Lucius Septimius was a Roman soldier and mercenary who is principally remembered as one of the assassins of the triumvir Pompey the Great. At the time of the assassination (48 BC) Septimius was serving the Ptolemies of Egypt as a mercenary. He was dispatched with orders to murder Pompey by Ptolemy XIII's advisors who wanted to win the favour of Julius Caesar for their king.
Septimius (in armour) strikes Pompey from behind. 1880 illustration
Septimius had served under Pompey in his eastern campaign in the 60s BC, and he was in the army with which Aulus Gabinius restored Cleopatra's father Ptolemy XII Auletes to the throne in 55 BC. He had stayed in Egypt as part of a mercenary garrison, known as the Gabiniani, to support the king.[1] In Commentarii de Bello Civili, Caesar refers to him as a "military tribune".[1]
Septimius was a leading figure among the Gabiniani. When Pompey fled to Egypt in 48 BC following his defeat by Julius Caesar at the Battle of Pharsalia, he hoped to gain their support along with that of the new Egyptian king Ptolemy XIII, having been friends with Egypt's prior king, Ptolemy XII Auletes; however the advisers of the child successor believed they could win Caesar's favor by killing his foe. The Egyptian general Achillas met Pompey at the shore in Alexandria accompanied by Septimius and a centurion named Salvius. They greeted him under a pretense of friendship and killed him upon landing.[2]
According to both Plutarch's and Caesar's account, Pompey was reassured by the presence of Septimius, whom he knew from earlier campaigns. But it was Septimius who led the attack by stabbing Pompey in the back, then Salvius and Achillas joined in.[3] Septimius then beheaded the corpse and removed Pompey's signet ring. The killing did not placate Caesar and in the ensuing war the Gabiniani sided with Cleopatra's brother Ptolemy XIII, against Caesar and Cleopatra. The fate of Septimius is not recorded.
In literatureEdit
Later literary accounts often attributed Pompey's murder solely to Septimius, or place the principal guilt on him. This is the case in the poem Pharsalia by the Roman poet Lucan, in which the fact that Septimius, a Roman, was doing the bidding of a foreign king is depicted as especially shameful. Lucan portrays Septimius as the archetype of a traitor: "With what reputation will posterity send Septimius into the centuries? What name will this wickedness have from those who call what Brutus did a crime?".[4]
In the video game Assassin's Creed Origins, one of the main antagonists, referred to either as Lucius Septimius or as "The Jackal", is based on him. This fictional version of Septimius is the second-in-command of the Order of the Ancients, a precursor organization to the Templar Order. Additionally, his story is greatly expanded from the historical record, being pardoned by Caesar and serving him until his assassination on the Ides of March, shortly before Caesar's own assassination.
In the television drama series Rome he is portrayed by David Kennedy.
^S. H. Braund (trans), Lucan, Pharsalia, book 8, 610.
^Eugene M. Waith, "The Death of Pompey: English Style, French Style," in: Shakespeare and Dramatic Tradition, William R. Elton and William B. Long, eds., Newark, DE, University of Delaware Press, 1989; pp. 276–85.
ReferencesEdit
Maspero, Gaston, et al. History of Egypt, Chaldea, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria. Translated by M. L McClure and Herbert McClure. The Grolier Society, 1904.
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This article has multiple issues Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page Learn how and when to remove these template messages The neutrality of this article is disputed Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page Please do not remove this message until conditions to do so are met September 2016 Learn how and when to remove this template message This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Lucius Septimius news newspapers books scholar JSTOR September 2016 Learn how and when to remove this template message Learn how and when to remove this template message For the 4th century governor of Britain see Lucius Septimius Roman governor Lucius Septimius was a Roman soldier and mercenary who is principally remembered as one of the assassins of the triumvir Pompey the Great At the time of the assassination 48 BC Septimius was serving the Ptolemies of Egypt as a mercenary He was dispatched with orders to murder Pompey by Ptolemy XIII s advisors who wanted to win the favour of Julius Caesar for their king Septimius in armour strikes Pompey from behind 1880 illustration Contents 1 Life 2 In literature 3 In popular culture 4 See also 5 Notes 6 ReferencesLife EditSeptimius had served under Pompey in his eastern campaign in the 60s BC and he was in the army with which Aulus Gabinius restored Cleopatra s father Ptolemy XII Auletes to the throne in 55 BC He had stayed in Egypt as part of a mercenary garrison known as the Gabiniani to support the king 1 In Commentarii de Bello Civili Caesar refers to him as a military tribune 1 Septimius was a leading figure among the Gabiniani When Pompey fled to Egypt in 48 BC following his defeat by Julius Caesar at the Battle of Pharsalia he hoped to gain their support along with that of the new Egyptian king Ptolemy XIII having been friends with Egypt s prior king Ptolemy XII Auletes however the advisers of the child successor believed they could win Caesar s favor by killing his foe The Egyptian general Achillas met Pompey at the shore in Alexandria accompanied by Septimius and a centurion named Salvius They greeted him under a pretense of friendship and killed him upon landing 2 According to both Plutarch s and Caesar s account Pompey was reassured by the presence of Septimius whom he knew from earlier campaigns But it was Septimius who led the attack by stabbing Pompey in the back then Salvius and Achillas joined in 3 Septimius then beheaded the corpse and removed Pompey s signet ring The killing did not placate Caesar and in the ensuing war the Gabiniani sided with Cleopatra s brother Ptolemy XIII against Caesar and Cleopatra The fate of Septimius is not recorded In literature EditLater literary accounts often attributed Pompey s murder solely to Septimius or place the principal guilt on him This is the case in the poem Pharsalia by the Roman poet Lucan in which the fact that Septimius a Roman was doing the bidding of a foreign king is depicted as especially shameful Lucan portrays Septimius as the archetype of a traitor With what reputation will posterity send Septimius into the centuries What name will this wickedness have from those who call what Brutus did a crime 4 In the Massinger and Fletcher play The False One c 1620 Septimius is the central character the false one of the title He also appears in Pierre Corneille s La Mort de Pompee 1643 5 In 1910 John Masefield treated Pompey and Septimius in his The Tragedy of Pompey the Great He also appears in the George Bernard Shaw play Caesar and Cleopatra 1898 and the HBO television series Rome depicted in the episodes Pharsalus and Caesarion In Shaw s play Caesar forgives him while in Rome Caesar orders his execution In popular culture EditIn the video game Assassin s Creed Origins one of the main antagonists referred to either as Lucius Septimius or as The Jackal is based on him This fictional version of Septimius is the second in command of the Order of the Ancients a precursor organization to the Templar Order Additionally his story is greatly expanded from the historical record being pardoned by Caesar and serving him until his assassination on the Ides of March shortly before Caesar s own assassination In the television drama series Rome he is portrayed by David Kennedy See also EditSeptimia gensNotes Edit a b Beryl Rawson The Politics of Friendship Pompey and Cicero Volume 6 Sydney University Press 1978 p 177 Maspero pp 316 19 Plutarch Life of Pompey S H Braund trans Lucan Pharsalia book 8 610 Eugene M Waith The Death of Pompey English Style French Style in Shakespeare and Dramatic Tradition William R Elton and William B Long eds Newark DE University of Delaware Press 1989 pp 276 85 References EditMaspero Gaston et al History of Egypt Chaldea Syria Babylonia and Assyria Translated by M L McClure and Herbert McClure The Grolier Society 1904 Plutarch The Life of Pompey Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Lucius Septimius amp oldid 1127056951, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
