Genealogy of the Ptolemies

Footnotes

1 Dickens.

2 Sergeant.

3 The Egyptian reliefs upon the walls of Dendereh temple and elsewhere show conventional representations of the Queen which are not to be regarded as real portraits. The so-called head of the Queen in the Alexandria Museum probably does not represent her at all, as most archæologists will readily admit.

4 This island has now become part of the mainland.

5 For a restoration of the lighthouse, see the work of H. Thiersch.

6 Josephus.

7 The first Ptolemy brought the body of Alexander to Alexandria, and deposited it, so it is said, in a golden sarcophagus; but this was believed to have been stolen, and the alabaster one substituted.

8 Surely not 200 feet, as is sometimes said.

9 Some years later, after it had been popularised by Augustus.

10 Plutarch: Cæsar.

11 Bell. Civ. III. 47.

12 Susemihl. Geschichte der griechischen Litteratur in der Alexandrinerzeit.

13 In hieroglyphs the name reads Kleopadra. It is a Greek name, meaning “Glory of her Race.”

14 Representations of Cleopatra or other sovereigns of the dynasty dressed in Egyptian costume are probably simply traditional.

15 Mommsen.

16 Or do I wrong the hero of Utica?

17 Porphyry says he died in the eighth year of Cleopatra’s reign, and Josephus states that he was fifteen years of age at his death. This would make him about seven years old at Cleopatra’s accession, which seems probable enough.

18 He had been Consul with Julius Cæsar in 59.

19 The end of September, owing to irregularities in the calendar, of which we shall presently hear more, corresponded to the middle of July.

20 According to Plutarch and others; but the incident is not mentioned in Cæsar’s memoirs.

21 I do not know any record of what became of the 2000 men of Pompey’s bodyguard. They probably fled back to Europe on the death of their commanding officer.

22 As Consul he would have been entitled to twelve lictors, as Dictator to twenty-four; but we are not told which number he employed on this occasion.

23 I quote the telling phrase used by Warde Fowler in his ‘Social Life at Rome.’

24 In interpreting the situation thus, I am aware that I place myself at variance with the accepted view which attributes to Cæsar an eagerness to return quickly to Rome.

25 It is not certain whether the 2000 horse are to be included or not in the total of 20,000.

26 In spite of the statement to the contrary in De Bello Alexandrino.

27 So the early writers state.

28 Page 235.

29 It is usually stated that Cæsar remained in Egypt chiefly because he was in need of money, as is suggested by Dion, xlii. 9 and 34; Oros, vi. 15, 29, and Plutarch, 48. But the small sum which he took from the Egyptians is against this theory.

30 In ancient Egypt the princes and princesses often had male “nurses,” the title being an exceedingly honourable one. The Egyptian phrase sometimes reads “great nurse and nourisher,” and M. Lefebvre tells me that in a Fayoum inscription the tutor of Ptolemy Alexander is called τροφεὺς καὶ τιθηνὸς Ἀλεξάνδρου.

31 Plutarch.

32 See p. 31.

33 Note also (p. 112) Cæsar’s departure with his army from the besieged Palace.

34 This was actually some time in January.

35 Just as the British Army of Occupation now in Egypt was originally stationed there to support the Khedive upon his throne and to keep order.

36 Corresponding to the actual season of February.

37 Pliny, vi. 26.

38 Pliny, vi. 26.

39 Page 57.

40 It has generally been stated that Cæsar left Egypt before the birth of Cæsarion, an opinion which, in view of the fact that Appian says he remained nine months in Egypt, has always seemed to me improbable; for it is surely more than a coincidence that he delayed his departure from Egypt until the very month in which Cleopatra’s and his child was to be expected to arrive, he having met her in the previous October. Plutarch’s statement may be interpreted as meaning that Cæsar departed to Syria after the birth of his son. I think that Cicero’s remark, in a letter dated in June B.C. 47, that there was a serious hindrance to Cæsar’s departure from Alexandria, refers to the event for which he was waiting. Those who suggest that Cæsar did not remain in Egypt so long are obliged to deny that the authors are correct in stating that he went up the Nile; and they have to disregard the positive statement of Appian that the Dictator’s visit lasted nine months. Moreover, the date of the celebration of Cæsarion’s seventeenth birthday (as recorded on p. 361) is a further indication that he was born no later than the beginning of July.

