The aim of this paper is to analyse Napoleon Bonaparte's 1798 Egyptian Campaign from the perspective of the imitatio Alexandri, through the direct testimonies of some of the participants in the military and cultural enterprise led by the young French general and by comparing various episodes of the expedition and of the French presence in Egypt with the figure of Alexander the Great. It also attempts to show that this imitatio Alexandri is not just a convention, common in the literature in the field when studying ancient models for Bonaparte, but that, even at the time of the campaign, the French were convinced that their commanding general intended to emulate the Macedonian legend in Egypt and Asia, according to his actions and declarations. The sources studied include the correspondence of the Egyptian expedition, as well as the memoirs of some of the participants, including Napoleon himself, and other close associates. The analysis shows that, both in the evocation of the historical model and in the development of specific events, in the Egyptian Campaign we can indeed observe signs of imitatio Alexandri, but also of rivalry and the overcoming of Alexander's model: hence, of an aemulatio Alexandri.
