Lucius Septimius
Encyclopedia
Lucius Septimius was an Ancient Roman
soldier stationed in Egypt in the 1st century BC. He is remembered by history as one of the assassins of Pompey the Great
.
Septimius was the head of the Roman troops serving in the Egyptian army, at a time when Egypt was a vassal state
of Rome. Pompey fled to Egypt in 48 BC following his defeat by Julius Caesar
at the Battle of Pharsalia. Pompey had been friends with Egypt's prior king, Ptolemy XII Auletes
, and so hoped to find aid; however the advisers of the child successor Ptolemy XIII
believed they could win Caesar's favor by killing his foe. Septimius and the Egyptian general Achillas
met Pompey at the shore in Alexandria
under a pretense of friendship, killed him upon the landing, and then beheaded his corpse.
Later literary accounts often attributed Pompey's murder solely to Septimius, as in the poem Pharsalia
by the Roman poet Lucan
, or in modern fictionalizations such as the George Bernard Shaw
play Caesar and Cleopatra
, and the HBO television series Rome
(depicted in the episodes "Pharsalus" and "Caesarion").
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
soldier stationed in Egypt in the 1st century BC. He is remembered by history as one of the assassins of Pompey the Great
Pompey
Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, also known as Pompey or Pompey the Great , was a military and political leader of the late Roman Republic...
.
Septimius was the head of the Roman troops serving in the Egyptian army, at a time when Egypt was a vassal state
Vassal state
A vassal state is any state that is subordinate to another. The vassal in these cases is the ruler, rather than the state itself. Being a vassal most commonly implies providing military assistance to the dominant state when requested to do so; it sometimes implies paying tribute, but a state which...
of Rome. Pompey fled to Egypt in 48 BC following his defeat by Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
at the Battle of Pharsalia. Pompey had been friends with Egypt's prior king, Ptolemy XII Auletes
Ptolemy XII Auletes
Ptolemy Neos Dionysos Theos Philopator Theos Philadelphos , more commonly known as "Auletes" or "Nothos" , was an Egyptian king of Macedonian descent...
, and so hoped to find aid; however the advisers of the child successor Ptolemy XIII
Ptolemy XIII Theos Philopator
Ptolemy XIII Theos Philopator was one of the last members of the Ptolemaic dynasty of Egypt.- Co-ruler of Egypt, inner turmoil :...
believed they could win Caesar's favor by killing his foe. Septimius and the Egyptian general Achillas
Achillas
Achillas was one of the guardians of the Egyptian king Ptolemy XIII Theos Philopator, and commander of the king's troops, when Pompey fled to Egypt in 48 BC...
met Pompey at the shore in Alexandria
Alexandria
Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...
under a pretense of friendship, killed him upon the landing, and then beheaded his corpse.
Later literary accounts often attributed Pompey's murder solely to Septimius, as in the poem Pharsalia
Pharsalia
The Pharsalia is a Roman epic poem by the poet Lucan, telling of the civil war between Julius Caesar and the forces of the Roman Senate led by Pompey the Great...
by the Roman poet Lucan
Marcus Annaeus Lucanus
Marcus Annaeus Lucanus , better known in English as Lucan, was a Roman poet, born in Corduba , in the Hispania Baetica. Despite his short life, he is regarded as one of the outstanding figures of the Imperial Latin period...
, or in modern fictionalizations such as the George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright and a co-founder of the London School of Economics. Although his first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, in which capacity he wrote many highly articulate pieces of journalism, his main talent was for drama, and he wrote more than 60...
play Caesar and Cleopatra
Caesar and Cleopatra (play)
Caesar and Cleopatra, a play written in 1898 by George Bernard Shaw, was first staged in 1901 and first published with Captain Brassbound's Conversion and The Devil's Disciple in his 1901 collection, Three Plays for Puritans. It was first performed at Newcastle-on-Tyne on March 15, 1899...
, and the HBO television series Rome
Rome (TV series)
Rome is a British-American–Italian historical drama television series created by Bruno Heller, John Milius and William J. MacDonald. The show's two seasons premiered in 2005 and 2007, and were later released on DVD. Rome is set in the 1st century BC, during Ancient Rome's transition from Republic...
(depicted in the episodes "Pharsalus" and "Caesarion").