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Showing posts with label Caesarion refuge India. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Caesarion refuge India. Show all posts

Thursday, September 8, 2022

Cleopatra or Caesarion Could Have Refuged in Five Ports in Western India


Summary: Cleopatra or Caesarion could have refuged in five ports in Western India, according to the North Indian Ocean guide, Periplus of the Erythraean Sea.


The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, a ca. first century CE guide to trade routes from the Mediterranean and Red seas to the Indian Ocean, listed five major seaports on India's Western Coast as destinations for ships originating in the Red Sea; 2007 map of locations and routes of the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea (first century CE): PHGCOM, CC BY SA 4.0 International, via Wikimedia Commons

If their flights from Egypt to escape Octavian had succeeded, Cleopatra or Caesarion could have refuged in five ports in Western India and one in northwestern India, according to the ancient North Indian Ocean navigational guide, Periplus of the Erythraean Sea.
Ptolemaic Queen Cleopatra VII Philopator (Ancient Greek: Κλεοπάτρα Φιλοπάτωρ, Kleopatra Philopator; ca. 69-Aug. 10 or 12, 30 BCE) orchestrated two separate maritime flights from Egypt, with India as possible destinations, in 30 BCE. She strategized both projects in the aftermath of the devastatingly critical Battle of Actium. Gaius Octavius "Octavian" (Sep. 23, 63 BCE-Aug. 19, 14 CE), great-nephew of Roman general and statesman Gaius Julius Caesar (July 12 or 13, 100-March 15, 44 BCE), defeated the joint forces of Cleopatra and Roman militarian and politician Marcus Antonius "Mark Antony" (Jan. 14, 83-Aug. 1, 30 BCE) Sep. 2, 31 BCE, in the Ionian Sea (Ancient Greek: Ιόνιο Πέλαγος, Ionio Pelagos), off the west central Greek coast's Actium (Ancient Greek: Ἄκτιον) promontory. Octavian, who became Princeps Civitatis (First Citizen) Augustus in January 27 BCE, thwarted both flights.
Cleopatra designed the first escape flight from Octavian for herself, accompanied by Antony. The Nabateans, centered in present-day Jordan's Petra, foiled the flight by burning Cleopatra's ships during their portage across the isthmus between the Mediterranean and Red seas, according to the narrative by Greek biographer Plutarch (46 BCE-ca. 122 CE) in his biography of Antony in Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans, commonly known as Parallel Lives (vol. IX, LXIX, page 297).
Cleopatra devised the second escape for Ptolemy XV Caesar Philopator Philometor (Ancient Greek: Πτολεμαῖος Καῖσαρ Φιλοπάτωρ Φιλομήτωρ, Ptolemaios Kaisar Philopator Philometor, "Ptolemy Caesar, Beloved of his Father, Beloved of his Mother"; 47-30 BCE), known as Caesarion (Ancient Greek: Καισαρίων, Kaisarion, "Little Caesar"), her son with Roman general and statesman Gaius Julius Caesar (July 12 or 13, 100-March 15, 44 BCE). Caesarion was accompanied by Rhodon, misthought to be a trusted tutor. Rhodon's false assurance of Octavian's intention to honor Caesarion's pharaohship convinced his pupil to abandon flight and return to Alexandria (vol. IX, LXXXI, page 321).
Plutarch did not identify the port or ports that Cleopatra had considered for refuge in India for her two escape plans. The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea (Ancient Greek: Περίπλους τῆς Ἐρυθρᾶς Θαλάσσης, Periplous tes Erythras Thalasses; Latin: Periplus Maris Erythraei), a ca. first century CE, 66-section guide to trade routes from the Mediterranean and Red seas to the North Indian Ocean, listed major seaports along the Horn of Africa, the Arabian Peninsula and the Indian subcontinent.
The periplus (Ancient Greek: περίπλους, periplous; from περί, peri, “around” + πλοῦς, plous, “voyage”; sailing around) identified two main Red Sea ports in Egypt. Myos Hormos (Greek: Μυὸς Ὅρμος, Muos Hormos, "Shellfish's Haven") in the north and Berenike (Berenice; Greek: Βερενίκη, Berenike) in the south were described as ". . . both situate at the farthest end of Egypt . . ." (The Commerce and Navigation Of The Erythraean Sea, section 1, page 42), according to the English translation published in 1879 by Scottish classical philologist John Watson McCrindle (May 16, 1825-July 16, 1913).
The states of Gujarat (Sanskrit: गुर्जरत्रा, gurjaratrā, “country of the Gurjaras”) and Kerala (uncertain etymology; Classical Tamil: chera alam, "land of the Cheras"; Malayalam: kera, "coconut trees" + alam, "land") define the northern and southern extents, respectively, of coastal Western India. Ancient India's western coast featured five major seaports in addition to many local marts.
Sited south of the northwestern subcontinent's Indo-Scythian Kingdom (Pakistan), Barugaza, modern-day Bharuch (Gujarati: ભરૂચ) in Gujarat state, marked ". . . the frontier . . . of all India" (section 41, page 113). The Arabian Sea's narrow Gulf of Barugaza (Gulf of Khambhat) troubled access to Barugaza's location on the Namnadios (sections 42-43, pages 116-117). The Narmada (Sanskrit नर्मदा, narmadā, "pleasure-giver") River flows westward for 1,312 kilometers (815.2 miles) from its source, the pilgrim town of Amarkantak (Sanskrit: अमर, amara, "immortal" + कण्टक, kaṇṭaka, "thorn"), to its mouth, 50 kilometers (31 miles) west of Bharuch, to its mouth, 50 kilometers (31 miles) west of Bharuch, according to Madhya Pradesh state's Narmada Valley Development Authority's (NVDA) constitution notification July 16, 1985.
Ten local marts (Akabarou, Souppara, Kalliena, Semulla, Mandagora, Palaipatmai, Melizeigara, Buzantion, Toparon, and Turannosboas) dotted India's western coast to the south of Barugaza. Art historian, archaeologist and Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) Director Duraiswamy Dayalan identifies Souppara, Kalliena and Semulla as Mumbai-area ports of Nala Sopara, Kalyan and Chaul, respectively, in "Ancient Seaports on the Western Coast of India: The Hub of the Maritime Silk Route Network," published in the December 2018 issue of Acta Via Serica (pages 62-63).
These local emporia were succeeded by four major ports. "Then follow Naoura and Tundis, the first marts of Limurikê, and after these Mouziris and Nelkunda, the seats of Government," reported the periplus (section 52-53, pages 127-131). Mouziris was distinguished as ". . . a city at the height of prosperity, frequented as it is by . . . Greek ships from Egypt" (section 54, pages 132-133).
The four major ports were situated in Limurikê (Limyrike). The historical region corresponds to southwestern India's Malabar (Malayalam: മല, mala, “mountain” + Arabic: بَرّ, barr, “land" or Persian: بار‎, bâr, “coast”) Coast, which stretches from south of Goa state to India's southern tip, Kanyakumari (Cape Comorin) in Tamil Nadu state.
Naoura ". . . is probably identified with Mangalore" in Karnataka, suggests Dayalan (page 63). But Kerala's Kannur (Cannanore) and Karnataka's Honnavar Port also are candidates, according to his footnote.
Tundis (Ancient Greek: Τύνδις, Tyndis) and Mouziris (Ancient Greek: Μουζιρίς, Mouziris) were both ". . . under the sway of Kêprobotres," according to the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea (section 54, pages 131-132). The kingdom of Kêprobotres references Cerobothra (Keralaputra; Cēra, uncertain etymology + Sanskrit: Sanskrit पुत्र, putra, "son"; sons of Chera), the Chera dynasty that ruled the area from ca. second century BCE to second century CE (Dayalan, page 64).
Tundis was ". . . a village of great note situate near the sea" (section 54, pages 131-132). Although the location of Tundis remains unknown, possible sites in Kerala include Kadalundi, Ponnani or Pantalayani Kollam (Dayalan, page 64).
Kerala's small seaside village of Pattanam is suggested as the site of ancient Mouziris (Dayalan, page 67). The Kerala Council for Historical Research (KCHR) conducted explorations and excavations at Pattanam for nine seasons, 2007 to 2015. The site dates from ca. 500 BCE, with its most active phase occurring from ca. third century BCE to fifth century CE.
The southernmost Malabar seaport, Nelkunda (Ancient Greek: Νέλκυνδα, Nelcynda), was claimed by ". . . a different kingdom, that of Pandiôn" (section 54, pages 131-132, 134-135). The Pandya dynasty joined the Chera and Chola dynasties as the three powerful kingdoms of Tamilakam (Tamil: தமிழகம், Tamilakam; from தமிழ், tamil, "Tamilians" + அகம், akam, "place"), the geographical region of southern India inhabited by ancient Tamilians.
Although Nelkunda's location is unknown, possible sites, all in southern Kerala, have been suggested. Nakkada, near Pathanamthitta District's Niranam, is "often identified with Nelcynda" (Dayalan, page 68). Other possibilities include Alappuzha District's Nirkunnam and Kollam District's Kallada, Kollam and Neendakara.
The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea recommended the same month for favorable voyages to Western India's ports. "The proper season to set sail for Barugaza from Egypt is the month of July, or Epiphi," informed the Periplus (49, page 124). With respect to Naoura, Tundis, Mouziris and Nelkunda, the guide advocated: "The proper season to set sail from Egypt for this part of India is about the month of July -- that is, Epiphi" (section 56, pages 137-138). Epiphi (Greek: Ἐπιφί, Epiphi), corresponding to July, occurred in the harvest season (Ancient Egyptian: Šmw, "Low Water") as the 11th of the ancient Egyptian calendar's 12 months.
If Cleopatra and Caesarion, as the last two rulers of Ptolemaic Egypt, had succeeded in their separate plans to flee beyond the Horn of Africa and Arabian Peninsula's Bab-el-Mandeb straits and to cross the North Indian Ocean's Arabian Sea for safety in India, they could have disembarked at any of five major seaports on India's western coast.

