Editing Cleopatra (section)

==== Assassination of Pompey ====
[[File:(Venice) Pompey the Great, Museo Archeologico Nazionale.jpg|thumb|upright=0.75|A Roman portrait of [[Pompey]] made during the reign of [[Augustus]] (27 BC – 14 AD), a copy of an original from 70 to 60 BC, and located in the [[Venice National Archaeological Museum]], Italy]]

In the summer of 49 BC, Cleopatra and [[Ptolemaic army|her forces]] were still fighting against Ptolemy XIII within Alexandria when Pompey's son [[Gnaeus Pompeius (son of Pompey the Great)|Gnaeus Pompeius]] arrived, seeking military aid on behalf of his father.{{sfnp|Roller|2010|p=57}} After returning to Italy from [[Gallic Wars|the wars in Gaul]] and [[crossing the Rubicon]] in January of 49 BC, Caesar had forced Pompey and his supporters to [[Caesar's Civil War#Civil war|flee to Greece]].{{sfnp|Roller|2010|p=58}}{{sfnp|Fletcher|2008|pp=94–95}} In perhaps their last joint decree, both Cleopatra and Ptolemy XIII agreed to Gnaeus Pompeius's request and sent his father 60 ships and 500 troops, including the Gabiniani, a move that helped erase some of the debt owed to Rome.{{sfnp|Roller|2010|p=58}}{{sfnp|Fletcher|2008|p=95}} Losing the fight against her brother, Cleopatra was then forced to flee Alexandria and withdraw to the region of Thebes.{{sfnp|Roller|2010|pp=58–59}}{{sfnp|Burstein|2004|p=17}}{{sfnp|Fletcher|2008|pp=95–96}} By the spring of 48 BC Cleopatra had traveled to [[Roman Syria]] with her younger sister, Arsinoe IV, to gather an invasion force that would head to Egypt.{{sfnp|Roller|2010|p=59}}{{sfnp|Burstein|2004|pp=xx, 17}}{{sfnp|Fletcher|2008|p=96}} She returned with an army, but her advance to Alexandria was blocked by her brother's forces, including some Gabiniani mobilized to fight against her, so she camped outside Pelousion in the eastern [[Nile Delta]].{{sfnp|Roller|2010|pp=59–60}}{{sfnp|Burstein|2004|pp=xx, 17}}{{sfnp|Fletcher|2008|pp=97–98}}

In Greece, Caesar and Pompey's forces engaged each other at the decisive [[Battle of Pharsalus]] on 9{{nbsp}}August 48 BC, leading to the destruction of most of Pompey's army and his forced flight to [[Tyre, Lebanon]].{{sfnp|Roller|2010|pp=59–60}}{{sfnp|Bringmann|2007|p=259}}{{sfnp|Burstein|2004|pp=xxi, 17}}<ref group="note">For further information, see {{harvtxt|Fletcher|2008|pp=96–97}} and {{harvtxt|Jones|2006|p=39}}.</ref> Given his close relationship with the Ptolemies, Pompey ultimately decided that Egypt would be his place of refuge, where he could replenish his forces.{{sfnp|Roller|2010|p=60}}{{sfnp|Burstein|2004|pp=xxi, 17}}{{sfnp|Fletcher|2008|pp=97–98}}<ref group="note" name="Pompey">For further information, see {{harvtxt|Jones|2006|pp=39–41}}.</ref> Ptolemy XIII's advisers, however, feared the idea of Pompey using Egypt as his base in a protracted Roman civil war.{{sfnp|Roller|2010|p=60}}{{sfnp|Fletcher|2008|p=98}}{{sfnp|Jones|2006|pp=39–43, 53}} In a scheme devised by Theodotus, Pompey arrived by ship near Pelousion after being invited by a written message, only to be ambushed and stabbed to death on 28 September 48 BC.{{sfnp|Roller|2010|p=60}}{{sfnp|Bringmann|2007|p=259}}{{sfnp|Burstein|2004|pp=xxi, 17–18}}<ref group="note" name="fletcher 2008 p98">For further information, see {{harvtxt|Fletcher|2008|p=98}} and {{harvtxt|Jones|2006|pp=39–43, 53–55}}.</ref> Ptolemy XIII believed he had demonstrated his power and simultaneously defused the situation by having Pompey's head, severed and [[embalm]]ed, sent to Caesar, who arrived in Alexandria by early October and took up residence at the royal palace.{{sfnp|Roller|2010|pp=60–61}}{{sfnp|Bringmann|2007|pp=259–260}}{{sfnp|Burstein|2004|pp=xxi, 18}}<ref group="note" name="fletcher 2008 p98"/> Caesar expressed grief and outrage over the killing of Pompey and called on both Ptolemy XIII and Cleopatra to disband their forces and reconcile with each other.{{sfnp|Roller|2010|pp=60–61}}{{sfnp|Bringmann|2007|p=260}}{{sfnp|Burstein|2004|pp=xxi, 18}}<ref group="note">For further information, see {{harvtxt|Fletcher|2008|pp=98–100}} and {{harvtxt|Jones|2006|pp=53–55}}.</ref>