Weird Things About Julius Caesar You Probably Didn't Know

Caesar's affair with Cleopatra, the last pharaoh of Egypt, is well known, though the details may have become a little muddled over the years. Legend says Cleopatra had herself rolled up in a carpet and smuggled into Caesar's room, where she appealed to him to intervene in a political dispute. What's less well-known is that their affair produced a son. Cleopatra named the boy "Caesarion," which means "Little Caesar," and he went on to found a pizzeria. Not really, but lame jokes are too easy to pass up.

Caesarion was Caesar's only known son. Cleopatra had big plans for Little Caesar, but unfortunately the sons of dictators aren't even safe from their own relatives. Caesar's officially recognized heir was Octavian, who ruled as Augustus after Caesar's death. (Yes, the same guy Caesar named August for.)

Because emperors can't have rivals, Augustus had his predecessor's only son executed. Nothing about this story doesn't suck, but just in case you thought it wasn't sucky enough, poor Caesarion (who was just 17 at the time of his death) had actually been sent to safety by his mother just after the defeat of Mark Antony at the Battle of Actium in 31 B.C. And then Augustus sent word that if Caesarion returned to Alexandria, he wouldn't be harmed (a lie), and Caesarion said "Okay," and that was the end of Caesarion. To sum up, Roman emperors can't be trusted. The end.

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