Cleopatra's and Caesarion's maritime flights from Egypt sought to pass through the Horn of Africa and Arabian Peninsula's Bab-el-Mandeb (Arabic: باب المندب, "Gateway of Tears"), straits between Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, and thence to India via North Indian Ocean's Arabian Sea; Sep. 14, 1966, southeastward view obtained, from altitude of 340 nautical miles, by Gemini-11 spacecraft during 27th revolution of EarthNASA ID: s66-54536: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgment
My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Dedication
This post is dedicated to the memory of our beloved blue-eyed brother, Charles, who guided the creation of the Met Opera and Astronomy posts on Earth and Space News. We memorialized our brother in "Our Beloved Blue-Eyed Brother, Charles, With Whom We Are Well Pleased," published on Earth and Space News on Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021, an anniversary of our beloved father's death.

Image credits:
The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, a ca. first century CE guide to trade routes from the Mediterranean and Red seas to the Indian Ocean, listed five major seaports on India's Western Coast as destinations for ships originating in the Red Sea; 2007 map of locations and routes of the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea (first century CE): PHGCOM, CC BY SA 4.0 International, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Map_of_the_Periplus_of_the_Erythraean_Sea.jpg
Cleopatra's and Caesarion's maritime flights from Egypt sought to pass through the Horn of Africa and Arabian Peninsula's Bab-el-Mandeb (Arabic: باب المندب, "Gateway of Tears"), straits between Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, and thence to India via North Indian Ocean's Arabian Sea; Sep. 14, 1966, southeastward view obtained, from altitude of 340 nautical miles, by Gemini-11 spacecraft during 27th revolution of EarthNASA ID: s66-54536: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:S66-54536.jpg; via NASA Image and Video Library @ https://images.nasa.gov/details-s66-54536

For further information:
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Thursday, September 1, 2022

Cleopatra Had Planned Flight From Egypt But Nabateans Burned Her Ships


Summary: After defeat by Julius Caesar's great-nephew Octavian in the Battle of Actium, Cleopatra had planned flight from Egypt but Nabateans burned her ships.


"The Flight of Antony and Cleopatra From the Battle of Actium," ca. 1897 oil on canvas by Gateshead-born Agnes Pringle (1853-1934); bequeathed 1934 by artist to Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle Upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, North East England: History of the World @HiistoryOfTheWorld, via Facebook April 16, 2021

