Romans. The Alexandrines strengthened the fort near the bridge with powerful defences and furnished it with military engines; and then taking up the stones from the water secured a free passage for boats through the bridge.

7

By these losses the Roman soldiers were so far from being disheartened that they were excited to greater activity in attempting to storm the enemy's works. The Alexandrines also sallied out against them whenever they saw their opportunity. Caesar's exhortations, which were published to the men, were superfluous, for it was more necessary to restrain them than to urge them to fight.

8

The Alexandrines seeing that the Romans were encouraged by victory, and only stimulated to greater efforts by defeat, and having no prospect of successfully prosecuting the war, sent commissioners to Caesar. They did this, as it may be conjectured, either on the advice of the king's friends who were within Caesar's defences, or it was their own suggestion which had been secretly conveyed to the king and approved by him. The commissioners urged Caesar to release the king and allow him to go to his people: they said that all were ready to obey the king, and were tired of the administration of a young woman, whose authority was delegated to Ganymedes, who exercised it most cruelly: if the king should advise them to put themselves under Caesar's protection and make him their friend, the people would not be afraid of submitting to Caesar. Though Caesar well knew the treachery of the Alexandrines, and that their true thoughts were always different from their

with one hand, he swam with the other." A very foolish story, which is told by Dion Cassius with variations (42. c. 40), and by others.

7 This chapter appears to be defective, and it is only the general sense that can be ascertained.

8 There are difficulties here (c. 23)

professions, yet he thought it prudent to assent to their request; for if they really had the opinions which were expressed, he believed that the king after his release would be faithful to him; but if it should turn out that they wished to have the king as their leader in continuing the war, a supposition more consistent with the character of the people, it would be more honourable for him to have a king as his adversary than a body of adventurers and runaway slaves. Accordingly he exhorted the king to look to the interests of the kingdom left him by his father, to spare the noble city which was disfigured by conflagrations and ruins, to bring back his people to a reasonable state of mind and to keep them in it; and further to be faithful to the Roman people and to Caesar, who placed such confidence in the king as to send him to an enemy who were in arms. With these words holding the king's right hand in his own right hand Caesar was ready to let the youth depart. But the king, who had been trained in the arts of deceit, was faithful to the character of his nation and with tears entreated Caesar not to release him he declared that he would rather be with Caesar than possess the royal power. The Roman dried the youth's tears, and with some emotion telling him that, if these were his real sentiments, they would soon meet again, he let him go. The king, like a horse let loose from the barrier to run the course, as the historian says, began to prosecute the war so vigorously that it was believed that the tears which he shed on parting with Caesar were tears of joy. Some of Caesar's legati and friends and also the centurions and soldiers were much pleased with this result, for they thought that Caesar in the excessive kindness of his disposition had been deceived by the tricks of a boy. But the writer of the Alexandrine War formed a more correct judgment, and he maintains that it was not good nature only which induced Caesar to set the king at liberty, but he did it for very sufficient reasons.

The Alexandrines discovered that the release of the king did not add to their strength nor weaken the Romans; and they were much vexed when they saw that the soldiers viewed with contempt the youth and incapacity of the king, and found that they had gained nothing by having him at their head.

There were also rumours that great forces were coming by land to Caesar's aid from Syria and Cilicia, which reports induced the Alexandrines to attempt to intercept Caesar's supplies by sea. With this view the Alexandrines placed light vessels in convenient positions at Canopus near the great western arm of the Nile and lay in wait for the vessels which the Romans expected. When Caesar heard the news, he ordered his fleet to be made ready. He gave the command to Tiberius Nero, the man who was the first husband of Livia, and the father of him whom we name the Emperor Tiberius. In the fleet were the Rhodian ships and the successful commander Euphranor. But Fortune, who generally reserves for some hard fate those on whom she has bestowed most favours, now changed her mood. When the fleet arrived at Canopus and the ships on both sides were placed in battle order, and Euphranor according to his custom began the fight, he pierced and sunk a trireme of the enemy. But pursuing the next ship too far, and the rest of the vessels not following quick · enough to support him, he was surrounded by the Alexandrine vessels. He was thus left without help either because his comrades thought that his own courage and good fortune would save him or because they were afraid. Euphranor was the only man who behaved well in the battle and the only man who perished with his victorious quadrireme (Comp. Dion, 42. c. 40).

