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Caesar on Pompey's killing in Egypt

48 BCE, Egypt. His own words.

Where and when

48 BCEEgypt

2,073 years ago

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In plain words, ours

He was greeted politely, drawn in because he knew a man who had once served under him, stepped into a small boat with a few friends, and was murdered.

And he, being courteously addressed by them and being lured forth by some previous knowledge of Septimius, because he had been a centurion under him in the pirate war, embarked in a little boat with a few of his friends, and is thereupon assassinated by Achillas and Septimius.

Caesar, The Civil War 3.104Translated by A. G. Peskett (1914)Read the full passage (Caesar, The Civil War 3.104, opens scaife.perseus.org)

What was going on, our summary

48 BCE: beaten by Caesar at Pharsalus in Greece, Pompey has fled to Egypt. Caesar writes that the men running the kingdom for the young king publicly invited Pompey to visit, but secretly sent Achillas and Septimius to kill him.

Checked claim by claim against: Caesar defeats Pompey at Pharsalus, the passage around the quote.

Why it matters

Caesar, pursuing Pompey, reached Alexandria, learned of the murder there, and was then embroiled in a dynastic dispute between Ptolemy XIII and Cleopatra.

Based on Wikipedia: Battle of Pharsalus

Hearing of Pompey's flight to Egypt, Caesar remained in hot pursuit, first landing in Asia and reaching Alexandria on 2 October 48 BC, where he learned of Pompey's murder and then was embroiled in a dynastic dispute between Ptolemy XIII and Cleopatra.

Wikipedia, Battle of Pharsalus (opens en.wikipedia.org), as of 2026-08-20. Text CC BY-SA 4.0. Our line is checked against these sentences only.

Related moments

In time order, with this one in its place. Each says why it is here.

  1. c. 430–425 BCEabout 379 years earlier Herodotus on Egypt's reversed customs Also in Egypt
  2. c. 430–425 BCEabout 379 years earlier Herodotus on Persian and Egyptian skulls Also in Egypt
  3. c. 50 BCEabout 2 years earlier Cato warns the Senate about Caesar, in Plutarch Same years
  4. 49 BCE1 year earlier Caesar crosses the Rubicon with his army Same years
  5. 49 BCE1 year earlier Caesar puts the republic's dignity before life More from Julius Caesar
  6. 49 BCE1 year earlier Caesar at the Rubicon, as Suetonius tells it More from Julius Caesar
  7. 48 BCESame year Caesar defeats Pompey at Pharsalus The event behind it
  8. 48–47 BCEBegins this year Caesar takes Cleopatra's side in Egypt Same years
  9. 48 BCEThis momentCaesar on Pompey's killing in Egypt
  10. 48 BCESame year Caesar on his speech before Pharsalus More from Julius Caesar
  11. 46 BCE2 years later Cato kills himself rather than accept Caesar's pardon Also about death
  12. 46 BCE2 years later Cato's last night, as Plutarch tells it Also about death

Just before and after

The text around the quote, word for word from the same translation.

Show the passageHide the passage

In the number of these men were very many soldiers of Pompeius, whom Gabinius had taken over from his army in Syria and had transported to Alexandria, and on the conclusion of the war had left them with Ptolomaeus, the youth’s father. Then, on learning of these proceedings, the king’s friends, who, on account of his youth, were in charge of the kingdom, whether moved by fear, as they afterwards gave out, lest Pompeius should seize on Alexandria and Egypt after tampering with the royal army, or because they despised his fortunes, according to the common rule that in misfortune friends become enemies, gave in public a generous reply to his messengers and bade him visit the king, but themselves formed a secret plot, and sent Achillas, the king’s prefect, a man of singular audacity, and L. Septimius, a military tribune, to assassinate Pompeius.

The quote: And he, being courteously addressed by them and being lured forth by some previous knowledge of Septimius, because he had been a centurion under him in the pirate war, embarked in a little boat with a few of his friends, and is thereupon assassinated by Achillas and Septimius.

L. Lentulus is also arrested by the king and slain in prison. On Caesar’s arrival in Asia he found that T. Ampius had attempted to remove sums of money from Ephesus from the temple of Diana, and that with this object he had summoned all the senators from the province, that he might employ them as witnesses in reference to the amount of the sum, but that he had fled when interrupted by Caesar’s arrival. So on two occasions Caesar saved the Ephesian funds.

Caesar, The Civil War 3.103–105Translated by A. G. Peskett (1914)Read the full passage (opens scaife.perseus.org)

When, and whose words

Date
48 BCE. Pompeius was killed in Egypt in 48 BCE, weeks after Pharsalus.
Whose words
His own words.
How this post was checked
  • The plain-words line was read against the quote alone by a second, independent pass, which found it adds no claim the quote does not make (2026-10-03).
  • Each claim in the summary was checked by an independent pass against only the material it cites.
  • The quote itself is checked by the build: word for word, once, at the cited section of the stored translation.

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