Caesarion

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| image2 = Limestone stela of a high priest of god Ptah. It bears the cartouches of Cleopatra and Caesarion. From Egypt. Ptolemaic Period. The Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, London.jpg

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| footer = Left: reliefs of Cleopatra and Caesarion at the Temple of Dendera
Right: a limestone stela of the High Priest of Ptah bearing the cartouches of Cleopatra and Caesarion, Egypt, Ptolemaic Period, the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, London

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Ptolemy Caesar was born in Egypt in mid to late 47 BC.Bennett, Chris. "Ptolemy XV Caesarion". Tyndale House. Retrieved 21.01.2025.Tyldesley, Joyce (2009). Cleopatra: Last Queen of Egypt. Profile Books. pp. 136–137. ISBN 978-1861979018. His mother Cleopatra gave him the royal names Theos Philopator Philometor{{Efn|{{langx|el|Θεὸς Φιλοπάτωρ Φιλομήτωρ}}}} (lit. 'father-loving, mother-loving God') and insisted that he was the son of Roman politician and dictator Julius Caesar.{{Cite book |last1=Hornblower |first1=Simon |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bVWcAQAAQBAJ |title=The Oxford Classical Dictionary |last2=Spawforth |first2=Antony |last3=Eidinow |first3=Esther |year=2012 |publisher=OUP Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-954556-8 |page=1236 |language=en}} While he was said to have inherited Caesar's looks and manner,{{Cite book |last=Sergeant |first=Philip |url=https://archive.org/details/cleopatraofegypt00sergiala/page/93/mode/1up?ref=ol&view=theater |title=Cleopatra of Egypt, Antiquity's Queen of Romance |year=2024 |page=94 |language=En}} Caesar did not officially acknowledge him.{{Cite book |last=Brooks |first=Polly |url=https://archive.org/details/cleopatragoddess0000broo/mode/1up?ref=ol&view=theater&q=Juilius |title=Cleopatra: goddess of Egypt, enemy of Rome |year= 1995 |page=64}}Cleopatra 1996 by Green Robert p. 24 {{ISBN?}} All accusations of bastardy against Caesarion were cast from a Roman perspective; their intention was not to portray Caesarion as inappropriate for the throne of Egypt, but rather to deny that he was Julius' heir by Roman law.{{Cite book |last=Ogden |first=Daniel |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L-rDEAAAQBAJ&dq=caesarion+&pg=PA102 |title=Polygamy, Prostitutes and Death: The Hellenistic Dynasties |date=2023 |publisher=Classical Press of Wales |isbn=978-1-914535-40-6 |page=102 |language=en}} One of Caesar's supporters, Gaius Oppius, even wrote a pamphlet which attempted to prove that Caesar could not have fathered Caesarion. Nevertheless, Caesar may have allowed Caesarion to use his name.Duane W. Roller, Cleopatra: A Biography, Oxford University Press US, 2010, pp. 70–73 {{ISBN?}} The matter became contentious when Caesar's adopted son, Octavian, came into conflict with Cleopatra.File:Cartouche Caesarion Dendera Temple.jpg, Egypt]]

Caesarion spent two of his infant years, from 46 to 44 BC, in Rome, where he and his mother were Caesar's guests at his villa, Horti Caesaris. Cleopatra hoped that her son would eventually succeed his father as the head of the Roman Republic, as well as of Egypt. After Caesar's assassination on 15 March 44 BC, Cleopatra and Caesarion returned to Egypt. Caesarion was named co-ruler by his mother on 2 September 44 BC at the age of three,{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Caesarion |url=https://www.worldhistory.org/caesarion/ |last=King |first=Arienne |access-date=29 August 2020 |encyclopedia=World History Encyclopedia }} although he was pharaoh in name only, with Cleopatra keeping actual authority. Cleopatra compared her relationship to her son with that of the Egyptian goddess Isis and her divine child Horus.{{Cite book |last=Tyldesley, Joyce A |first=Joyce |url=https://archive.org/details/cleopatralastque0000tyld |title=Cleopatra: last queen of Egypt |publisher=New York: Basic Books |year=2008 |page=64 |language=En}}

There is no historical record of Caesarion between 44 BC until the Donations of Antioch in 36 BC. Two years later he also appears at the Donations of Alexandria. Cleopatra and Antony staged both "Donations" to donate lands dominated by Rome and Parthia to Cleopatra's children: Caesarion, the twins Alexander Helios and Cleopatra Selene II, and Ptolemy Philadelphus (the last three were his maternal half-siblings fathered by Mark Antony). Octavian gave public approval to the Donations of Antioch in 36 BC, which have been described as an Antonian strategy to rule the East making use of Cleopatra's unique royal Seleucid lineage in the regions donated.{{cite book |author=Rolf Strootman |article=Queen of Kings: Cleopatra VII and the Donations of Alexandria |pages=139–158 |editor1=M. Facella |editor2=T. Kaizer |year=2010 |title=Kingdoms and Principalities in the Roman Near East |series=Occidens et Oriens |volume=19 |location=Stuttgart|publisher=Franz Steiner Verlag}}

