It was late at night and Julius Caesar was hard at work.

A few weeks previous, he had won a crushing victory against his enemy Pompey at the Battle of Farsalis in the Roman Civil War.

He had pursued Pompey here, to Egypt, only to find that the local rulers had killed him.

Caesar was grieved at this. He had hoped to forgive Pompey and to use him as a

mouthpiece to tell the other rebels to lay down their arms. Now that door was shut to him. And now here he

was in Alexandria trying to salvage the situation. Alexandria was as perplexing as it was intoxicating.

This was a city of beautiful, shining white marble. For a man as intelligent and curious as Julius Caesar was, it provided endless stimulation.

It had the world's greatest library and museum, the world's oldest monuments, one of the

world's great wonders in the great lighthouse of Alexandria.

It had more than 400 theaters in which he could watch Greek tragedies and comedies. And yet for all its beauty and erudition, it was in some ways the most backwards country in the world.

This land of enlightenment was seemingly ruled by the most despotic and pig-headed dynasty one could imagine.

Caesar could command entire countries, but he could not get two squabbling siblings to set aside

their rivalry for the good of their country. Despite his explicit commands, the two still fielded

armies against one another. He now resided in the palace complex with the boy Ptolemy. But he had

not been able to so much as get a message to the boy's 20-year-old sister and ostensible co-ruler,

Cleopatra.

And so Caesar toiled away, issuing commands, hiring informants, holding court.

It was late now, but Caesar continued to read and write.

Messengers, scribes, and servants came in wind.

Caesar didn't take much notice of them.

He didn't take much notice when one man came in carrying a particularly large linen bag.

But now the man came directly to him and set the bag before his desk.

...