Caesar was rescued from his difficult position by a generous friend. Mithridates of Pergamum was the son of Menodotus by a daughter of Adobogion, who belonged to the family of the tetrarchs of Galatia. It was said that the wife cohabited with King Mithridates the Great, and the woman at the persuasion of her kinsmen gave to her boy the name of his supposed father (Strabo, p. 626: see Groskurd's translation and note). The king took the boy with him from Pergamum when he was young and kept him for many years, a circumstance which may have been the origin of the report that the king was his father. The author of the Alexandrine War, describes Mithridates as a man of high rank in his own country, of great military ability, of strict fidelity and as holding a high place among the friends of Caesar, who sent him at the commence

ment of the Alexandrine war into Syria and Cilicia to collect fresh forces. Having soon raised a powerful army by his activity, and with the aid of the several cities which was most readily given, he led his soldiers by land to Pelusium, the border town of Egypt on the side of Syria. On his march towards Egypt Mithridates stopped at Ascalon, where Antipater the Idumaean, is said to have joined him with three thousand Jews, and also to have induced Arab chiefs and Syrians to assist him (Josephus, Antiq. xiv. 8. 1).' Pelusium had been occupied by Achillas, who put a strong garrison in it to keep this position, for Egypt was secured against attack from sea by the island Pharos, and on the land side by Pelusium, and these two barriers were supposed to protect the approaches to the country. Mithridates quickly invested Pelusium and made a fierce attack on the town. His great numbers enabled him to bring up fresh men to take the place of those who were wounded and exhausted, and he persisted in the assault with such obstinacy that he took the place the same day and put in it a garrison of his own men. Mithridates now advanced towards Alexandria to join Caesar; and he reduced to submission all the country through which he passed by virtue of the authority which generally follows victory.

There is a part of that country, says the writer, which is the most famous of all, not very far from Alexandria: it is named the Delta from the resemblance in form to that letter of the Greek alphabet. A portion of the river Nile divides into two parts, which take different directions and gradually leave a space between them, and the two streams finally reach the sea where the interval between them is widest. This is something like the meaning of the author's clumsy attempt to describe the division of the Nile below Memphis into several channels, between the most eastern and western of which the Delta is included. Perhaps he intends to say that Mithridates on his march approached to the western or Canopic branch of the Nile; for after describing the Delta as a place (locus) not far from Alexandria he says, that when the king heard that Mithridates was approaching "that place" and knew that he

9 Josephus quotes Strabo's historical work, as evidence that the high priest Hyrcanus was with Antipater. Strabo's authority was Asinius Pollio.

must cross the river, he sent a large force to meet him, with the expectation that Mithridates would either be destroyed or at least stopped in his march. The troops which first crossed the river "from the Delta," as the historian inaccurately expresses it, and reached Mithridates, attacked him, for they wished to deprive the rest of the army of a share in the victory. But the Greek following Roman military usage had prudently made a fortified camp, which enabled him to resist the enemy's attack; and when he observed them approaching his entrenchments incautiously and confidently, he sallied out on all sides and slaughtered a great number. Indeed if the remainder had not hid themselves, being well acquainted with the country, and if part had not fled to the ships, in which they had crossed the river, all of them would have perished. However when they had recovered from their alarm and were joined by those who came up after them, they again prepared to attack Mithridates.

2

Mithridates sent a messenger to inform Caesar of his great victory, and the king received the same intelligence from his people; and so it happened that at the same time the king advanced to fall upon Mithridates and Caesar to support him. The king shortened his route by embarking on the Nile, where he had a large fleet. Caesar did not choose to take the same road, for he wished to avoid a fight with the ships, but sailing round by the sea which is at the western side of the Delta he met the king before he could attack Mithridates, and he joined the victorious general with his army. The king had placed himself in a position naturally strong, for it was higher than the surrounding plain, and protected on three sides. One side was close to the Nile, another ran along very high ground which here formed a part of the camp, and a third side was bounded by a marsh. In front of the king's camp and crossing the road by which Caesar was coming there was a narrow canal with very high banks, which flowed into the Nile, and was distant about seven miles from the king's camp. When it was known that Caesar was coming in this direction,

There is a reading, "ad Delta."

2 Josephus ascribes the victory of Mithridates to Antipater. The Jewish historian's narrative is, as usual, confused, and perhaps we cannot trust it.

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