{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Cost of Glory","title":"111 - Caesar's Civil War III: Came Saw Conquered","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":5401,"description":"Part 3 of 3 of Caesar's Civil War series. From triumph to near-disaster. Caesar's Egyptian entanglement transforms him from a glorious victor to a desperate challenger. In this episode:\nPompey's assassination in Egypt and Caesar's unexpected grief over his former ally's death\nCleopatra's legendary entrance in a bed-sack and her political seduction of Caesar\nThe brutal urban warfare trapping Caesar in the palace quarter for six months\nThe burning of the Great Library during the harbor battles—400,000 volumes lost\nCaesar's desperate swim to safety while clutching precious documents above water\nYoung King Ptolemy XIII's tragic fate and the consolidation of Cleopatra's power\nThe lightning campaign against Pharnaces in Asia—\"Veni, Vidi, Vici\"\nThe veterans' mutiny outside Rome and Caesar's masterful psychological manipulation\nCato's final stand in Africa and his defiant suicide\nThe decisive Battle of Thapsus and the strategic genius of fighting on narrow ground\nThe massacre of surrendering enemies as Caesar's clemency finally fails\nAs Caesar recounts, the Republic's future dictator came very close to destruction in the palaces and canals of Alexandria. While Rome descended into chaos under Mark Antony's drunken rule, Caesar fought for his life against war elephants and Numidian cavalry, transformed by his liaison with the living goddess Cleopatra. The man who emerged from Egypt was no longer merely a Roman general, he had consorted with divinity and fathered the son of a pharaoh. \nAs Cicero wrote in frantic letters to Atticus: \"Where am I to look for solace?\" The final campaign that would cement Caesar's supremacy began with the most dangerous gamble of his career.\nWorks Cited: (Affiliate links - support the show!)\nGareth Sampson, The Battle of Pharsalus \nMatthias Gelzer, Caesar: Politician and Statesman \nJames Froude, Caesar: A Sketch, \nRaaflaub (ed.) Landmark Caesar","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/e9Sa4TjcD2AANYwBKeHjinbdJ-h9gAVExpbmhJYgOAg/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS80OWZm/NGFjZDE3Yzk3MTdm/N2ExOTNlY2U4NTZh/OTgwMS5wbmc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}