Cleopatra's Kidnappers How Caesar s Sixth Legion Gave Egypt to Rome and Rome to Caesar

A powerful tale of war, romance, and one of history's most desperate gambles Julius Caesar was nothing if not bold. When, in the wake of his defeat of Pompey at Pharsalus his victorious legions refused to march another step under his command, he pursued his fleeing rival into Egypt with an impossibly small force of Gallic and German cavalry, raw Italian recruits, and nine hundred Spanish prisoners of war-tough veterans of Pompey's Sixth Legion. Cleopatra's Kidnappers tells the epic saga of Caesar's adventures in Egypt through the eyes of these captured, but never defeated, legionaries. In this third volume in his definitive history of the Roman legions, Stephen Dando-Collins reveals how this tiny band of fierce warriors led Caesar's little army to great victories against impossible odds. Bristling with action and packed with insights and newly revealed facts, this eye-opening account introduces you to the extraordinary men who made possible Caesar's famous boast, I came, I saw, I conquered. Praise for Caesar's Legion A unique and splendidly researched story, following the trials and triumphs of Julius Caesar's Legio X. . . . More than a mere unit account, it incorporates the history of Rome and the Roman army at the height of their power and gory glory. Many military historians consider Caesar's legions the world's most efficient infantry before the arrival of gunpowder. This book shows why. Written in readable, popular style, Caesar's Legion is a must for military buffs and anyone interested in Roman history at a critical point in European civilization. -T. R. Fehrenbach author of This Kind of War, Lone Star, and Comanches Library Journal This is the third in a series by military historian Dando-Collins (Nero's Killing Marchine: The True Story of Rome's Remarkable 14th Legion) focusing on individual legions in ancient Rome. The Sixth Legion was instrumental in saving Julius Caesar in Egypt, where the Egyptian army besieged him for months in Alexandria. The text alternates between a narrow focus on the Sixth Legion and the broader context of the social and political forces at play in the war, revealing the details of Caesar's love affair with Queen Cleopatra along the way. As it is difficult for scholars to ascertain how Roman citizens reacted to the events of the time, owing to a lack of documentation, Dando-Collins strays into the realm of conjecture when he writes about how individuals within the unit would have reacted to assassinations and other major political events. His following the story of one particular legion also makes for an unwieldy book, as an account of the legion's history well into the imperial era feels tacked on to the main text dealing with Caesar's time. A list of sources, a glossary, and several appendixes are included. Not recommended.-Sean Michael Fleming, Lebanon P.L., NH Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information. A powerful tale of war, romance, and one of history's most desperate gambles Julius Caesar was nothing if not bold. When, in the wake of his defeat of Pompey at Pharsalus his victorious legions refused to march another step under his command, he pursued his fleeing rival into Egypt with an impossibly small force of Gallic and German cavalry, raw Italian recruits, and nine hundred Spanish prisoners of war-tough veterans of Pompey's Sixth Legion. Cleopatra's Kidnappers tells the epic saga of Caesar's adventures in Egypt through the eyes of these captured, but never defeated, legionaries. In this third volume in his definitive history of the Roman legions, Stephen Dando-Collins reveals how this tiny band of fierce warriors led Caesar's little army to great victories against impossible odds. Bristling with action and packed with insights and newly revealed facts, this eye-opening account introduces you to the extraordinary men who made possible Caesar's famous boast, "I came, I saw, I conquered." Praise for Caesar's Legion "A unique and splendidly researched story, following the trials and triumphs of Julius Caesar's Legio X. . . . More than a mere unit account, it incorporates the history of Rome and the Roman army at the height of their power and gory glory. Many military historians consider Caesar's legions the world's most efficient infantry before the arrival of gunpowder. This book shows why. Written in readable, popular style, Caesar's Legion is a must for military buffs and anyone interested in Roman history at a critical point in European civilization." -T. R. Fehrenbach author of This Kind of War, Lone Star, and Comanches The EPUB format of this title may not be compatible for use on all handheld devices How the ancient world’s greatest general fell in love with its greatest queen and sired its greatest empir In his new book, military historian Stephen Dando-Collins turns to one of the most celebrated chapters of ancient Roman history–Julius Caesar’s sojourn in Egypt and his love affair with 21-year-old Queen Cleopatra. He shows how Caesar’s force of less than 4,000 Romans, led by the 900 battle-tested veterans of the Sixth Legion, was able to kidnap the Egyptian royal family, keep a 70,000-man Egyptian army at bay, and ultimately help crush the Egyptian rebels and consolidate Caesar’s rule over the Roman world. Filled with vivid battle scenes as well as intriguing details about Caesar and Cleopatra’s liaison, this latest installment in Dando-Collins’s chronicles of the Roman legions is a rare treat for ancient history buffs Stephen Dando-Collins is the author of two previous military histories of Rome, Caesar’s Legion (paper: 0-471-68613-1; cloth: 0-471-09570-2) and Nero’s Killing Machine (0-471-67501-6) "This third volume in Stephen Dando-Collins's widely celebrated history of the Roman legions focuses on how these few captured but undefeated soldiers became the invincible force that allowed Caesar to come, to see, and to conquer. From a front-line view, it re-creates the fierce battles in which this tiny band led Caesar's very small army to stunning victories against much larger and better-equipped forces. It takes you through months of vicious street fighting, which culminated in an all-out confrontation on the banks of the Nile and into the short but bloody Battle of Zela in Turkey immediately after." "They were as good as dead. When nine hundred battle-hardened veterans of Pompey the Great's Sixth Legion were surrounded by thousands of Caesar's troops at the culmination of the Battle of Pharsalus, each was prepared to fight on until the last of them perished. Shrewdly, Caesar promised to spare their lives in return for surrender, then he made them an offer they couldn't refuse: be sent back to Italy penniless and disgraced, or accompany Caesar in pursuit of Pompey and regain both honor and wealth." "Cleopatra's Kidnappers tells the true story of the momentous events of 48-47 B.C., during which, according to most history books, Caesar "dallied in Egypt." What those books don't mention is that his "dalliance" was a bitter seven-month life-or-death struggle; that Caesar was opposed by a well-equipped and determined Egyptian army that had just murdered Pompey and was now after him; and that without the Sixth Legion, Caesar never would have made it out of Egypt alive." "Dando-Collins also investigates Caesar's kidnapping of the Egyptian royal family, which included the fifteen-year-old King Ptolemy and his elder sister Cleopatra. He examines Caesar's romantic involvement with a girl young enough to be his daughter - a girl to whom it was soon clear that the only way she could hope to survive was by attaching herself to a Roman strongman and hoping she picked the toughest."--Jacket