Note 40 — Chapter VII · THE BIRTH OF CÆSARION AND CÆSAR’S DEPARTURE FROM EGYPT.

It has generally been stated that Cæsar left Egypt before the birth of Cæsarion, an opinion which, in view of the fact that Appian says he remained nine months in Egypt, has always seemed to me improbable; for it is surely more than a coincidence that he delayed his departure from Egypt until the very month in which Cleopatra’s and his child was to be expected to arrive, he having met her in the previous October. Plutarch’s statement may be interpreted as meaning that Cæsar departed to Syria after the birth of his son. I think that Cicero’s remark, in a letter dated in June B.C. 47, that there was a serious hindrance to Cæsar’s departure from Alexandria, refers to the event for which he was waiting. Those who suggest that Cæsar did not remain in Egypt so long are obliged to deny that the authors are correct in stating that he went up the Nile; and they have to disregard the positive statement of Appian that the Dictator’s visit lasted nine months. Moreover, the date of the celebration of Cæsarion’s seventeenth birthday (as recorded on p. 361) is a further indication that he was born no later than the beginning of July.