In 34 BC, Antony granted further eastern lands and titles to Caesarion and his own three children with Cleopatra in the Donations of Alexandria. Caesarion was proclaimed to be a god, a son of [a] god, and "King of Kings".{{cite book |author=Meyer Reinhold |title=Studies in Classical History and Society |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=US |year=2002 |page=58}} This grandiose title was "unprecedented in the management of Roman client-king relationships" and could be seen as "threatening the 'greatness' of the Roman people". Antony also declared Caesarion to be Caesar's true son and heir. This declaration was a direct threat to Octavian (whose claim to power was based on his status as Julius Caesar's grandnephew and adopted son). These proclamations partly caused the fatal breach in Antony's relations with Octavian, who used Roman resentment over the Donations to gain support for war against Antony and Cleopatra.{{cite book |author-first=Stanley Mayer |author-last=Burstein |title=The Reign of Cleopatra |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press |year=2007 |page=29}}

File:Roman Wall painting from the House of Giuseppe II, Pompeii, 1st century AD, death of Sophonisba, but more likely Cleopatra VII of Egypt consuming poison.jpg, early 1st century AD, most likely depicting Cleopatra VII, wearing her royal diadem, taking poison in an act of suicide, while Caesarion, also wearing a royal diadem, stands behind her{{cite book |author=Roller, Duane W. |year=2010 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EZo6DwAAQBAJ |title=Cleopatra: A Biography |location=Oxford|publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780195365535 |pages=178–179}}]]

After the defeat of Mark Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC, Cleopatra seems to have groomed Caesarion to take over as "sole ruler without his mother". She may have intended to go into exile, perhaps with Antony, who may have hoped that he would be allowed to retire as Lepidus had. Caesarion reappears in the historical record in 30 BC, when Octavian invaded Egypt and searched for him. Cleopatra may have sent Caesarion, 17 years old at the time, to the Red Sea port of Berenice for safety, possibly as part of plans for an escape to India.{{cite journal |last1=Gray-Fow |first1=Michael |title=What to Do With Caesarion |journal=Greece & Rome |series=Second Series |date=April 2014 |volume=61 |issue=1 |page=62 |doi=10.1017/S0017383513000235 |jstor=43297487 |s2cid=154911628 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43297487 |access-date=25 October 2022|url-access=subscription }} Plutarch does say that Caesarion was sent to India, but also that he was lured back by false promises of the kingdom of Egypt:

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 [Octavian] Caesar invited him to take the kingdom.Plutarch, Life of Antony. As found in the Loeb Classical Library, [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015002170010;view=1up;seq=335 Plutarch's Lives: With an English Translation by Bernadotte Perrin]. Volume 9. p. 321.

Octavian captured the city of Alexandria on 1 August 30 BC, the date that marks the official annexation of Egypt to the Roman Republic. Around this time Mark Antony and Cleopatra died, traditionally said to be by suicide.

Octavian may have temporarily considered permitting Caesarion to succeed his mother and rule Egypt (though now a smaller and weaker kingdom), however, he is supposed to have had Caesarion executed in Alexandria in late August, possibly on 29 August 30 BC, following the advice of his companion Arius Didymus, who said "Too many Caesars is not good"{{Cite book |last=Draycott |first=Jane |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZIBwEAAAQBAJ&dq=caesarion&pg=PT94 |title=Cleopatra's Daughter: From Roman Prisoner to African Queen |year=2023|publisher=Liveright Publishing |isbn=978-1-324-09260-5 |language=en}} (a pun on a line in Homer).{{Cite book |last=Powell |first=Anton |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d_ZODgAAQBAJ&dq=death+of+caesarion&pg=PA193 |title=Hindsight in Greek and Roman History |year=2013 |publisher=Classical Press of Wales |isbn=978-1-910589-12-0 |page=194 |language=en}}David Braund et al, Myth, History and Culture in Republican Rome: Studies in Honour of T.P. Wiseman, University of Exeter Press, 2003, p. 305. The original line was "ουκ αγαθόν πολυκοιρανίη" ("ouk agathon polukoiranie"): "too many leaders are not good", or "the rule of many is a bad thing". (Homer's Iliad, Book II. vers 204–205) In Greek "ουκ αγαθόν πολυκαισαρίη" ("ouk agathon polukaisarie") is a variation on "ουκ αγαθόν πολυκοιρανίη" ("ouk agathon polukoiranie"). "Καισαρ" (Caesar) replacing "κοίρανος", meaning leader. Surviving information on the death of Caesarion is scarce. Octavian then assumed absolute control of Egypt. The year 30 BC was considered the first year of the new ruler's reign according to the traditional chronological system of Egypt.{{citation needed|date=August 2020}}

