Duane W. Roller

at the time—but she would have heard about it and the assistance that
Ptolemy had provided Pompeius three years later for his eff orts in the
southern Levant, and she would have been aware that her father had
lived with Pompeius during his exile in Rome. She would also know
that Pompeius had the Roman copy of her father’s will, which seemed—
at least in the way Pompeius interpreted it—to put him in a state of
guardianship of her and her siblings. 20 It seems highly probable that
Cleopatra and Pompeius would have corresponded about the realities
of this relationship.
Th e reason that Pompeius’s son Gnaeus appeared in Alexandria
in the spring or summer of 49 b.c. was the imminent war with Julius
Caesar. Aft er many years of virtual exile in Gaul, Caesar had returned
to Italy in January, causing Pompeius and his supporters to abandon
Italy and to seek a power base in Greece. Drawing upon his 20 years of
contacts with the eastern Mediterranean world, Pompeius swift ly built
up a large force with which to oppose Caesar. It was inevitable, given
their mutual history, that the Ptolemies would be expected to play a
role in Pompeius’s plans, and thus young Gnaeus was promptly sent to
Alexandria.
Th e younger Pompeius was the fi rst Roman to visit Cleopatra when
she was queen and an adult—she was 20—and he was the fi rst to feel the
eff ect of her charm. 21 His visit was successful, for Cleopatra and Ptolemy
XIII, in perhaps their last joint action, sent the elder Pompeius 60 ships
and 500 troops, the latter conveniently mobilized from the troublesome
Gabinian contingent. Th is helped discharge the debt that the monarchs
owed Pompeius for his eff orts on behalf of their father. Th e younger
Pompeius used the fl eet in activities around Orikon (modern Orikuni
in Albania) and Brundisium, but these raids did not, in the long run,
assist the fortunes of his father. 22 Th e Gabinians were at the Battle of
Pharsalos.
Shortly aft erward, the breach between Cleopatra and Ptolemy XIII
became permanent. It did not help the queen that Pompeius decided
to violate the terms of the will of Ptolemy XII and name Ptolemy XIII
sole ruler, 23 although it is not clear how this fact (mentioned only by
Lucan) fi ts into the sequence of events of early 48 b.c. Clearly, however,
Potheinos and the others around the boy king had gained the upper
hand. Cleopatra either was formally exiled or fi nally felt it necessary to
leave Alexandria. She retreated upriver to the region around Th ebes,
perhaps seeking the historic heartland of Egypt. 24 Since she was related
58 Cleopatra