41 It has generally been thought that this was simply a pleasure cruise up the Nile; but the number of ships (given by Appian) indicates that many troops were employed, and the troops are referred to by Suetonius also.

42 The thalamegos described by Athenæus was not that used on this occasion, but the description will serve to give an idea of its luxury.

43 Athenæus, v. 37. The number of banks of oars and the measurements, as given by him, are probably exaggerated.

44 It was presented to the British Government, and now stands on the Thames Embankment in London. It is known as “Cleopatra’s Needle.”

45 Cicero, A. xi. 17. 13.

46 He could have performed the journey in five days or less with a favourable wind.

47 Notably Dr Mahaffy.

48 Judging by the remark of the commentator on Lucan, ‘Pharsalia,’ x. 521.

49 A coin inscribed with the words Ægypto capta was struck after his return to Rome (Goltzius: de re Numm.)

50 Houssaye, ‘Aspasie, Cleopatre, Theodora,’ p. 91, for example, says that society was shocked at a Roman being in love with an Egyptian; and Sergeant, ‘Cleopatra of Egypt,’ writes: “It was as an Egyptian that Cleopatra offended the Romans.”

51 Horace’s Ode was written after the engineered talk of the “eastern peril” had done its work—i.e., after Actium.

52 Ad Atticum, xv. 15.

53 I think this fact may be regarded as an argument in favour of the opinion that Cleopatra had been in Rome already several weeks.

54 Venus and Isis were identified in Rome also.

55 As, for example, when the actor Diphilus alluded to Pompey in the words “Nostra miseria tu es—Magnus” (Cicero, Ad Att. ii. 19).

56 I use the words of Oman.

57 Pliny (vi. 26) says that some £400,000 in money was conveyed to India each year in exchange for goods which were sold for one hundred times that amount.

58 Horace, Od. 1, 2.

59 Ferrero writes: “The Queen of Egypt plays a strange and significant part in the tragedy of the Roman Republic.... She desired to become Cæsar’s wife, and she hoped to awaken in him the passion for kingship.” But this is a passing comment.

60 No Englishman is troubled by the knowledge that the mother of his king is a Dane, and no Spaniard is worried by the thought that his sovereign has married an Englishwoman. The kinship between Roman and Greek was as close as these.

61 Porphyry, writing several generations later, states that he died by Cleopatra’s treachery; but he is evidently simply quoting Josephus. Porphyry says that he died in the eighth year of Cleopatra’s reign and the fourth year of his own reign. This is confirmed by an inscription which I observed in Prof. Petrie’s collection and published in ‘Receuil de Traveaux’. This records an event which took place “In the ninth year of the reign of Cleopatra... [a lacuna]... Cæsarion.” The lacuna probably reads, “... and in the first (or second) year of the reign of...” This inscription shows that in the Queen’s ninth year Cæsarion was already her consort, which confirms Porphyry’s statement.

62 Kaiser, Czar, &c.

63 Cymbeline.

64 Both Hammonios and Sarapion are common Egyptian names.

65 This may mean that Cleopatra had gone to some other part of Rome either permanently or temporarily.

66 Suetonius: Cæsar, 76.

67 The action februare means “to purify,” here used probably to signify the magical expurgation of the person struck and the banishing of the evil influences which prevented fertility.

68 Compare also the whip carried by a Sixth Dynasty noble named Ipe, Cairo Museum, No. 61, which seems more than a simple fly-flap.

