When Caesar entered Italy with his troops,
Pompey began to prepare for civil war. Pompey led his troops through
Southern Italy and to the eastern Mediterranean, where he had friends and
allies. Caesar chased him and defeated him at the Battle of Pharsalus.
Pompey escaped the battle alive and sailed to Egypt, hoping to take refuge
there. But the rulers of Egypt gave him no refuge.
Caesar chased Pompey to Egypt and when he
arrived he was presented with a gruesome gift - Pompey's head. Caesar
defeated the Egyptian army in 47 BC, then sailed for Pontus (eastern Turkey)
where he defeated King Pharnaces and minted a coin saying, "Veni, Vidi, Vici," or "I came, I saw, I conquered." Caesar
returned to Rome in 47, but quickly departed for North Africa where he attacked
armies led by Pompey's sons, causing them to retreat to Spain.
When Caesar returned to Rome, the Senate
responded by awarding him a triumphal procession and by giving him the title of
dictator for 10 years.
His military victories had made Caesar very
rich and he spent an enormous sum of money on his triumph, held at the end of
September in 46 BC. It was the largest triumph ever held in Rome.
Cleopatra and her 15-month old son by Caesar, Caesarion, were present.
A model of the lighthouse of Alexandria in Egypt - one of the seven
wonders of the world - was paraded through the streets, as were giraffes, which
Romans had never before seen. Musicians played as they marched, prisoners
of war were paraded, booty from conquered places was displayed, and elephants
carrying flaming torches lit the way as the sun went down on the last day of the
parade.
Despite the spectacle, not everyone was
pleased with the extravagance of the celebrations and with the omnipotence given
to Caesar as dictator. A riot broke out and people chanted "Bring Back the
Republic!" Caesar leapt from the four-horse chariot in which he rode to
grab the ringleaders from the crowd.
