Cleopatra was now in control of Egypt as she had always desired and
she wanted to keep it that way. Caesar also stayed in Egypt after
taking control of it and Cleopatra ordered her servants to prepare a
large boat filled with Egypt’s finest accessories. This boat was to
travel along the Nile and stop at many cities. It was protected by
Caesar’s guards who traveled alongside. Soon after, Cleopatra found
that she was pregnant with Caesar’s child. The small boy was born on
June 23, 47 B.C. This child affirmed that Cleopatra and Caesar were
lovers but they also needed each other to succeed. With both of them
being extremely ambitious, they planned to make a dynasty like no
other before and of course Egypt would be the center of this newly
devised plan. This led Cleopatra to believe her son would be the
first ruler of their newly planned empire.
Meanwhile in Rome many messages were being sent to Caesar. He could
not close his eyes anymore and soon had to return to his country and
deal with the situation that was brewing. Caesar left behind three
legions (soldiers) that were expected to care for Cleopatra and for
Alexandria. They were left behind to maintain peace. Back home,
Caesar celebrated his victorious wars. Many citizens of Rome stood
along the streets and cheered Caesar. Many of his prisoners were
marched through the streets including Cleopatra’s half sister
Arsinoe. After celebrating his victories throughout Rome he asked
for Cleopatra to visit him as his ally. Cleopatra quickly accepted
the invitation and went to Rome. She took her younger brother
Ptolemy XIV just in case her brother had any plans to start a revolt
against her. To honor Cleopatra, Caesar erected a temple to the
goddess Venus and he had a statue of Cleopatra erected. This angered
many Romans and many saw Cleopatra as a woman using their beloved
Caesar as a means to strengthen her power.
Many of the people of Rome could not accept the fact that Caesar had
erected a statue of Cleopatra in the center of the city. This
angered many of them because they could not accept that a foreigner
from Egypt was accepted among Rome’s greatest leader. Many believed
Caesar had gone too far. They were afraid that Rome would fall and
many were concerned and outraged. At the same time, many Roman
citizens supported Caesar. Soon after the victorious celebrations,
the Senate appointed him the sole counsel of Rome for five years.
Once appointed the sole counsel, he began to remove many of the men
from the senate and replaced them with his friends. Later he asked
them to declare Cleopatra and Ptolemy as friends and allies of Rome.
He also prepared a decree that would allow him to marry many women
-- including Cleopatra.
Caesar once again returned to the battlefield and in the spring of
45 B.C. he won the battle between Munda, Pompey’s son. In addition,
he soon set his eyes on Parthia, which was never conquered. To win
Parthia would be the ultimate victory. If he conquered Parthia his
statues would be god like. He would be considered a true warrior and
would win the support of his country. Caesar, who had set his mind
on conquering Parthia, began making plans to soon leave for this new
campaign. Cleopatra decided to also leave Rome due to many enemies
and the lack of support by Roman citizens.
While Caesar planned his mission, several high ranking Romans in the
senate thought Caesar was ready to proclaim himself as emperor. Many
of the men who disliked Caesar were led by two men named Brutus and
Cassius. Both men gathered their henchmen and their plot to kill
Caesar was begun.
Word soon spread throughout Rome and many friends warned Caesar of the plans in place to assassinate him. He ignored them and on March, 44 B.C, he was stabbed to death by many of the Senators. The Senators had concealed knifes in their cloaks and thus their plot to kill Caesar had been carried out. Caesar was murdered and lay dead beside a statue of his enemy Pompey.
