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Cleopatra
Table of Contents
 * Introduction & Top Questions
   
 * 
   Life and reign
   
 * 
   Cleopatra through the ages
   

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Contents

Home Politics, Law & Government World Leaders Queens


CLEOPATRA

queen of Egypt
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Also known as: Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator
Written by
Joyce Tyldesley
Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Manchester. Author of
Cleopatra: Last Queen of Egypt, Chronicles of the Queens of Egypt, Tutankhamen’s
Curse, and others.

Joyce Tyldesley
Fact-checked by
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Last Updated: Apr 22, 2024 • Article History
Table of Contents
Cleopatra
See all media
Greek: “Famous in Her Father” (Show more)
In full: Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator (“Cleopatra the Father-Loving Goddess”)
(Show more)
Born: 70/69 bce (Show more)
Died: August 30 bce, Alexandria (Show more)
Notable Family Members: spouse Mark Antony son Ptolemy Philadelphus (Show more)
Role In: Battle of Actium (Show more)
See all related content →
Top Questions
WHY IS CLEOPATRA FAMOUS?

While queen of Egypt (51–30 BCE), Cleopatra actively influenced Roman politics
at a crucial period and was especially known for her relationships with Julius
Caesar and Mark Antony. She came to represent, as did no other woman of
antiquity, the prototype of the romantic femme fatale. Cleopatra inspired
numerous books, plays, and movies.

HOW DID CLEOPATRA COME TO POWER?

When her father, Ptolemy XII, died in 51 BCE, Cleopatra and her brother, Ptolemy
XIII, coruled until she was forced to flee, about 50 BCE. Aided by Julius
Caesar, her lover, she returned to power upon her brother’s death in 47. She
ruled with her brother-husband, Ptolemy XIV, and then with her son Caesarion.

WHAT WAS CLEOPATRA LIKE?

Cleopatra was charismatic and intelligent, and she used both qualities to
further Egypt's political aims. She was also ruthless, reportedly killing
several family members in order to solidify her power. The only member of her
house to learn Egyptian, she was said to be a popular ruler.

HOW DID CLEOPATRA DIE?

With the arrival of the conquering Octavian (the future Roman emperor Augustus),
Cleopatra’s husband, Mark Antony, committed suicide under the false impression
that she was dead. After burying him, the 39-year-old Cleopatra took her own
life, though how is uncertain. Some claim it was by means of an asp, the symbol
of divine royalty.



Cleopatra (born 70/69 bce—died August 30 bce, Alexandria) was an Egyptian queen,
famous in history and drama as the lover of Julius Caesar and later as the wife
of Mark Antony. She became queen on the death of her father, Ptolemy XII, in 51
bce and ruled successively with her two brothers Ptolemy XIII (51–47) and
Ptolemy XIV (47–44) and her son Ptolemy XV Caesar (44–30). After the Roman
armies of Octavian (the future emperor Augustus) defeated their combined forces,
Antony and Cleopatra committed suicide, and Egypt fell under Roman domination.
Cleopatra actively influenced Roman politics at a crucial period, and she came
to represent, as did no other woman of Classical antiquity, the prototype of the
romantic femme fatale.




LIFE AND REIGN


Cleopatra
Relief of Cleopatra as a goddess, c. 69–30 bce, Temple of Hathor, Dandarah,
Egypt.(more)

Daughter of King Ptolemy XII Auletes, Cleopatra was destined to become the last
queen of the Macedonian dynasty that ruled Egypt between the death of Alexander
the Great in 323 bce and its annexation by Rome in 30 bce. The line had been
founded by Alexander’s general Ptolemy, who became King Ptolemy I Soter of
Egypt. Cleopatra was of Macedonian descent and had little, if any, Egyptian
blood, although the Classical author Plutarch wrote that she alone of her house
took the trouble to learn Egyptian and, for political reasons, styled herself as
the new Isis, a title that distinguished her from the earlier Ptolemaic queen
Cleopatra III, who had also claimed to be the living embodiment of the goddess
Isis. Coin portraits of Cleopatra show a countenance alive rather than
beautiful, with a sensitive mouth, firm chin, liquid eyes, broad forehead, and
prominent nose. When Ptolemy XII died in 51 bce, the throne passed to his young
son, Ptolemy XIII, and daughter, Cleopatra VII. It is likely, but not proven,
that the two married soon after their father’s death. The 18-year-old Cleopatra,
older than her brother by about eight years, became the dominant ruler. Evidence
shows that the first decree in which Ptolemy’s name precedes Cleopatra’s was in
October of 50 bce. Soon after, Cleopatra was forced to flee Egypt for Syria,
where she raised an army and in 48 bce returned to face her brother at Pelusium,
on Egypt’s eastern border. The murder of the Roman general Pompey, who had
sought refuge from Ptolemy XIII at Pelusium, and the arrival of Julius Caesar
brought temporary peace.



