Battle of the Nile (47 BC)

After pursuing his rival Pompey to Egypt, Caesar, recently victorious in a civil war closer to home, became entwined in the Alexandrine civil war after his rival, Pompey Magnus, was killed by King Ptolemy XIII in an attempt to please Caesar.

From September 48 BC until January 47 BC, Caesar was besieged in Alexandria, Egypt with about 4,000 men. He was attempting to resolve the Egyptian Civil War between Ptolemy XIII and his sister Cleopatra. When Caesar began to appear to favor Cleopatra over him, Ptolemy was first captured, but then released by Caesar, and gathered his army to besiege the Romans in a small area of Alexandria.

By January, the Egyptians had begun to get the upper hand in their efforts to cut the Romans off from reinforcements and resupply. Caesar had requested reinforcements from his ally, Mithridates of Pergamum, who marched overland from Asia Minor to assist him. Arriving in the Nile delta in January, Mithridates defeated an Egyptian force sent to stop him. Caesar, getting a message that his allies were close, left a small garrison in Alexandria and hurried to meet them. The combined force, about 20,000 strong, met the Egyptians in February 47 BC at the Battle of the Nile. The Egyptian army, equipped in the Greek manner, was probably about the same size.

Caesar, knowing of the strong Egyptian position, opened the battle by having Roman-led legions destroy a Ptolemaic fort to try to lure the Egyptians off the hill. However, when the Egyptians stayed in their positions, the Roman army then engaged the Egyptian forces at the hill, resulting in fierce fighting between the two forces. Several Roman cohorts then tried to flank the Egyptians, only to suffer heavy casualties after the Egyptians pinned down the flanking force and fired at them with missile fire from the Egyptians ships. Eventually, a gap was exposed in the main Egyptian line which a Roman contingent managed to exploit and attack the Egyptians from the rear, causing the Egyptian army to panic and flee from the battlefield. Among the retreat included Ptolemy, who reputedly drowned when his ship capsized. Egypt was now in the hands of Caesar, who then lifted the Siege of Alexandria and 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.

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