ria, and the advisers of the young king pretended to
welcome him, but they really intended to make friends with the victor;
and as Pompeius stepped ashore he was stabbed in the back, his body
thrown into the surf, and his head cut off.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

JULIUS CAESAR.

48--44.

With Pompeius fell the hopes of those who were faithful to the old
government, such as Cicero and Cato. They had only to wait and see what
Caesar would do, and with the memory of Marius in their minds.

[Illustration: JULIUS CAESAR.]

Caesar did not come at once to Rome; he had first to reduce the East to
obedience. Egypt was under the last descendants of Alexander's general
Ptolemy, and was an ally of Rome, that is, only remaining a kingdom by
her permission. The king was a wretched weak lad; his sister Cleopatra,
who was joined with him in the throne, was one of the most beautiful and
winning women who ever lived. Caesar, who needed money, demanded some
that was owing to the state. The young king's advisers refused, and
Caesar, who had but a small force with him, was shut up in a quarter of
Alexandria where he could get no fresh water but from pits which his men
dug in the sand. He burnt the Egyptian fleet that it might not stop the
succors that were coming from Syria, and he tried to take the Isle of
Pharos, with the lighthouse on it, but his ship was sunk, and he was
obliged to save himself by swimming, holding his journals in one hand
above the water. However, the forces from Syria were soon brought to
him, and he was able to fight a battle in which the young king was
drowned; and Egypt was at his mercy. Cleopatra was determined to have an
interview with him, and had herself carried into his rooms in a roll of
carpet, and when there, she charmed him so much that he set her up as
queen of Egypt. He remained three months longer in Egypt collecting
money; and hearing that Pharnaces, the son of Mithridates, had attacked
the Roman settlements in Asia Minor, he sailed for Tarsus, marched
against Pharnaces, routed and killed him in battle. The success was
announced to the Senate in the following brief words, "_Veni, vidi,
vici_"--"I came, I saw, I conquered."

[Illustration: CATO.]

He was a second time appointed Dictator, and came home to arrange
affairs; but there were no proscriptions, though he took away the
estates of those who opposed him. There was still a party of the
senators and their supporters who had followed Pompeius