The Battle of the Nile.

Nile (47 BCE)

On 27 March 47 BCE, the Battle of the Nile was fought between the Romans under Julius Caesar and the Ptolemies under Ptolemy XIII during the Alexandrian War.

Why did it happen? 

In 51 BCE, the pharaoh of Egypt, Ptolemy XII, died, leaving the kingdom to his son, Ptolemy XIII, and his daughter, Cleopatra VII. In 48 BCE, civil war broke out between Ptolemy and Cleopatra, with the latter exiled from Egypt on the orders of Ptolemy’s eunuch, Pothinus. However, when the Roman general Pompey arrived in Egypt following his defeat by Julius Caesar at the Battle of Pharsalus, Pothinus ordered his execution. Several days later, Caesar arrived in Egypt and was presented with Pompey’s head, which caused him to weep at the sight of it. That night, Cleopatra smuggled herself into Alexandria inside a bed-sack to Caesar’s headquarters where, according to Plutarch, “she showed herself to be a bold coquette, and succumbing to the charm of further intercourse with her, he reconciled her to her brother on the basis of a joint share with him in the royal power” (Plut. Caes. 49.3). Whether true or not, this caused Caesar and Cleopatra to become besieged inside Alexandria by the Ptolemaic army. The following year, a relief army under Mithradates of Pergamum arrived and broke the siege. Ptolemy XIII subsequently escaped and redeployed his army along the Nile Delta to face the combined forces of Mithradates and Caesar.

Who was involved? 

The Roman army at the Nile numbered 16,000 infantry and 1,000 cavalry. Of this number, 13,000 were led by Mithradates, while Caesar led 4,000. The Roman plan was to attack the Ptolemaic fort and draw the army out of its advantageous position, thereby forcing it into a set-piece battle. The Ptolemaic army at the Nile numbered 20,000 infantry and 2,000 cavalry. The infantry consisted of phalanx pikemen, archers and slingers. The camp was positioned on a small hill with its flanks protected by the Nile River, Marshland and a hamlet connected to a fort, “which the king had built and linked with bastions to the main defences of his camp so as to hold the hamlet” (Caes. Alex. War. 1.30). The main army was supplied by a fleet of warships on the Nile River.

What happened? 

After encamping a short distance away from the Ptolemaic camp, Caesar ordered all his forces to attack and capture the fort, which Ptolemaic infantry and archers garrisoned. After chasing the survivors of the fort back to their camp, the Roman right wing engaged the Ptolemaic army in long-range missile fire, who incurred heavy casualties on the Romans from both their camp and warships. With the Roman right wing held in place by his archers and slingers, Ptolemy XIII ordered his infantry phalanx to advance downhill and attack the Roman legionaries. Seeing the camp abandoned by the Ptolemaic army, Caesar ordered Decimus Carfulenus to storm the hill and capture the camp. Heavy fighting ensued between the Romans and the few Ptolemaic infantry defending the camp. In the confusion, the Ptolemaic army panicked and retreated towards the Nile River. Ptolemy XIII was drowned after his vessel capsized due to the large number of men who attempted to board his ship. In all, an estimated 400 Romans and 6,000 Egyptians were killed in the battle.

What changed as a result? 

The Battle of the Nile was a Roman victory. In the aftermath of the battle, Caesar returned to Alexandria, where he proclaimed Cleopatra queen of Egypt alongside her younger brother, Ptolemy XIV. Caesar went on to defeat Pompey’s remaining followers at the battles of Thapsus (46 BCE) and Munda (45 BCE). When Caesar returned to Rome and declared himself dictator for life, Cleopatra travelled there with her son, Caesarion, only to return to Egypt following his assassination in 44 BCE. During the rest of her reign, Cleopatra helped revitalise her country economically, politically, and spiritually, and according to Mitch Horowitz, “For a time, she revived Egyptian mystery tradition while managing to protect the empire from excessive encroachment by Roman forces” (Horowitz, 2023, p.7). Indeed, even after Cleopatra died in 30 BCE, Egyptian scribes from the Mystery Schools continued to diligently record their esoteric philosophy, forming a body of work that became known as the Hermetic literature. These teachings went underground after Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire in 325 CE, only for them to resurface in 1462 when the Corpus Hermeticum and Asclepius were translated into Latin by Marsilio Ficino.

Bibliography

Bisio, Joe. “JB18 Nile (47 BC).” Commands and Colors. Last revised September 6, 2015. https://www.commandsandcolors.net/ancients/scenario-list/caesars-civil-war-49-45-bc/jb18-nile-47-bc.html

Caesar, Julius. The Alexandrian War. Translated by A.G. Way. Cambridge, Loeb Classical Library, 1955.

Horowitz, Mitch. Modern Occultism: History, Theory, and Practice. G&D Media, 2023.

Lord, Louis E. “The Date of Julius Caesar’s Departure from Alexandria.” Journal of Roman Studies 28, no. 1 (1938): 19–40. https://doi.org/10.2307/296901

Plutarch. Life of Caesar. Translated by Bernadotte Perrin. Cambridge, Loeb Classical Library, 1919.

Rickard, John. “Battle of the Nile, February 47 BC.” History of War. Last revised September 4, 2018. https://www.historyofwar.org/articles/battles_nile_47BC.html