Did Julius Caesar and Cleopatra have a relationship?

Between 49 and 45 BC, Julius Caesar and Pompey, his adversary and former co-triumvir, fought a civil war. Although Caesar defeated Pompey at the Battle of Pharsalus in 48 BC, Pompey had won the Battle of Dyrrhachium. Ptolemy XIII, the son of one of Pompey’s allies, Ptolemy XII, pursued Pompey as he fled to Egypt in search of safety. Cleopatra VII, meanwhile, was the child of an unnamed woman and former pharaoh Ptolemy XII Auletes. Her mother is said to have been Ptolemy XII’s sister and wife, Cleopatra V. She and her younger brother Ptolemy XIII jointly ruled Egypt upon the death of her father. In an effort to defeat his sister and forward his plan to rule Egypt alone, Ptolemy XIII had Pompey slain by Achillas and Lucius Septimius. This was an attempt to win Julius Caesar’s approval in order to outmaneuver Cleopatra militarily. Pompey’s head was ready when Caesar arrived at Ptolemy XIII’s palace. When he saw his former adversary decapitated and his assassins murdered, he started crying.

 

Did Julius Caesar and Cleopatra have a relationship?

Although the relationship between Caesar and Cleopatra was passionate in nature, politics played a role in it as well. While Caesar required Cleopatra’s impressive wealth to support his forces and resources in order to retake control of Rome, Cleopatra required Caesar’s armies to defend herself from Ptolemy XIII. Caesar was able to announce once more that Cleopatra and Ptolemy XIII were both co-rulers of Egypt because of the country’s status as a client state of Rome. Caesar’s favoritism of Cleopatra over Ptolemy XIII led him to reject the proposal. Both were under siege in the Alexandrian palace. Cleopatra’s sister, Arsinoe, launched her own uprising against Cleopatra and Ptolemy XIII during the months when the lovers were imprisoned in the palace. When Caesar’s troops arrived in Alexandria, they were able to set the pair free. Cleopatra became pharoah in 47 BC as a result of Caesar’s army’s victory against Ptolemy XIII in the Battle of the Nile. The newlyweds paraded down the Nile River in a royal barge to celebrate their victory, showing Caesar exactly how opulent the Egyptians could be. Cleopatra was already pregnant when Caesar left, despite his quick return to Rome. Despite the fact that Caesar was already married, Cleopatra and Caesar continued to date. Because it was against Roman law, he was unable to wed a foreigner. Caesarion, though, was their child together. A year after giving birth to Caesar’s son, Cleopatra paid him a visit in Rome. She spent the night at a Caesar villa close to the Tiber, not far from Rome. She also cherished Caesar’s ostentatious presents, such as the gilded statue he erected in Rome in her likeness.