In May of 47 B.C., after Julius Caesar had left a pregnant Cleopatra, soon to bear their son Caesarion, Caesar defeated Pharnaces of Pontus near the town of Zela. Caesar claimed he routed and captured the enemy in 4 hours. To inform the Senate of his victory, Caesar succinctly wrote, veni, vidi, vici 'I came, I saw, I conquered'.
Pharnaces of Pontus was the son of Rome's old trouble-maker, Mithridates (Mithradates).


