was the name of seven queens in ancient Egypt; however, only
one became famous and popular, Cleopatra VII. She was born
in 69 BC in Alexandria, Egypt. Daughter of Ptolemy XII Auteles
. Cleopatra had , two older sisters Cleopatra VI and Berenice
IV and a young half sister, Arsineo IV. She also had two younger
half brothers, Ptolemy XIII and Ptolemy XIV whom she later
married. Cleoptra belongs to the Ancient Egyptian Ptolemaic
Dynasty. The Ptolemies were originally Macedonian, but ruled
Egypt as Egyptian Pharaohs.
this period, Egypt was suffering economically from bad harvest
and famine caused by a drought. Egypt also suffered politically
due to the increasing Romans power in the region which led
Egypt to ally with Rome for almost two centuries. paid tribute
to the Romans to keep their hand out of his kingdom.
XII Auteles died in 51 BC leaving the kingdom to his son,
Ptolemy XIII and his daughter Cleopatra VII who, by ancient
Egyptian traditions, had to marry her younger 12 year old
brother. Cleopatra, later known as a wild, strong, brilliant
and powerful woman, ignored her younger brother, rejected
his name from any official documents and placed her portrait
and name on the ancient Egyptian coins. This enraged her brother's
advisors who declared war on her.
Julius Caesar was coming to Egypt seeking Pompey the Great,
a Roman leader, who was the guardian of Pompey XIII and who
was assassinated by Ptolemy XIII himself. By that time, the
civil war between Ptolemy XIII and Cleopatra had already started
and in 48 BC a riot occurred in Alexandria, so Ptolemy fled
to Pelusium. Meanwhile Caesar took advantage by placing himself
in the royal palace and started giving orders. The first order
he gave was to disarm Ptolemy's and Cleopatra's armies. Cleopatra,
by then 22 years old, made up her mind to meet Caesar, so
she broke her enemy's lines and went to him rolled in a carpet.
Caesar fell for her and decided to make her the sole ruler
of Egypt. A war in Alexandria occurred later between Caesar
and Ptolemy which ended in the Defeat of Ptolemy's army and
his death by drowning in the Nile while trying to escape.
became the only ruler of Egypt; however, she had to marry
her younger brother, Ptolemy XIV (11 years old). Regardless,
she and Caesar went for a two-month trip on the Nile, during
which time she became pregnant. On this trip she was worshiped
as a Pharaoh when they stopped in Dendera; though, Caesar
was not given this honor. Later, Cleopatra gave birth to Caesar's
son, Caesarion (Ptolemy Caesar) in June 23, 47 BC.
year later, Caesar returned to Rome along with Cleopatra as
his mistress and Caesarion
he declared as his son. Beside the home he built for her and
the luxury she was living
in, he made her a statue of gold and placed it in the temple
of Venus Genetrix, the ancestor of Caesar's family. The presence
of Cleopatra was not accepted by the Republicans who were
not very happy with Caesar's attitude towards her, especially
his plan to marry her.
44 BC, Caesar was assassinated by his senators. Cleopatra
escaped from Rome and returned to Alexandria. After Caesar's
death, she waited in silence, until Mark Antony took power.
By then, her younger brother and husband was assassinated
by her order. In 41 BC, Antony invited Cleopatra to meet him
and formed an alliance with her. Cleopatra and Antony spent
almost a year in Alexandria before his return to Rome to face
Octavian (who became Augustus). In 40 BC, Antony married Octavian's
sister, Octavia who supported him till the last minute of
his life. Four years later, Antony and Cleopatra were reunited
and he gave her back some of the Egyptian land he had taken.
Cleopatra had three children from Antony; Alexander Helios
(which means the sun), Cleopatra Selene (which means the moon),
and Ptolemy Philadelphos.
35 BC, A war took place between Antony and Octavian. Antony
won this war and celebrated his triumph by giving himself
the title of the New Dionysus and Cleopatra the title of the
New Isis and the Queen of Kings. Their children were also
given the titles of Ptolemy XV for Caesarion, who was also
called King of the Kings. Alexander Helio was called Great
King of the Seleucid Empire and Cleopatra Selene was given
the title of Queen of Cyrenaica and Crete. Finally, Ptolemy
Philadelphos was named King of Syria and Asia. A year later,
the Roman Senate deprived Antony of his prospective consulate
and Octavian became the Roman leader.
later declared war on Cleopatra and in 31 BC; Octavian defeated
Antony in the famous battle of Actuim in Greece. Antony committed
suicide later and died in the arms of Cleopatra in 30 BC.
Cleopatra was taken to Octavian who declared that he has no
intentions for any negotiations. So she asked for an asp,
an Egyptian Cobra, and died in August 12, 30 BC at the age
of 39. She and Antony were buried together as they wished.
Her son Caesarion was killed and her other children were raised
by Octavia, Antony's wife.
Cleopatra was the last Pharaoh. By her death, the age of Egyptian
Monarchs vanished and gave way to the age of the Roman Emperors.
Alexandria remained the capital of Egypt but no longer under
the Ptolemaic rule. Cleopatra; the famous Egyptian queen,
was indeed a very intelligent woman as she ascended the Egyptian
throne when she was 17 years old. She was also fluent in nine
languages including the native Egyptian. She was in fact the
only Ptolemy to speak it. Her dream was to build a world empire;
however, instead she destroyed the Egyptian Monarchs and gave
way to the rise of Rome.