Editing Caesarion (section)

== Death ==
[[File:Roman Wall painting from the House of Giuseppe II, Pompeii, 1st century AD, death of Sophonisba, but more likely Cleopatra VII of Egypt consuming poison.jpg|thumb|upright=1.6|Roman painting from [[Pompeii]], early 1st&nbsp;century&nbsp;AD, most likely depicting Cleopatra VII, wearing her royal [[diadem]], taking poison in an [[Death of Cleopatra|act of suicide]], while Caesarion, also wearing a royal diadem, stands behind her<ref>{{cite book |author=Roller, Duane W. |year=2010 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EZo6DwAAQBAJ |title=Cleopatra: A Biography |location=Oxford|publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780195365535 |pages=178–179}}</ref>]]
After the defeat of Mark Antony and Cleopatra at the [[Battle of Actium]] in 31&nbsp;BC, Cleopatra seems to have groomed Caesarion to take over as "sole ruler without his mother".<ref name="roller" /> She may have intended to go into exile, perhaps with Antony, who may have hoped that he would be allowed to retire as [[Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (triumvir)|Lepidus]] had. Caesarion reappears in the historical record in 30&nbsp;BC, when Octavian invaded Egypt and searched for him. Cleopatra may have sent Caesarion, 17&nbsp;years old at the time, to the [[Red Sea]] port of [[Berenice Troglodytica|Berenice]] for safety, possibly as part of plans for an escape to [[Middle kingdoms of India|India]].<ref name="Gray-Fow2014">{{cite journal |last1=Gray-Fow |first1=Michael |title=What to Do With Caesarion |journal=Greece & Rome |series=Second Series |date=April 2014 |volume=61 |issue=1 |page=62 |doi=10.1017/S0017383513000235 |jstor=43297487 |s2cid=154911628 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43297487 |access-date=25 October 2022|url-access=subscription }}</ref> [[Plutarch]] does say that Caesarion was sent to India, but also that he was lured back by false promises of the kingdom of Egypt: <blockquote>Caesarion, who was said to be Cleopatra's son by Julius Caesar, was sent by his mother, with much treasure, into India, by way of Ethiopia. There Rhodon, another tutor like Theodorus, persuaded him to go back, on the ground that [Octavian] Caesar invited him to take the kingdom.<ref>Plutarch, ''Life of Antony''. As found in the Loeb Classical Library, ''[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015002170010;view=1up;seq=335 Plutarch's Lives: With an English Translation by Bernadotte Perrin].'' Volume 9. p. 321.</ref></blockquote>

Octavian captured the city of [[Alexandria]] on 1 August 30&nbsp;BC, the date that marks the official annexation of Egypt to the Roman Republic. Around this time Mark Antony and Cleopatra died, traditionally said to be by [[suicide]].

Octavian may have temporarily considered permitting Caesarion to succeed his mother and rule Egypt (though now a smaller and weaker kingdom), however, he is supposed to have had Caesarion executed in Alexandria in late August, possibly on 29 August 30 BC, following the advice of his companion [[Arius Didymus]], who said "Too many Caesars is not good"<ref>{{Cite book |last=Draycott |first=Jane |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZIBwEAAAQBAJ&dq=caesarion&pg=PT94 |title=Cleopatra's Daughter: From Roman Prisoner to African Queen |year=2023|publisher=Liveright Publishing |isbn=978-1-324-09260-5 |language=en}}</ref> (a pun on a line in [[Homer]]).<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Powell |first=Anton |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d_ZODgAAQBAJ&dq=death+of+caesarion&pg=PA193 |title=Hindsight in Greek and Roman History |year=2013 |publisher=Classical Press of Wales |isbn=978-1-910589-12-0 |page=194 |language=en}}</ref><ref>David Braund et al, ''Myth, History and Culture in Republican Rome: Studies in Honour of T.P. Wiseman'', University of Exeter Press, 2003, p.&nbsp;305. The original line was "ουκ αγαθόν πολυκοιρανίη" ("ouk agathon polukoiranie"): "too many leaders are not good", or "the rule of many is a bad thing". (Homer's ''Iliad'', Book&nbsp;II. vers&nbsp;204–205) In Greek "ουκ αγαθόν πολυ''καισαρ''ίη" ("ouk agathon polu''kaisar''ie") is a variation on "ουκ αγαθόν πολυ''κοιραν''ίη" ("ouk agathon polu''koiran''ie"). "Καισαρ" (Caesar) replacing "κοίρανος", meaning leader.</ref> Surviving information on the death of Caesarion is scarce.<ref name=":0" /> Octavian then assumed absolute control of [[Ptolemaic Kingdom|Egypt]]. The year 30&nbsp;BC was considered the first year of the new ruler's reign according to the traditional chronological system of Egypt.{{citation needed|date=August 2020}}