After Julius Caesar's great-nephew Octavian defeated Mark Antony and her in the Battle of Actium, Cleopatra had planned flight from Egypt but Nabateans burned her ships.
Gaius Octavius "Octavian" (Sep. 23, 63 BCE-Aug. 19, 14 CE), great-nephew of Roman general and statesman Gaius Julius Caesar (July 12 or 13, 100-March 15, 44 BCE), defeated Ptolemaic Queen Cleopatra VII Philopator (Ancient Greek: Κλεοπάτρα Φιλοπάτωρ, Kleopatra Philopator; ca. 69-Aug. 10 or 12, 30 BCE) and Roman militarian and politician Marcus Antonius "Mark Antony" (Jan. 14, 83-Aug. 1, 30 BCE) in the Battle of Actium. The naval battle took place Sep. 2, 31 BCE, a little over 13 years five and one-half months after the Ides of March assassination of Octavian's great-uncle. The Battle of Actium (Ancient Greek: Ἄκτιον, Aktion) was waged in the Ionian Sea (Greek: Ιόνιο Πέλαγος, Ionio Pelagos), off the west central Greek coast's Actium promontory.
Cleopatra's sixty ships "suddenly" left the battle by plunging "through the midst of the combatants" while "the sea-fight was still undecided and equally favourable to both sides," according to Greek biographer Plutarch (46 BCE-ca. 122 CE) in his biography of Antony in Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans, commonly known as Parallel Lives. "The enemy looked on with amazement, seeing that they took advantage of the wind and made for Peloponnesus" (vol. IX, LXVI, page 289).
Immediately upon sighting Cleopatra's departure, Antony likewise abandoned the battle "to those who were fighting and dying in his cause." He switched to "a five-oared galley, where Alexas the Syrian and Scellius were his only companions, and hastened after the woman who had already ruined him and would make his ruin still more complete," according to Plutarch, who advantaged every opportunity to dishonor Cleopatra.
After approximately three days' sailing, Cleopatra and Antony disembarked at Taenarum (Ancient Greek: Ταίναρον, Taenaron), at the tip of the Laconia (Greek: Λακωνία, Lakonia) region's Mani (Greek: Μάνη, Mane) peninsula in the southeastern part of southern Greece's Peloponnese (Greek: Πελοπόννησος, Peloponnesos) peninsula. Some of "their heavy transport ships and some of their friends" joined them with information on their fleet's destruction by Octavian's victory at Actium and with the assessment that "the land forces still held together" (vol. IX, LXVII, page 291).
From the Peloponnese, Cleopatra and Antony ventured southeasterly to the Libyan coast, where he "sent Cleopatra forward into Egypt from Paraetonium" (vol. IX, LXIX, page 295). The Mediterranean port of Paraetonium (American Greek: Παραιτόνιον, Paraitonion), modern-day's Mersa Matruh, lies in northwestern Egypt, west of north central Egypt's wonder-filled cosmopolitan port of Alexandria.
Antony remained in Libya with two friends, Aristocrates, a Greek rhetorician, and Lucilius, a Roman. They had missioned themselves with preparing Antony's Libya-stationed forces for engagement with Octavian, but they experienced betrayal instead. "When the general to whom his forces in Libya had been entrusted brought about their defection, Antony tried to kill himself, but was prevented by his friends and brought to Alexandria" (vol. IX, LXIX, page 295).
In Alexandria, Antony "found Cleopatra venturing upon a hazardous and great undertaking" in the Red Sea, Plutarch's designation for the upper Arabian Gulf, and the lower Arabian Gulf. Plutarch explained: "The isthmus, namely, which separates the Red Sea from the Mediterranean Sea of Egypt and is considered to be the boundary between Asia and Libya, in the part where it is most constricted by the two seas and has the least width, measures three hundred furlongs. Here Cleopatra undertook to raise her fleet out of water and drag the ships across, and after launching them in the Arabian Gulf with much money and a large force, to settle in parts outside of Egypt, thus escaping war and servitude. But since the Arabians about Petra burned the first ships that were drawn up, and Antony still thought that his land forces at Actium were holding together, she desisted, and guarded the approaches to the country" (vol. IX, LXIX, pages 294-297).
The Nabatean Arabs were Arabian Desert nomads who settled the northern Arabian peninsula. The Nabateans established the Neolithically-dated Raqēmō, Petra (Ancient Greek: Πέτρα, petra, "rock") in present-day southern Jordan, as their capital by the fourth century BCE.
In his historical compendium of ancient Rome, Roman History (Ῥωμαϊκη Ἱστορία, Historia Romana), written in Greek, Roman historian Lucius Cassius Dio (ca. 155-235 CE), known as Dio Cassius, elaborated the increasingly doomed couple's Red Sea activities as strategizing three maritime missions. "But to return to Antony and Cleopatra, they were indeed making their preparations with a view to waging war in Egypt both on sea and on land, . . . making ready, none the less, to sail to Spain if need should arise, and to stir up a revolt there by their vast resources of money and both other means, or even to change the base of their operations to the Red Sea" (Dio's Roman History, Vol. VI, Book LI.6, page 19). Dio Cassius identified Quintus Didius, Octavian-appointed governor of the Roman province of Syria, as instigator of the ship-burning spree by "the Arabians" (vol. V, Book LI.7, page 21).
The destruction of her ships closed Cleopatra's option of flight from Egypt to possibly friendly places beyond the Red Sea. She resuscitated, however, her vision of the Red Sea as conduit to the safety of lands, such as India, along the North Indian Ocean's Arabian Sea for her son by Julius Caesar, Ptolemy XV Caesar Philopator Philometor (Ancient Greek: Πτολεμαῖος Καῖσαρ Φιλοπάτωρ Φιλομήτωρ, Ptolemaios Kaisar Philopator Philometor, "Ptolemy Caesar, Beloved of his Father, Beloved of his Mother"; 47-30 BCE), known as Caesarion (Ancient Greek: Καισαρίων, Kaisarion, "Little Caesar"). Flight from Egypt to refuge in India, nevertheless, was foiled also for Caesarion.

Cleopatra's outstretched arms in barge with figurehead possibly of Fortuna, Roman goddess of fortune (lower left), express hopelessness of the Battle of Actium; "The Battle of Actium, 2 September 31BC," 1672 oil on canvas by Flemish marine painter Lorenzo A. Castro (Laureys a Castro; ca. 1640-ca. 1700); National Maritime Museum, Palmer Collection, Greenwich, London UK: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgment
My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Dedication
This post is dedicated to the memory of our beloved blue-eyed brother, Charles, who guided the creation of the Met Opera and Astronomy posts on Earth and Space News. We memorialized our brother in "Our Beloved Blue-Eyed Brother, Charles, With Whom We Are Well Pleased," published on Earth and Space News on Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021, an anniversary of our beloved father's death.

Image credits:
"The Flight of Antony and Cleopatra From the Battle of Actium," ca. 1897 oil on canvas by Gateshead-born Agnes Pringle (1853-1934); bequeathed 1934 by artist to Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle Upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, North East England: History of the World @HiistoryOfTheWorld, via Facebook April 16, 2021, @ https://ms-my.facebook.com/HiistoryOfTheWorld/posts/2603869626580103/; Can be used for non-commercial research or private study purposes, and other UK exceptions to copyright permitted to users based in the United Kingdom under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised, via Art UK
Cleopatra's outstretched arms in barge with figurehead possibly of Fortuna, Roman goddess of fortune (lower left), express hopelessness of the Battle of Actium; "The Battle of Actium, 2 September 31BC," 1672 oil on canvas by Flemish marine painter Lorenzo A. Castro (Laureys a Castro; ca. 1640-ca. 1700); National Maritime Museum, Palmer Collection, Greenwich, London UK: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Castro_Battle_of_Actium.jpg; via Royal Museums Greenwich (RMG) @ https://www.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/rmgc-object-11743

