If you were Caesar's son, which one person would you trust to keep you alive?

A seventeen-year-old in Egypt must choose between a lie that keeps him alive and trusting Caesarion - who will betray him? If you were Caesar's son, which one person would you trust to keep you alive? In this episode, we follow the life and political stakes surrounding Caesarion, the boy raised as Ptolemy XV and claimed by Cleopatra as both pharaoh and Caesar’s heir. We trace the decisions, ceremonies, and rival claims that turned a teenager’s identity into a geopolitical threat and ask what choices a young claimant could make when blood and documents collide. Person: Caesarion (Ptolemy XV) Date: June 23, 47 BC (birth) Location: Alexandria, Egypt Event: Donations of Alexandria (34 BC) Person: Octavian (holder of Julius Caesar’s will) - Cleopatra installed Caesarion with royal epithets and temple reliefs presenting him as divine child and heir, using art as political argument. - Caesar never legally acknowledged him; instead his will named Octavian, leaving Caesarion a living claim without Roman legal weight. - At age three Cleopatra proclaimed him co-regent and pharaoh, making a child the focal point of dynastic legitimacy across two worlds. - Mark Antony’s 34 BC Donations publicly named Caesarion “King of Kings,” creating a provocation Octavian used to delegitimize Antony. - Octavian reframed the coming conflict as Roman virtue versus eastern corruption, turning Caesarion’s existence into political evidence rather than the central issue. To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com. © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: [email protected].