69 The Egyptian word is mes.

70 Plutarch: Brutus.

71 According to Suetonius, the Queen had now been sent back to Egypt, but a letter from Cicero, written in the following month, shows that she was in Rome until then.

72 The site is near the present Campo dei Fiori.

73 Plutarch: Cæsar.

74 Page 162.

75 Appian.

76 Some authors state that he cried “Et tu, Brute”; others that the words “my son” were added; while yet others do not record any words at all.

77 Ferrero has shown that March 19th was a day of feriae publicae, when the funeral could not take place. It could not well have been postponed later than the next day after this.

78 Page 170.

79 Which, as will be seen, he ultimately attempted to do.

80 See page 235, where I suggest that Serapion had possibly decided to throw in his lot with Arsinoe, who perhaps claimed the kingdom of Cyprus, and to assist the party of Brutus and Cassius against that of Antony which Cleopatra would probably support.

81 Found at Tor Sapienza, outside the Porta Maggiore. The best gold and silver coins of Antony, issued by Cnæus Domitius Ahenobarbus, correspond with the bust in all essentials.

82 It is satisfactory to read that Lucilius remained his devoted friend until the end.

83 St Paul was also trained in this school.

84 The elephant’s head I describe from that seen upon the Queen’s vessel shown upon the coins.

85 The recipe for the preparation of incense of about this period is inscribed upon a wall of the temple of Philæ, and shows a vast number of ingredients.

86 Plutarch: Antony.

87 Hor. 1. ii. Sat. 3.

88 Josephus says Ephesus, Appian Miletus.

89 Page 275.

90 Ferrero.

91 Marquardt: Privatleben, p. 409.

92 Page 59.

93 Prof. Ferrero and others have already pointed this out.

94 Page 160.

95 See pp. 196, 197, 291, 305.

96 The suggestion that an actual marriage took place was first made by Letronne, was confirmed by Kromayer, and was accepted by Ferrero.

97 Page 298.

98 Brocardus: Descriptio Terræ Sanctæ, xiii.

99 Page 275.

100 Fulvia, it will be remembered (page 255), employed 3000 cavalry as a bodyguard under similar circumstances.

101 This passage is sometimes quoted to show that no definite marriage had taken place at Antioch; but it only indicates that the marriage to Cleopatra was not accepted as legal in Rome.

102 For the governing of his Eastern Empire Antony found it convenient to make his headquarters at Alexandria during the winter and Syria during the summer, and his movements to and fro were not due to pressing circumstances. The whole Court moved with him, just as, for example, at the present day the Viceregal Court of India moves from Calcutta to Simla. Thutmosis III. and other great Pharaohs of Egypt had gone over to Syria in the summer in this manner.

103 Velleius Paterculus.

104 I here adopt the statement of Dion, and not that of Plutarch.

105 Page 286.

106 I suppose the “purple stone” referred to by Lucan was the famous imperial porphyry from the quarries of Gebel Dukhan, though I am not certain that the stone was used as early as this. Cf. my expedition to these quarries described in my ‘Travels in the Upper Egyptian Deserts.’

107 Even Athenæus refers to Antony as being married to Cleopatra; and the reader must remember that, not the fact of the marriage, but only the date at which it occurred, is at all open to question. I do not think this is generally recognised.

108 Ferrero thinks he went direct to Ephesus, but Bouché-Leclercq and others are of opinion that he went first to Alexandria, and with this I agree.

109 Page 262.

110 Page 162.

111 Plutarch.

112 Page 296.

113 Propertius. Canopus was an Egyptian port with a reputation much like that once held by the modern Port Said. Anubis was the Egyptian jackal-god, connected with the ritual of the dead.

114 An earlier eunuch of the same name, it will be remembered, played an important part in Cleopatra’s youth.

115 The numbers given by the early authors are very contradictory, but Plutarch states that Octavian reported the capture of three hundred ships.

116 Not upon the sixty Egyptian ships, as Plutarch states: that is an evident mistake, as the proportion of numbers per ship will at once show.