For further information:
Balzat, Jean-Sébastien; and Benjamin W. Millis. "M. Antonius Aristocrates: Provincial Involvement with Roman Power in the Late 1st Century B.C." Hesperia: The Journal of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, vol. 82, no. 4 (October-December 2013): 651-672.
Available @ https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2972/hesperia.82.4.0651.
History of the World @HiistoryOfTheWorld. "The Flight of Antony and Cleopatra from the Battle of Actium, Agnes Pringle (1853–1934)." Facebook. April 16, 2021.
Available @ https://ms-my.facebook.com/HiistoryOfTheWorld/photos/2603869626580103/
Available @ https://ms-my.facebook.com/HiistoryOfTheWorld/posts/2603869626580103/
Lucius Cassius Dio. ". . . . After his unexpected setback, Antony took refuge in his fleet, and was preparing to give battle on the sea or at any rate to sail to Spain. But Cleopatra, upon perceiving this, caused the ships to desert . . ." Book LI.10, page 29. Dio's Roman History, vol. VI. With an English Translation by Earnest Cary, Ph.D. On the Basis of the Version of Herbert Baldwin Forster, Ph.D. Loeb Classical Library LBL 175. London: William Heinemann Ltd; Cambridge MA Harvard University Press, MCMLV [1955].
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/diosromanhistory06cassuoft/page/29/mode/1up
Lucius Cassius Dio. ". . . . But to return to Antony and Cleopatra, they were indeed making their preparations with a view to waging war in Egypt both on sea and on land, and to this end they were calling to their aid the neighbouring tribes and the kings who were friendly to them; but they were also making ready, none the less, to sail to Spain if need should arise, and to stir up a revolt there by their vast resources of money and by other means, or even to change the base of their operations to the Red Sea. . . ." Book LI.6, page 19. Dio's Roman History, vol. VI. With an English Translation by Earnest Cary, Ph.D. On the Basis of the Version of Herbert Baldwin Forster, Ph.D. Loeb Classical Library LBL 175. London: William Heinemann Ltd; Cambridge MA Harvard University Press, MCMLV [1955].
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/diosromanhistory06cassuoft/page/19/mode/1up
Lucius Cassius Dio. "While these negotiations were proceeding, the Arabians, instigated by Quintus Didius, the governor of Syria, burned the ships in the Arabian Gulf which had been built for the voyage to the Red Sea, and the peoples and princes without exception refused their assistance to Antony." Book LI.7, page 21. Dio's Roman History, vol. VI. With an English Translation by Earnest Cary, Ph.D. On the Basis of the Version of Herbert Baldwin Forster, Ph.D. Loeb Classical Library LBL 175. London: William Heinemann Ltd; Cambridge MA Harvard University Press, MCMLV [1955].
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/diosromanhistory06cassuoft/page/20/mode/2up
Marriner, Derdriu. "Beware the Ides of March: The Assassination of Julius Caesar." Earth and Space News. Thursday, March 3, 2022.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/03/beware-ides-of-march-assassination-of.html
Marriner, Derdriu. "Beware the Ides of March Meal: Caesar or Brutus Salad, Cleopatra's Dulcis Coccora, Caesar Cocktail." Earth and Space News. Thursday, March 10, 2022.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/03/beware-ides-of-march-meal-caesar-or.html
Marriner, Derdriu. "Caesar Salad Recipe: Named for Chef Cesare Cardini, Not Julius Caesar. Earth and Space News. Thursday, March 17, 2022.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/03/caesar-salad-recipe-named-for-chef.html
Marriner, Derdriu. "Caesarion Sought to Refuge in India But Was Lured Away To Be Murdered." Earth and Space News. Thursday, Aug. 25, 2022.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/08/caesarion-sought-to-refuge-in-india-but.html
Marriner, Derdriu. "Cleopatra's Only Grandson Was Executed by Third Roman Emperor Caligula." Earth and Space News. Thursday, Jan. 6, 2022.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/01/cleopatras-only-grandson-was-executed.html
Marriner, Derdriu. "Cleopatra I Was First of Seven Queens Named Cleopatra in Ancient Egypt." Earth and Space News. Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/01/cleopatra-i-was-first-of-seven-queens.html
Marriner, Derdriu. "Cleopatra II Was Second of Seven Ptolemaic Queens Named Cleopatra." Earth and Space News. Thursday, Jan. 27, 2022.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/01/cleopatra-ii-was-second-of-seven.html
Marriner, Derdriu. "Cleopatra III Was the Third of Seven Ptolemaic Queens Named Cleopatra." Earth and Space News. Thursday, Feb. 3, 2022.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/02/cleopatra-iii-was-third-of-seven.html
Marriner, Derdriu. "Cleopatra IV Was the Fourth of Seven Ptolemaic Queens Named Cleopatra." Earth and Space News. Thursday, Feb. 10, 2022.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/02/cleopatra-iv-was-fourth-of-seven.html
Marriner, Derdriu. "Cleopatra V was the Fifth of Seven Ptolemaic Queens Named Cleopatra." Earth and Space News. Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/02/cleopatra-v-was-fifth-of-seven.html
Marriner, Derdriu. "Drusilla, Cleopatra's Great Granddaughter, Was Queen Consort of Emesa." Earth and Space News. Thursday, Jan. 13, 2022.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/01/drusilla-cleopatras-great-granddaughter.html
Marriner, Derdriu. "Julius Caesar's Birth Quintilis 12/13 Became July in Julian Calendar." Earth and Space News. Thursday, July 21, 2022.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/07/julius-caesars-birth-quintilis-1213.html
Marriner, Derdriu. "Was Cleopatra VI Tryphaena Really the Sixth Ptolemaic Queen Cleopatra?" Earth and Space News. Thursday, Feb. 24, 2022.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/02/was-cleopatra-vi-tryphaena-really-sixth.html
Perrin, Bernadotte, trans. "LXVI. . . . suddenly the sixty ships of Cleopatra were seen hoisting their sails for flight and making off through the midst of the combatants . . . . For no sooner did he see her ship sailing off than he . . . got into a five-oared galley . . . and hastened after the woman . . ." Pages 288-289. Plutarch's Lives, vol. IX: Anthony, pages 138-333. In eleven volumes. Loeb Classical Library. First printed 1920. London: William Heinemann Ltd; Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press, MCMLIX [1959].
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/plutarchslives09plutuoft/page/288/mode/1up
Available via Topos Text @ https://topostext.org/work/180
Perrin, Bernadotte, trans. "LXVII. Cleopatra recognized him and raised a signal on her ship. . . . He . . . then put in at Taenarum . . . . Presently not a few of their heavy transport ships and some of their friends began to gather about them . . . bringing word . . . that, in their opinion, the land forces still held together. . . . Antony . . . purposed to cross from Taenarum to Libya . . . ." Pages 288-293. Plutarch's Lives, vol. IX: Anthony, pages 138-333. In eleven volumes. Loeb Classical Library. First printed 1920. London: William Heinemann Ltd; Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press, MCMLIX [1959].
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/plutarchslives09plutuoft/page/288/mode/1up
Available via Topos Text @ https://topostext.org/work/180
Perrin, Bernadotte, trans. "LXIX. After Antony had reached the coast of Libya and sent Cleopatra forward into Egypt from Paraetonium, he had the benefit of solitude . . . with two friends, one a Greek, Aristocrates a rhetorician, and the other a Roman, Lucilius, about whom I have told a story elsewhere. . . . When the general to whom his forces in Libya had been entrusted brought about their defection, Antony tried to kill himself, but was prevented by his friends and brought to Alexandria. Here he found Cleopatra venturing upon a hazardous and great undertaking. . . ." Pages 294-297. Plutarch's Lives, vol. IX: Anthony, pages 138-333. In eleven volumes. Loeb Classical Library. First printed 1920. London: William Heinemann Ltd; Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press, MCMLIX [1959].
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/plutarchslives09plutuoft/page/294/mode/1up
Available via Topos Text @ https://topostext.org/work/180
Perrin, Bernadotte, trans. "LXXI. . . . As for Antony . . . . , he forsook that dwelling of his in the sea, which he called Timoneum, and after he had been received into the palace by Cleopatra, turned the city to the enjoyment of suppers and drinking-bouts and distributions of gifts, inscribing in the list of ephebi the son of Cleopatra and Caesar, and bestowing upon Antyllus the son of Fulvia the toga virilis without purple hem . . . ." Pages 300-303. Plutarch's Lives, vol. IX: Anthony, pages 138-333. In eleven volumes. Loeb Classical Library. First printed 1920. London: William Heinemann Ltd; Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press, MCMLIX [1959].
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/plutarchslives09plutuoft/page/300/mode/1up
Available via Topos Text @ https://topostext.org/work/180
Perrin, Bernadotte, trans. "L. Now, there was a certain Lucilius, a brave man, among the comrades of Brutus. . . ." Pages 238-241. Plutarch's Lives, vol. VI: Brutus, pages 125-247. In eleven volumes. Loeb Classical Library. First printed 1918. London: William Heinemann Ltd; Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press, MCMLIV [1954].
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/plutarchslives06plutuoft/page/238/mode/1up
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/plutarchs-lives-in-11-volumes.-vol.-6-loeb-98/page/238/mode/1up
Available via Topos Text @ https://topostext.org/work/181


Thursday, August 25, 2022

Caesarion Sought to Refuge in India But Was Lured Away To Be Murdered


Summary: Caesarion sought to refuge in India but was lured away to be murdered in 30 BCE, as ordered by his first cousin once removed, Octavian.


