Many suspect that Cleopatra engineered his death to make way for Caesarion’s rule. This was her adolescent brother, Ptolemy XIV. Shortly after the death of Caesar, Cleopatra returned to Egypt. Fashioning herself and her son after this myth is a fairly obvious bit of propagandizing on the part of Cleopatra. ( 10) Cleopatra and Caesarion circa 48 BC.
In Egyptian mythology, Isis protects Horus and nurtures him into the holy king of creation this position belongs to Horus due to the murder of his father Osiris. Cleopatra often depicted herself as the Egyptian goddess Isis, and Caesarion as her holy son Horus. This did not stop Cleopatra from positioning her child, at least in Egypt, as the heir to Caesar’s legacy, if not his actual estate. A foreigner, and one conceived out of wedlock and controlled by a cunning political mind like Cleopatra, would have stood little chance at being accepted by the people of Rome. If Caesarion was indeed Caesar’s son, his paternity would not likely amount to anything positive for Rome. It is entirely possible that Caesarion was Caesar’s son, and that Caesar’s adoption of Octavian was intended to circumvent the possibility of Caesarion claiming Rome as his inheritance. The Roman historian Suetonius, who was born decades after the assassination of Julius Caesar, wrote that some of Caesar’s acquaintances remarked that the young child resembled his supposed father in appearance and mannerisms. ( 8) Was Caesarion truly the son of Julius Caesar? It is not far-fetched to imagine that she would leverage the mystery of her child’s paternity as a political tool. Indeed, Cleopatra was and remains infamous for her cunning statecraft. Caesar’s own contemporaries also seemed to argue against Cleopatra’s claim that Caesarion was Caesar’s son. ( 7)ĭespite all of this, Caesar’s will implies that he never truly accepted Caesarion as an heir, instead naming Octavian as his son and successor. In addition, Caesar erected a statue of Cleopatra as Venus, with little Caesarion as Venus’s child, Cupid, at a temple dedicated to Venus Genetrix, the patron deity of the Caesar family. Sources vary regarding Caesar’s acknowledgment of the child, however it seems that at the very least he allowed Cleopatra to give Caesarion his name, perhaps in a tacit endorsement of the child’s paternity. Supplied via Wikimedia Commonsįor three years, Caesarion and his mother would travel between Egypt and Caesar’s villa until Caesar’s assassination. This child would be known throughout his life as Caesarion, meaning “little Caesar.” ( 6) Painting Depicting Caesar giving Cleopatra the Throne of Egypt circa 1637. Not long after Caesar’s dalliance in Egypt, Cleopatra gave birth to her first child, a boy whom she named Ptolemy Philopator Philometor Caesar. This was a scandalous move which has fueled rumors of a torrid affair between the two monarchs for centuries. In the year 47 BC, after reinstating Cleopatra to the throne in the Alexandrian war, Julius Caesar lingered in Egypt for several months. There was, however, an additional candidate for the heir to Julius Caesar’s legacy. ( 4) Thus, Julius Caesar posthumously adopted Octavian, to ensure that his legacy would continue. His sole daughter died in childbirth a decade prior to her father’s assassination. ( 3)įor a man who had lived through multiple marriages over the course of his fifty-six years, Julius Caesar had surprisingly failed to produce any male children.
Octavian, who would later take the name Augustus Caesar, had been named in Julius Caesar’s will as his adopted son and chosen heir. Gaius Octavius, often referred to as “Octavian,” who was about nineteen years old at this time, was the grandson of Caesar’s late sister Julia. Poised to fill that vacuum was Julius Caesar’s young grand-nephew, Gaius Octavius. ( 1) This famous scene has been made all the more memorable by its many artistic renderings including that of William Shakespeare. ( 2)Ĭaesar’s death left a considerable vacuum in power, as he had spent his political career amassing influence over the ever-expanding Roman world. His death on the “Ides of March” in 44 BC has endured as one of history’s greatest moments of betrayal and drama. He was assassinated by a group of sixty conspirators including several men whom he considered to be steadfast allies. Gaius Julius Caesar was a conqueror, dictator, reformist, and divisive politician whose name remains synonymous with empire and dominance.
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