The Civil War in Egypt & the Siege of Alexandria

After the death of Pompey, I found myself caught in Egypt. It seemed Civil War was brewing between the decedents of Ptolemy XII Auletes in Alexandria. It seemed that oldest son of Ptolemy conspired to rid his sister, Cleopatra, from the throne. Cleopatra had to leave Egypt, and she fled to Syria. Ptolemy XIII's reasons behind conspiring against his sister, and co-ruler, is her rising popularity among the Egyptian people. In Syria, Cleopatra was able to raise an army to fight this civil war with her brother and his conspirator, Pothinus. Another spawn of the house of Ptolemy, Arsinoe IV, also claimed the throne amongst the battle between Ptolemy XIII, Ptolemy XIV, and Cleopatra. This Egyptian civil war became chaos quickly.
I visited Ptolemy XIII and Pothinus to get to the bottom of the murder of Pompey Magnus. Apparently, they first accepted Pompey's request for refuge in Alexandria, but in order to gain favor of me, they had Pompey killed in order to present Pompey when I arrived. I was not pleased with Ptolemy XIII. I ordered for Pompey's body to be found, and I, and my legion with me in Egypt, held a Roman funeral for my former brother. From the murder of Pompey, I had no satisfaction with having Ptolemy XIII on the throne in Egypt. Egypt is very important to the Republic because it is a glorious ally, and they have large exports to Rome of wheat and other goods. The civil war could interfere with Roman goods and trade that is essential to the Roman people. It is in Rome's best interest to put this civil war to rest before it directly affects Rome.
With the death of Pompey on Ptolemy XIII's hands, I chose to side with Cleopatra. She is much more favorable by the Egyptian people and to me. There is something about Cleopatra, and it is not just her good looks. She has wits about her that I have never seen. I feel if I were a lesser man, she would be able to control me under her thumbs. By siding with Cleopatra, Ptolemy's forces attacked me in Alexandria. Achillas joined Pothinus, and their forces combined to 20,000 soldiers and an estimated 2,000 cavalry. I sent an ambassador to negotiate with Achillas, but he had my ambassador killed. The youngest daughter of Ptolemy XII, Arsinoe, left me to join Achillas. Soon after Arsinoe joined Achillas, she had him killed and placed another man in his place to command their army. They came to a truce to exchange Arsinoe for Ptolemy XIII, but the truce was not a truce at all. The civil war continued right after the exchange.

Sources Used:

Suetonius, The Twelve Caesars, Penguin Classics Revised Edition, December 18, 2007. Print