colossal granodiorite head, 80 centimeters (31.49 inches) in height, discovered 1998 in Alexandria's Eastern Harbor by French underwater archaeologist Franck Goddio and identified as likeness of Caesarion by British curator Sally-Ann Ashton; displayed at Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for Cleopatra exhibit, "Unravel the Mystery," July 28, 2010; from Antiquities Museum of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Alexandria, Egypt: Scott D. Welch (Sdwelch1031), Public Domain (CC0 1.0), via Wikimedia Commons

Julius Caesar and Cleopatra's 17-year-old son, Caesarion, sought to refuge in India but was lured away to be murdered in August 30 BCE, as ordered by his first cousin once removed, Octavian, who became Princeps Civitatis (First Citizen) Augustus in January 27 BCE.
The year 47 BCE usually is given as the year of the birth of Ptolemy XV Caesar Philopator Philometor (Ancient Greek: Πτολεμαῖος Καῖσαρ Φιλοπάτωρ Φιλομήτωρ, Ptolemaios Kaisar Philopator Philometor, "Ptolemy Caesar, Beloved of his Father, Beloved of his Mother"; 47-30 BCE), known as Caesarion (Ancient Greek: Καισαρίων, Kaisarion, "Little Caesar"). Julius Caesar lingered in Alexandria after successfully securing the Ptolemaic throne for Cleopatra VII Philopator (Ancient Greek: Κλεοπάτρα Φιλοπάτωρ, Kleopatra Philopator; ca. 69-Aug. 10 or 12, 30 BCE) and her brother Ptolemy XIV Philopator (ca. 59-44 BCE) in their power struggle with their siblings Arsinoe IV (ca. 68-41 BCE) and Ptolemy XIII Theos Philopator (ca. 62 BCE-47 BCE). "Then, leaving Cleopatra on the throne of Egypt (a little later she had a son by him whom the Alexandrians called Caesarion), he set out for Syria," explained Greek biographer Plutarch (46 BCE-ca. 122 CE) in his biography of Julius Caesar in Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans, commonly known as Parallel Lives (vol. VII, XLIX, page 561).
Caesarion's father was born July 12 or 13, 100 BCE, in Rome's Subura neighborhood, as the third child and only son of Gaius Julius Caesar (ca. 140/135-85 BCE) and Aurelia Cotta (May 21, 120-July 31, 54 BCE). Julius Caesar's two older sisters were distinguished, by their birth order, as Julia maggiore (Julia the Elder; ca. 103-? BCE) and Julia minore (Julia the Younger; ca. 101-51 BCE).
Julia Minor married Marcus Atius Balbus (105-51 BC), an administrative official (Latin: praetor, "commander; leader; magistrate") from Ariccia, southeast of Rome in the Alban Hills (Albanus Mons) of the central west Italian peninsula's Latium region. Julia Minor mothered at least two daughters named Atia.
Atia maggiore (85-43 BCE) married as the second wife of Gaius Octavius (ca. 100-59 BCE), whose career included the governorship of the Roman Republic's province of Macedonia. They named their two children Octavia (ca. 69-11 BCE) and Gaius Octavius "Octavian" (Sep. 23, 63 BCE-Aug. 19, 14 CE).
As Julia Minor's daughter, Atia maggiore was the niece of her mother's brother, Julius Caesar. Atia maggiore and Caesarion, her maternal uncle's son with Cleopatra, were first cousins. Atia maggiore's children, Octavia and Octavian, related with Caesarion as first cousins once removed.
Sixteen years after Caesarion's birth and 13 years after Julius Caesar's March 15, 44 BCE, assassination, the Battle of Actium emphasized troubling futures for Cleopatra and Caesarion. Octavian waged the naval battle Sep. 2, 31 BCE, against Cleopatra and Mark Antony (Jan. 14, 83-Aug. 1, 30 BCE) in the Ionian Sea off west central Greece's coastal Acarnania region. Octavian followed this naval win with final victory Aug. 1, 30 BCE, after a monthlong siege of Alexandria.
Some time prior to her alleged suicide on ca. Aug. 10 or 12, 30 BCE, Cleopatra strategized safety for Caesarion. In his biography of Antony, Plutarch detailed Cleopatra's ultimately unsuccessful escape plan for Julius Caesar's son. "But Caesarion, who was said to be Cleopatra’s son by Julius Caesar, was sent by his mother, with much treasure, into India, by way of Ethiopia. There Rhodon, another tutor like Theodorus, persuaded him to go back, on the ground that Caesar invited him to take the kingdom. But while Caesar was deliberating on the matter, we are told that Areius said: -- 'Not a good thing were a Caesar too many.' LXXXII. As for Caesarion, then, he was afterwards put to death by Caesar, -- after the death of Cleopatra . . ." (Vol. IX, LXXXI-LXXXII, page 321).
Roman historian Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (ca. 69-after 122 BCE) also placed Caesarion's killing in Alexandria. "Caesarion, too, whom Cleopatra fathered on Caesar, he overtook in his flight, brought back, and put to death," Suetonius narrated in his biography of Augustus in De Vita Caesarum (Life of the Caesars), commonly known as The Twelve Caesars (Book II: XVII, page 147).
Contrastingly, Roman historian Lucius Cassius Dio (ca. 155-235 CE), known as Dio Cassius, considered Caesarion's demise as occurring during an in-flight ambush. ". . . Caesarion while fleeing to Ethiopia was overtaken on the road and murdered," he stated in Roman History (Ῥωμαϊκη Ἱστορία, Historia Romana), his historical compendium of ancient Rome, written in Greek (Dio's Roman History, Vol. VI, Book LI.15, page 43).
Questions remain concerning the how and the where of Caesarion's murder in August 30 BCE. That his first cousin once removed, Octavian, who, two years five months later, in January 27 BCE, became Princeps Civitatis (First Citizen) Augustus, ordered the murder is unquestioned.

depiction of Cleopatra (left) and her co-regent, heir and oldest son, Caesarion (right), west end of south wall, Temple of Hathor, Dendara Temple Complex, west bank of Nile, Upper Egypt; photo by French civil servant Félix Teynard (Jan. 14, 1817-Aug. 28, 1892) during 1851-1852 visit to Egypt to make photographic companion for Description de l'Égypte produced by Commission des Sciences et des Arts (Commission of the Sciences and Arts): Rowan, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgment
My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Dedication
This post is dedicated to the memory of our beloved blue-eyed brother, Charles, who guided the creation of the Met Opera and Astronomy posts on Earth and Space News. We memorialized our brother in "Our Beloved Blue-Eyed Brother, Charles, With Whom We Are Well Pleased," published on Earth and Space News on Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021, an anniversary of our beloved father's death.