File:Venus and Cupid from the House of Marcus Fabius Rufus at Pompeii, most likely a depiction of Cleopatra VII.jpg|This mid-1st century AD Roman wall painting in Pompeii, Italy, showing Venus holding a cupid is most likely a depiction of Cleopatra VII of Ptolemaic Egypt as Venus Genetrix, with her son Caesarion as the cupidThe wall-painting of Venus Genetrix is similar in appearance to the now-lost statue of Cleopatra erected by Julius Caesar in the Temple of Venus Genetrix, within the Forum of Caesar. The owner of the House at Pompeii of Marcus Fabius Rufus, walled off the room with this painting, most likely in immediate reaction to the execution of Caesarion on orders of Augustus in 30 BC, when artistic depictions of Caesarion would have been considered a sensitive issue for the ruling regime.{{cite book |author=Roller, Duane W. |year=2010 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EZo6DwAAQBAJ |title=Cleopatra: A Biography |location=Oxford|publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0195365535 |page=175}}{{cite journal |author=Walker, Susan |year=2008 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0068246200000404 |title=Cleopatra in Pompeii? |journal=Papers of the British School at Rome |volume=76 |pages=35–46, 345–348|doi=10.1017/S0068246200000404 |s2cid=62829223 }}

File:Statue of Horus in Edfu Temple.jpg|One of two statues of the falcon god Horus behind a smaller depiction of Caesarion at the Temple of Edfu in Edfu, Upper Egypt{{Citation |last=Fletcher |first=Joann |author-link=Joann Fletcher |title=Cleopatra the Great: The Woman Behind the Legend |year=2008 |publisher=Harper |location=New York |isbn=978-0-06-058558-7 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/cleopatragreatwo00flet/page/219 219, image plates and caption between 246–247] |url=https://archive.org/details/cleopatragreatwo00flet/page/219 }}

File:RPC-3901 Cleopatra VII with baby Ptolemy XV Caesarion son of Julius Caesar on coin of Cyprus 47BC displayed in the British Museum.jpg|A coin depicting Cleopatra VII with her son Caesarion as an infant, British museum.{{Cite book |last1=Stuart |first1=Reginald |url=https://archive.org/details/cataloguegreekc01medagoog/mode/1up?q=Cleopatra+ |title=BMC Greek (Ptolemies) / Catalogue of Greek coins: the Ptolemies, kings of Egypt |last2=L |first2=Poole |year=1883 |page=122 |publisher=The Trustees |language=En}}

Few images of Caesarion survive. He is thought to be depicted in a partial statue found in the harbour of Alexandria in 1997 and is also portrayed twice in relief, as an adult pharaoh, with his mother on the Temple of Hathor at Dendera. His infant image appears on some bronze coins of Cleopatra.{{cite book |author-last=Sear |title=Greek Coins and Their Values |volume=II}}

In addition to his Greek name and nicknames, Caesarion also had a full set of royal names in the Egyptian language:{{cite book |last=Clayton |first=Peter |title=Chronicle of the Pharaohs |date= 1994|page=213 |isbn=0500050740}}

• Iwapanetjer entynehem – "Heir of the god who saves"
• Setepenptah – "Chosen of Ptah"
• Irmaatenre – "Carrying out the rule of Ra" or "Sun of righteousness"
• Sekhemankhamun – "Living image of Amun"

• Caesareum of Alexandria
• Julia gens
• Reign of Cleopatra
• List of unsolved murders
• Kaisarion (poem)

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{{Reflist}}

• [http://virtualreligion.net/iho/ptolemy_15 Ptolemy XV Caesarion] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181004000821/http://virtualreligion.net/iho/ptolemy_15 |date=4 October 2018 }} entry in historical sourcebook by Mahlon H. Smith

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{{s-hou|Ptolemaic dynasty||47 BC||30 BC}}

{{s-bef|before=Cleopatra VII Philopator}}

{{s-ttl|title=Pharaoh of Egypt|years=44–30 BCE

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{{Hellenistic rulers}}

{{Pharaohs}}

{{Julius Caesar}}

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Category:30 BC deaths

Category:47 BC births

Category:1st-century BC executions

Category:1st-century BC pharaohs

Category:Children of Cleopatra

Category:Children of Julius Caesar

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Category:Executed children

Category:Executed monarchs

Category:Missing person cases in Egypt

Category:People executed by the Roman Republic

Category:People murdered in Egypt

Category:Pharaohs of the Ptolemaic dynasty

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Category:People of the War of Actium