Cleopatra's kidnappers

by Stephen Dando-Collins

"They were as good as dead. When nine hundred battle-hardened veterans of Pompey the Great's Sixth Legion were surrounded by thousands of Caesar's troops at the culmination of the Battle of Pharsalus, each was prepared to fight on until the last of them perished. Shrewdly, Caesar promised to spare their lives in return for surrender, then he made them an offer they couldn't refuse: be sent back to Italy penniless and disgraced, or accompany Caesar in pursuit of Pompey and regain both honor and wealth." "Cleopatra's Kidnappers tells the true story of the momentous events of 48-47 B.C., during which, according to most history books, Caesar "dallied in Egypt." What those books don't mention is that his "dalliance" was a bitter seven-month life-or-death struggle; that Caesar was opposed by a well-equipped and determined Egyptian army that had just murdered Pompey and was now after him; and that without the Sixth Legion, Caesar never would have made it out of Egypt alive." "This third volum