Image credits:
colossal granodiorite head, 80 centimeters (31.49 inches) in height, discovered 1998 in Alexandria's Eastern Harbor by French underwater archaeologist Franck Goddio and identified as likeness of Caesarion by British curator Sally-Ann Ashton; displayed at Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for Cleopatra exhibit, "Unravel the Mystery," July 28, 2010; from Antiquities Museum of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Alexandria, Egypt: Scott D. Welch (Sdwelch1031), Public Domain (CC0 1.0), via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Caesarion.jpg
depiction of Cleopatra (left) and her co-regent, heir and oldest son, Caesarion (right), west end of south wall, Temple of Hathor, Dendara Temple Complex, west bank of Nile, Upper Egypt; photo by French civil servant Félix Teynard (Jan. 14, 1817-Aug. 28, 1892) during 1851-1852 visit to Egypt to make photographic companion for Description de l'Égypte produced by Commission des Sciences et des Arts (Commission of the Sciences and Arts): Rowan, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dendérah_(Tentyris),_Temple_d'Athôr_-_Face_Postérieure_-_Cléopatre_et_Cæsarion_MET_DP139902.jpg

For further information:
Bennett, Chris. "Ptolemy XV Caesarion." Egyptian Royal Genealogy.
Available @ http://www.instonebrewer.com/TyndaleSites/Egypt/ptolemies/ptolemy_xv.htm
Braund, David; and Christopher Gill, eds. Myth, History and Culture in Republican Rome: Studies in Honor of T.P. Wiseman. Exeter UK: University of Exeter Press, 2003.
Cavafy, C.P. (Constantine Peter; Konstantinos Petrou Kavafis). "Caesarion." Poets.org.
Available @ https://poets.org/poem/caesarion
Cleopatra VII @lifeofcleopatra. "I have sent Caesarion up the Nile, and off to India, Egypt can fall to ruins, my children's safety and future are my priority now." Twitter. Dec. 9, 2013.
Available @ https://twitter.com/lifeofcleopatra/status/410182324761133056
Cosmic Convergence. "Caesarion: The Greatest Story Never Told." Cosmic Convergence. Dec. 25, 2012.
Available @ https://cosmicconvergence.org/?p=287
Dr Jo Ball @DrJEBall. "I think in Plutarch it says that he went to India, but then was lured back by false rumours that Octavian was going to let him have control of Egypt. There are probably many other accounts of what happened to Caesarion -- all of which probably with a sad ending!" Twitter. June 23, 2018.
Available @ https://twitter.com/DrJEBall/status/1010488883186946049
Gray-Fow, Michael. "What To Do With Caesarion?" Greece & Rome, second series, vol. 61, issue. 1 (April 2014): 38-67.
Available via JSTOR @ https://www.jstor.org/stable/43297487
Harrsch, Mary. "Caesarion: Doomed by His Name, ‘Too Many Caesars.'" Brewminate > History. May 16, 2016.
Available @ https://brewminate.com/caesarion-doomed-by-his-name-too-many-caesars/
Harrsch, Mary. "Caesarion: Victim of the wicked who whispered 'Too Many Caesars.'" Roman Times. Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2020.
Available @ https://ancientimes.blogspot.com/2010/12/caesarion-victim-of-wicked-who.html
Kayalis, Takis. "Cavafy’s Historical Poetics in Context: 'Caesarion' as Palimpsest." Journal of Modern Hellenism, vol. 34, special issue (2019): 43-69.
Available @ https://journals.sfu.ca/jmh/index.php/jmh/article/view/331
Lord, Louis E. "The Date of Julius Caesar's Departure from Alexandria." The Journal of Roman Studies, Vol. 28, Part 1 (1938): 19-40.
Available via JSTOR @ https://www.jstor.org/stable/296901
Lucius Cassius Dio. ". . . Caesarion while fleeing to Ethiopia was overtaken on the road and murdered." Book LI: 15.5, page 43. Dio's Roman History, vol. VI. With an English Translation by Earnest Cary, Ph.D. On the Basis of the Version of Herbert Baldwin Forster, Ph.D. Loeb Classical Library LBL 175. London: William Heinemann Ltd; Cambridge MA Harvard University Press, MCMLV [1955].
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/diosromanhistory06cassuoft/page/43/mode/1up
Lucius Cassius Dio. ". . . . But to return to Antony and Cleopatra, they were indeed making their preparations with a view to waging war in Egypt both on sea and on land, and to this end they were calling to their aid the neighbouring tribes and the kings who were friendly to them; but they were also making ready, none the less, to sail to Spain if need should arise, and to stir up a revolt there by their vast resources of money and by other means, or even to change the base of their operations to the Red Sea. . . ." Book LI.6, page 19. Dio's Roman History, vol. VI. With an English Translation by Earnest Cary, Ph.D. On the Basis of the Version of Herbert Baldwin Forster, Ph.D. Loeb Classical Library LBL 175. London: William Heinemann Ltd; Cambridge MA Harvard University Press, MCMLV [1955].
Available @ https://archive.org/details/diosromanhistory06cassuoft/page/19/mode/1up
Lucius Cassius Dio. "While these negotiations were proceeding, the Arabians, instigated by Quintus Didius, the governor of Syria, burned the ships in the Arabian Gulf which had been built for the voyage to the Red Sea, and the peoples and princes without exception refused their assistance to Antony." Book LI.7, page 21. Dio's Roman History, vol. VI. With an English Translation by Earnest Cary, Ph.D. On the Basis of the Version of Herbert Baldwin Forster, Ph.D. Loeb Classical Library LBL 175. London: William Heinemann Ltd; Cambridge MA Harvard University Press, MCMLV [1955].
Available @ https://archive.org/details/diosromanhistory06cassuoft/page/20/mode/2up
Manu. "Cleopatra and Cheraman Perumal." Then and Now. Nov. 11, 2009.
Available @ https://pazhayathu.blogspot.com/2012/08/julius-caesars-son-in-kerala-history-of.html
Marriner, Derdriu. "Beware the Ides of March: The Assassination of Julius Caesar." Earth and Space News. Thursday, March 3, 2022.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/03/beware-ides-of-march-assassination-of.html
Marriner, Derdriu. "Beware the Ides of March Meal: Caesar or Brutus Salad, Cleopatra's Dulcis Coccora, Caesar Cocktail." Earth and Space News. Thursday, March 10, 2022.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/03/beware-ides-of-march-meal-caesar-or.html
Marriner, Derdriu. "Caesar Salad Recipe: Named for Chef Cesare Cardini, Not Julius Caesar. Earth and Space News. Thursday, March 17, 2022.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/03/caesar-salad-recipe-named-for-chef.html
Marriner, Derdriu. "Cleopatra's Only Grandson Was Executed by Third Roman Emperor Caligula." Earth and Space News. Thursday, Jan. 6, 2022.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/01/cleopatras-only-grandson-was-executed.html
Marriner, Derdriu. "Cleopatra I Was First of Seven Queens Named Cleopatra in Ancient Egypt." Earth and Space News. Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/01/cleopatra-i-was-first-of-seven-queens.html
Marriner, Derdriu. "Cleopatra II Was Second of Seven Ptolemaic Queens Named Cleopatra." Earth and Space News. Thursday, Jan. 27, 2022.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/01/cleopatra-ii-was-second-of-seven.html
Marriner, Derdriu. "Cleopatra III Was the Third of Seven Ptolemaic Queens Named Cleopatra." Earth and Space News. Thursday, Feb. 3, 2022.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/02/cleopatra-iii-was-third-of-seven.html
Marriner, Derdriu. "Cleopatra IV Was the Fourth of Seven Ptolemaic Queens Named Cleopatra." Earth and Space News. Thursday, Feb. 10, 2022.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/02/cleopatra-iv-was-fourth-of-seven.html
