Achillas (Greek Αχιλλας) was one of the guardians of the Egyptian king Ptolemy XIII Theos Philopator, and commander of the troops, when Pompey fled to Egypt in 48 BC. He is called by Julius Caesar a man of extraordinary daring, and it was he and Lucius Septimius who killed Pompey at the suggestion of the eunuch Pothinus and Theodotus of Chios.[1][2][3]
He subsequently joined Pothinus in resisting Caesar, and having had the command of the whole army entrusted to him by Pothinus, he marched against Alexandria with 20,000 foot and 2000 horse.[4] Caesar, who was at Alexandria, had not sufficient forces to oppose him, and sent ambassadors to treat with him, but these Achillas murdered to remove all hopes of reconciliation. He then marched into Alexandria and obtained possession of the greatest part of the city. Meanwhile, however, Arsinoe, the younger sister of Ptolemy, escaped from Caesar and joined Achillas; but dissensions breaking out between them, she had Achillas put to death by Ganymedes, a eunuch, in 47 BC, to whom she then entrusted the command of the forces.[5][6][7][8]
References
- ^ Julius Caesar, Commentarii de Bello Civili iii. 104
- ^ Livy, Epit. 104
- ^ Cassius Dio xlii. 4
- ^ Smith, William (1867), "Achillas", in Smith, William, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, 1, Boston, MA, pp. 9, http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/0018.html
- ^ Julius Caesar, Commentarii de Bello Civili iii. 108—112
- ^ B. Alex. 4
- ^ Cassius Dio xlii. 36—40
- ^ Lucan x. 519— 523
This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology by William Smith (1870).
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