When silence was obtained, he made them a speech well calculated to quiet the excitement.  He told them that he did not pretend to any right to judge between Cleopatra and Ptolemy as their superior, but only in the performance of the duty solemnly assigned by Ptolemy Auletes, the father, to the Roman people, whose representative he was.  Other than this he claimed no jurisdiction in the case; and his only wish, in the discharge of the duty which devolved upon him to consider the cause, was to settle the question in a manner just and equitable to all the parties concerned, and thus arrest the progress of the civil war, which, if not arrested, threatened to involve the country in the most terrible calamities.  He counseled them, therefore, to disperse, and no longer disturb the peace of the city.  He would immediately take measures for trying the question between Cleopatra and Ptolemy, and he did not doubt, but that they would all be satisfied with his decision.

This speech, made, as it was, in the eloquent and persuasive, and yet dignified and imposing manner for which Caesar’s harangues to turbulent assemblies like these were so famed, produced a great effect.  Some were convinced, others were silenced; and those whose resentment and anger were not appeased, found themselves deprived of their power by the pacification of the rest.  The mob was dispersed, and Ptolemy remained with Cleopatra in Caesar’s custody.

The next day, Caesar, according to his promise, convened an assembly of the principal people of Alexandria and officers of state, and then brought out Ptolemy and Cleopatra, that he might decide their cause.  The original will which Ptolemy Auletes had executed had been deposited in the public archives of Alexandria, and carefully preserved there.  An authentic copy of it had been sent to Rome.  Caesar caused the original will to be brought out and read to the assembly.  The provisions of it were perfectly explicit and clear.  It required that Cleopatra and Ptolemy should be married, and then settled the sovereign power upon them jointly, as king and queen.  It recognized the Roman commonwealth as the ally of Egypt, and constituted the Roman government the executor of the will, and the guardian of the king and queen.  In fact, so clear and explicit was this document, that the simple reading of it seemed to be of itself a decision of the question.  When, therefore, Caesar announced that, in his judgment, Cleopatra was entitled to share the supreme power with Ptolemy, and that it was his duty, as the representative of the Roman power and the executor of the will, to protect both the king and the queen in their respective rights, there seemed to be nothing that could be said against his decision.

Besides Cleopatra and Ptolemy, there were two other children of Ptolemy Auletes in the royal family at this time.  One was a girl, named Arsinoe.  The other, a boy, was, singularly enough, named, like his brother, Ptolemy.  These children were quite young, but Caesar thought that it would perhaps gratify the Alexandrians, and lead them to acquiesce more readily in his decision, if he were to make some royal provision for them.  He accordingly proposed to assign the island of Cyprus as a realm for them.  This was literally a gift, for Cyprus was at this time a Roman possession.