Marriner, Derdriu. "Cleopatra V was the Fifth of Seven Ptolemaic Queens Named Cleopatra." Earth and Space News. Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/02/cleopatra-v-was-fifth-of-seven.html
Marriner, Derdriu. "Drusilla, Cleopatra's Great Granddaughter, Was Queen Consort of Emesa." Earth and Space News. Thursday, Jan. 13, 2022.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/01/drusilla-cleopatras-great-granddaughter.html
Marriner, Derdriu. "Julius Caesar's Birth Quintilis 12/13 Became July in Julian Calendar." Earth and Space News. Thursday, July 21, 2022.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/07/julius-caesars-birth-quintilis-1213.html
Marriner, Derdriu. "Was Cleopatra VI Tryphaena Really the Sixth Ptolemaic Queen Cleopatra?" Earth and Space News. Thursday, Feb. 24, 2022.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/02/was-cleopatra-vi-tryphaena-really-sixth.html
McLaughlin, Raoul. "The Roman Takeover." Pages 77-79. The Roman Empire and the Indian Ocean: The Ancient World Economy and the Kingdoms of Africa, Arabia and India. Chapter Six The Red Sea Route: 73-87. Barnsley UK: Pen & Sword Military, 2014.
Available @ https://www.ancientportsantiques.com/wp-content/uploads/Documents/PLACES/IndOc-Gulf/IndianOcean-McLaughlin2014.pdf
McLaughlin, Raoul. "Caesarion." Pages 26-27. Rome and the Distant East: Trade Routes to the Ancient Lands of Arabia, India and China. Chapter 2 Roman Egypt and the Sea Routes to India: 23-60. London UK; New York NY: Continuum, 2010.
Perrin, Bernadotte, trans. "LXXXI. As for the children of Antony, Antyllus, his son by Fulvia, was betrayed by Theodorus his tutor and put to death; and after the soldiers had cut off his head, his tutor took away the exceeding precious stone which the boy wore about his neck and sewed it into his own girdle; and though he denied the deed, he was convicted of it and crucified. Cleopatra's children, together with their attendants, were kept under guard and had generous treatment. But Caesarion, who was said to be Cleopatra’s son by Julius Caesar, was sent by his mother, with much treasure, into India, by way of Ethiopia. There Rhodon, another tutor like Theodorus, persuaded him to go back on the ground that Caesar invited him to take the kingdom. But while Caesar was deliberating on the matter, we are told that Areius said: -- 'Not a good thing were a Caesar too many.'" Pages 318-321. Plutarch's Lives, vol. IX: Anthony, pages 138-333. In eleven volumes. Loeb Classical Library. First printed 1920. London: William Heinemann Ltd; Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press, MCMLIX [1959].
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/plutarchslives09plutuoft/page/318/mode/1up
Available via Topos Text @ https://topostext.org/work/180
Perrin, Bernadotte, trans. "LXXXII. As for Caesarion, then, he was afterwards put to death by Caesar, -- after the death of Cleopatra . . ." Pages 320-321. Plutarch's Lives, vol. IX: Anthony, pages 138-333. In eleven volumes. Loeb Classical Library. First printed 1920. London: William Heinemann Ltd; Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press, MCMLIX [1959].
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/plutarchslives09plutuoft/page/320/mode/1up
Available via Topos Text @ https://topostext.org/work/180
Perrin, Bernadotte, trans. "XLIX. . . . Then, leaving Cleopatra on the throne of Egypt (a little later she had a son by him whom the Alexandrians called Caesarion) . . ." Pages 560-561. Plutarch's Lives, vol. VII: Caesar, pages 441-609. In eleven volumes. Loeb Classical Library. First printed 1919. London: William Heinemann Ltd; Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press, MCMLXVII [1967].
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/plutarchslives07plut/page/560/mode/1up
Available via Topos Text @ https://topostext.org/work/184
Rickard, John. "Battle of the Nile, February 47 BC." HistoryOfWar > Battles > N. Sep. 4, 2018.
Available @ http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/battles_nile_47BC.html
Rodolfo Jardón @_rjardon. "Replying to @StepheClifton27. Some say that Caesarion was hunted and killed in Phillae, the Island of the famous Isis Temple. Near the Nubian border. Others, that he escaped to India as you said. The consensus among historians is that he was killed, following Octavian's order." Twitter. Sep. 16, 2019, 6:34 PM, from Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Available @ https://twitter.com/_rjardon/status/1173727002278465537
Rolfe, J.C. (John Carew). "Book II The Deified Augustus." Pages 121-287. Suetonius The Lives of the Caesars, vol. I. In two volumes. Loeb Classical Library. London: William Heinemann; New York: The Macmillan Co., MCMXIV [1914].
Available @ https://archive.org/details/L031SuetoniusTheLivesOfTheCaesarsI/page/n151/mode/1up
Sánchez, Juan Pablo. "Egypt's last pharaoh was the 'love child' of Caesar and Cleopatra." National Geographic > Culture & History. Oct. 19, 2020.
Available @ https://www.nationalgeographic.co.uk/history-and-civilisation/2020/10/egypts-last-pharaoh-was-the-love-child-of-caesar-and-cleopatra
Savitri Mumukshu -- सावित्री मुमुक्षु @MumukshuSavitri. "1. Did you know that the success & “Golden Age” of the Roman Empire was primarily dependent on trade from India? It is estimated that by 1st c. CE, trade from India was financing almost 30% of the Roman Empire’s total income." Twitter. Sep. 10, 2021.
Available @ https://twitter.com/MumukshuSavitri/status/1436380140980752388
Savitri Mumukshu -- सावित्री मुमुक्षु @MumukshuSavitri. "2. When Mark Antony was defeated at the Battle of Actium in 31 BCE, Queen Cleopatra prepared an escape to India with the treasure of the Ptolemais. She planned to escape accompanied by Caesarion, her son by Julius Caesar." Twitter. Sep. 10, 2021.
Available @ https://twitter.com/MumukshuSavitri/status/1436380144789196801
Savitri Mumukshu -- सावित्री मुमुक्षु @MumukshuSavitri. "3. She had enough troops to guarantee the continuance of her royal court in the safety of India & made preparations to launch her ships into the Red Sea by dragging them across the Suez Isthmus. But the Nabataeans of Arabia were her old enemies." Twitter. Sep. 10, 2021.
Available @ https://twitter.com/MumukshuSavitri/status/1436380146664046594
Savitri Mumukshu -- सावित्री मुमुक्षु @MumukshuSavitri. "4. The Nabataean King Malichus sent troops to ambush her army and allied himself with Octavian. Cleopatra’s ships were burned before they could be launched, ending her chance of escaping to India. With the fleet burnt, there was still one final hope for the Ptolemaic dynasty." Twitter. Sep. 10, 2021.
Available @ https://twitter.com/MumukshuSavitri/status/1436380150430535680
Savitri Mumukshu -- सावित्री मुमुक्षु @MumukshuSavitri. "5. Cleopatra’s son Caesarion was almost an adult. He was going to inherit Egypt’s Ptolemaic throne & was the only biological heir of Julius Caesar. This made him a serious threat to Octavian who was the grand-nephew of Caesar & adopted heir after Caesar’s death." Twitter. Sep. 10, 2021.
Available @ https://twitter.com/MumukshuSavitri/status/1436380153920114688
Savitri Mumukshu -- सावित्री मुमुक्षु @MumukshuSavitri. "6. As a desperate last resort, Cleopatra tried to send Caesarion to safety in India far from Roman authority and Octavian. She arranged for him to sail to India accompanied by a staff of royal advisors carrying large treasures from the Ptolemaic treasury." Twitter. Sep. 10, 2021.
