Caesar has withstood the Siege of Alexandria between 48 and 47 BCE, a series of skirmishes and battles occurring between the forces of Julius Caesar, Cleopatra VII and Ptolemy XIII.
Utilizing soldiers he had brought with him and a minor Italian militia left over from previous issues in 55 BCE, Caesar had managed a defense of the city until relief came in the form of Mithridates of Pergamon, who had raised an army and marched overland from Asia Minor to assist Caesar, and Antipater the Idumaean.
Caesar, pressed hard by the native forces under Arsinoe and Ganymedes, negotiates an exchange of Ptolemy for Arsinoe.
The King immediately takes command of the Egyptians, but Caesar, reinforced by the Pergamene army, outmaneuvers the Ptolemaic forces and the fifteen-year-old King of Egypt is killed in a final pitched battle fought at the west side of the Nile, probably by drowning as he attempts to flee.
The victorious Caesar victorious installs Cleopatra as ruler.
Caesar and Cleopatra celebrate their victory in the spring of 47 BCE with a triumphant procession on the Nile.
The royal barge is accompanied by four hundred additional ships, and Caesar is introduced to the luxurious lifestyle of the Egyptian pharaohs.
Having won his victory on March 27, 47, Caesar leaves Egypt after a fortnight's amorous, if uncharacteristic, respite.
Arsinoe is sent to Rome to be led in Caesar's triumph.
Caesar and Cleopatra will never marry, as Roman law recognized marriages only between two Roman citizens.
Caesar throughout his last marriage is to continue his relationship with Cleopatra, which will last fourteen years—this does not constitute adultery in Roman eyes—and may have fathered a son called Caesarion (“Little Caesar”).
Whether Caesar is in fact the father of Cleopatra's son cannot now be known.
Cleopatra will visit Rome on more than one occasion, residing in Caesar's villa just outside Rome across the Tiber.