117 The fact that Dellius knew something of the plans for the battle fixes the date of his desertion to this period, as Ferrero has pointed out.

118 Dion Cassius states (though he afterwards contradicts himself by speaking of the Queen’s panic) that Antony had agreed to fly to Egypt with Cleopatra, and this view is upheld by Ferrero, Bouché-Leclercq, and others; but I do not consider it probable. One can understand Antony flying after the departing Queen in the agony and excitement of the moment; but it is difficult to believe that such a movement was the outcome of a carefully considered plan of action, for all are agreed that previous to the battle of Actium his chances of success had been very fair. If the two had arranged to retire to Egypt together, why was Cleopatra’s treasure, but not his own, shipped; and why did they refuse to speak to one another for three whole days? Ferrero thinks that he had arranged amicably with Cleopatra to retire to Egypt with her, and that the naval battle had not gone much against him; but surely it is difficult to suppose that he would deliberately desert his huge army and his undefeated navy for strategic reasons.

119 Scholz: Reise zwischen Alex. und Parætonium.

120 Pliny, Epist. iii. 16.

121 In a very similar manner Herod, who had taken the part of Antony and who now feared that Octavian would dethrone him in favour of the earlier sovereign, Hyrcanus, put that claimant to death, so that Octavian, as Josephus indicates, should not find it easy to fill Herod’s place.

122 I found the remains of this fortress on an island behind the Governorat at Suez.

123 Page 116.

124 Plutarch definitely states this, and I here use the fact as one of the main arguments in my suppositions in regard to Cleopatra’s plans.

125 I do not think it could have been begun to be built at this time, although Plutarch says so: it would have taken many months to complete. It was more probably already in existence.

126 Page 272.

127 Page 130.

128 Page 147.

129 I do not think that the celebrations of this anniversary which now took place could possibly have occurred later than the middle of April, and therefore Cæsarion could not have been born later than the beginning of July, an argument which bears on the length of Julius Cæsar’s stay in Egypt, discussed on page 128. It seems always to have been thought that the holding of the anniversary this year was anti-dated for political reasons, but it will be seen that the actual date was adhered to.

130 Page 246.

131 I fancy that the word asp is used in error, for I should think it much more probable that the deadly little horned viper was meant.

132 In view of the activities of the Arabs of Petra, it is unlikely that she sent him by the sea route from Suez, which was little used by the merchants.

133 Page 118.

134 When dying she is said to have regretted that she did not seek safety in flight.

135 This seems clearly indicated by Plutarch.

136 Dion Cassius suggests that Cleopatra did attempt to play into Octavian’s hands, but the accusation is quite unfounded, and is an obvious one to make against the hated enemy.

137 This fact, the significance of which has been overlooked, is an interesting indication of Cleopatra’s definite claim to be a manifestation of Venus-Aphrodite-Isis. See pp. 121, 144, 228.

138 The sounds perhaps came from Octavian’s outposts, which were just outside the Gate of Canopus.

139 Page 366.

140 Plutarch does not give Serapis as one of the reasons of Octavian’s clemency, but Dion says this was so.

141 Page 355.

142 Plutarch tells us that this doctor wrote a full account of these last scenes, from which he evidently quotes.

143 Dion Cassius.

144 Octavian now always spoke of the Dictator as his father, and he called himself “Cæsar.”

145 Plutarch. It is very probable that Cleopatra’s doctor, Olympus, was by her side, and afterwards wrote these words down in the diary which we know Plutarch used.

146 The following evidence as to the manner of the Queen’s death is given by Plutarch, and it is clear that it was the result of an investigation such as I have described.

147 Page 365.

148 In hieroglyphs this reads Aut’k’r’d’r K’s’r’s.

149 Strabo, xvii. i. 14; Tacitus, Hist. i. 11.

150 This was said to have been due to a bribe received from one of Cleopatra’s friends, but it was more probably political.

151 Page 174.

152 Tacitus, Hist., v. 9.

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