Available @ https://twitter.com/MumukshuSavitri/status/1436380155954360321
Savitri Mumukshu -- सावित्री मुमुक्षु @MumukshuSavitri. "7. Cleopatra hoped that her son could seek asylum in India & one day return to avenge her by leading a military rebellion against Octavian. After Marc Antony’s death, Cleopatra chose to die from the bite of a venomous snake rather than endure the humiliation planned by Octavian." Twitter. Sep. 10, 2021.
Available @ https://twitter.com/MumukshuSavitri/status/1436380159024590850
Savitri Mumukshu -- सावित्री मुमुक्षु @MumukshuSavitri. "8. While Caesarion waited at the port of Berenice for the seasonal trade winds , he was tricked by his tutor Rhodon, who was bribed by Octavian. Caesarian returned back to Alexandria & was executed on the grounds that ‘too many Caesars are not a good thing’." Twitter. Sep. 10, 2021.
Available @ https://twitter.com/MumukshuSavitri/status/1436380162870767619
Savitri Mumukshu -- सावित्री मुमुक्षु @MumukshuSavitri. "9. Octavian, the new Emperor’s next ambition was to invade Arabia. So Aelius Gallus the Roman governor of Egypt was ordered to restore shipyards at the northern Red Sea port of Arsine. He was given the task of building 80 triremes and 130 troop-transports to conquer Arabia." Twitter. Sep. 10, 2021.
Available @ https://twitter.com/MumukshuSavitri/status/1436380166297559044
Savitri Mumukshu -- सावित्री मुमुक्षु @MumukshuSavitri. "10. Roman ships were sent to destroy the Sabaean city-port of Eudaimon Arabia (Aden). This raid had immediate consequences for international trade when Indian merchant ships who used to trade with Arabia, arrived at the port to discover it ransacked and its merchandise removed." Twitter. Sep. 10, 2021.
Available @ https://twitter.com/MumukshuSavitri/status/1436380170617647106
Savitri Mumukshu -- सावित्री मुमुक्षु @MumukshuSavitri. "11. They had no choice but to sail on & meet their trade contacts at Egypt. This opened up Rome’s access to Indian goods via Egypt. The Romans could now send many more ships to India to get merchandise for their Empire." Twitter. Sep. 10, 2021.
Available @ https://twitter.com/MumukshuSavitri/status/1436380174904283142
Savitri Mumukshu -- सावित्री मुमुक्षु @MumukshuSavitri. "12. The Greek geographer Strabo, an associate of Aelius Gallus, accompanied the governor on an official tour along the Nile River. The group travelled past the city of Coptos where Strabo heard a report that over 100 Roman ships were sailing direct from Egypt to India every year." Twitter. Sep. 10, 2021.
Available @ https://twitter.com/MumukshuSavitri/status/1436380178779836417
Savitri Mumukshu -- सावित्री मुमुक्षु @MumukshuSavitri. "13. He reported: 'When Gallus was the prefect of Egypt, I accompanied him along the Nile River as far as Syene and the frontiers of Aethiopia. I learned that as many as 120 vessels were sailing from Myos Hormos to India.' This was more than 6 times the ships sent by Egyptians." Twitter. Sep. 10, 2021.
Available @ https://twitter.com/MumukshuSavitri/status/1436380183179587587
Savitri Mumukshu -- सावित्री मुमुक्षु @MumukshuSavitri. "14. The world changed when Rome annexed Egypt and gained access to the Red Sea shipping-lanes that led into the Indian Ocean. Within a decade, Roman ships sailing to India had inundated the Mediterranean markets with goods from India." Twitter. Sep. 10, 2021.
Available @ https://twitter.com/MumukshuSavitri/status/1436380188225392640
Savitri Mumukshu -- सावित्री मुमुक्षु @MumukshuSavitri. "15. These imports included products such as incense, spices, ivory, wigs, dried flowers, gemstones and silks. The Roman Empire imposed a quarter-rate import tax known as the tetarte on these commodities and as trade increased, the tax generated huge new revenues for Rome." Twitter. Sep. 10, 2021.
Available @ https://twitter.com/MumukshuSavitri/status/1436380193799618561
Savitri Mumukshu -- सावित्री मुमुक्षु @MumukshuSavitri. "16. At its height, the Roman Empire had 300,000 professional soldiers to defend its vulnerable frontiers and maintain order amongst subject nations. This army depended upon the finance that was obtained from taxes imposed on international business." Twitter. Sep. 10, 2021.
Available @ https://twitter.com/MumukshuSavitri/status/1436380198132346884
Savitri Mumukshu -- सावित्री मुमुक्षु @MumukshuSavitri. "17. India added huge value to Roman gold & silver resources, which were shipped as bullion to purchase Indian goods which Romans resold at great profit along with the income from customs duties. This paid for the Roman army in expanding & defending the empire." Twitter. Sep. 10, 2021.
Available @ https://twitter.com/MumukshuSavitri/status/1436380201982697473
Savitri Mumukshu -- सावित्री मुमुक्षु @MumukshuSavitri. "18. Roman access to Chinese & other Asian goods was made possible primarily by Indian merchants. Although Rome did import several Chinese goods such as Silk & porcelain, Indian products were at least 10 times more in demand than the Chinese goods." Twitter. Sep. 10, 2021.
Available @ https://twitter.com/MumukshuSavitri/status/1436380201982697473
Savitri Mumukshu -- सावित्री मुमुक्षु @MumukshuSavitri. "19. By the 1st c. CE, yearly imports to Rome via the Indian Ocean were more than 1,000 MM sesterces (today’s $3 Billion) which raised 250 MM sesterces in tax revenue for the Roman government. By 1st c. CE, trade from India financed almost 30% of the Roman Empire’s income." Twitter. Sep. 10, 2021.
Available @ https://twitter.com/MumukshuSavitri/status/1436380208433532931
Savitri Mumukshu -- सावित्री मुमुक्षु @MumukshuSavitri. "20. India was the most prosperous & significant world power in ancient times. The huge role that trade from India played in the success of the Roman Empire is relatively unknown. It was the 'Sone ki Chidiya' that fueled the 'Golden Age' of the Roman Empire." Twitter. Sep. 10, 2021.
Available @ https://twitter.com/MumukshuSavitri/status/1436380210954268675
Savitri Mumukshu -- सावित्री मुमुक्षु @MumukshuSavitri. "References Raoul McLaughlin. 'The Roman Empire & the Indian Ocean' Cambridge Ancient History, volume 11 Hopkins, ‘The Political Economy of the Roman Empire’ Greene, Archaeology of the Roman Economy." Twitter. Sep. 10, 2021.
Available @ https://twitter.com/MumukshuSavitri/status/1436380212300705796
Sunder, Shyam. "Chapter 2 Leadership and Technology of Organizing; The Sangha, University and State: Open Doors (Padharo Mhare Des or Welcome to My Country/Home." Pages 26-27. In: Chatterjee, Debashis; Deepa Sethi; and Surya Prakash Pati, eds. Globalizing Indian Thought: Insights from Indian Knowledge Systems, Chapter 2: 11-30. New Delhi, India: SAGE Spectrum, Feb. 14, 2022.
Available via Google Books @ https://www.google.com/books/edition/Globalizing_Indian_Thought/L4dUEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=globalizing+indian+thought+insights+from+indian+knowledge+caesarion&pg=PA27
Woodcock, George. "VIII The Valiant-Eyed Yavanas." Pages 128, 142. The Greeks in India. Chapter VIII: 128-148. London: Faber and Faber, 1966.
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.142817/page/n1/mode/1up
Woodcock, George. "Chapter 4 The Age of the Cheras." Page 80. Kerala: A Portrait of the Malabar Coast, Part II Between Myth and History, Chapter 4: 73-134. London: Faber and Faber, 1967.
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.111796/page/n71/mode/1up