Cleopatra realized that she needed Roman support, or, more specifically,
Caesar’s support, if she was to regain her throne. Each was determined to use
the other. Caesar sought money for repayment of the debts incurred by
Cleopatra’s father, Auletes, as he struggled to retain his throne. Cleopatra was
determined to keep her throne and, if possible, to restore the glories of the
first Ptolemies and recover as much as possible of their dominions, which had
included southern Syria and Palestine. Caesar and Cleopatra became lovers and
spent the winter besieged in Alexandria. Roman reinforcements arrived the
following spring, and Ptolemy XIII fled and drowned in the Nile. Cleopatra, now
married to her brother Ptolemy XIV, was restored to her throne. In June 47 bce
she gave birth to Ptolemy Caesar (known to the people of Alexandria as
Caesarion, or “little Caesar”). Whether Caesar was the father of Caesarion, as
his name implies, cannot now be known.

It took Caesar two years to extinguish the last flames of Pompeian opposition.
As soon as he returned to Rome, in 46 bce, he celebrated a four-day triumph—the
ceremonial in honour of a general after his victory over a foreign enemy—in
which Arsinoe, Cleopatra’s younger and hostile sister, was paraded. Cleopatra
paid at least one state visit to Rome, accompanied by her husband-brother and
son. She was accommodated in Caesar’s private villa beyond the Tiber River and
may have been present to witness the dedication of a golden statue of herself in
the temple of Venus Genetrix, the ancestress of the Julian family to which
Caesar belonged. Cleopatra was in Rome when Caesar was murdered in 44 bce.

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What led to the downfall of Egyptian Queen Cleopatra?
Overview of the fall of Egypt, with a detailed discussion of Cleopatra's
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Soon after her return to Alexandria, in 44 bce, Cleopatra’s coruler, Ptolemy
XIV, died. Cleopatra now ruled with her infant son, Ptolemy XV Caesar. When, at
the Battle of Philippi in 42 bce, Caesar’s assassins were routed, Mark Antony
became the heir apparent of Caesar’s authority—or so it seemed, for Caesar’s
great-nephew and personal heir, Octavian, was but a sickly boy. Antony, now
controller of Rome’s eastern territories, sent for Cleopatra so that she might
explain her role in the aftermath of Caesar’s assassination. She set out for
Tarsus in Asia Minor loaded with gifts, having delayed her departure to heighten
Antony’s expectation. She entered the city by sailing up the Cydnus River in a
barge while dressed in the robes of the new Isis. Antony, who equated himself
with the god Dionysus, was captivated. Forgetting his wife, Fulvia, who in Italy
was doing her best to maintain her husband’s interests against the growing
menace of young Octavian, Antony returned to Alexandria, where he treated
Cleopatra not as a “protected” sovereign but as an independent monarch.



In Alexandria, Cleopatra and Antony formed a society of “inimitable livers”
whose members lived what some historians have interpreted as a life of
debauchery and folly and others have interpreted as lives dedicated to the cult
of the mystical god Dionysus.

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In 40 bce Cleopatra gave birth to twins, whom she named Alexander Helios and
Cleopatra Selene. Antony had already left Alexandria to return to Italy, where
he was forced to conclude a temporary settlement with Octavian. As part of this
settlement, he married Octavian’s sister, Octavia (Fulvia having died). Three
years later Antony was convinced that he and Octavian could never come to terms.
His marriage to Octavia now an irrelevance, he returned to the east and reunited
with Cleopatra. Antony needed Cleopatra’s financial support for his postponed
Parthian campaign; in return, Cleopatra requested the return of much of Egypt’s
eastern empire, including large portions of Syria and Lebanon and even the rich
balsam groves of Jericho.


Ptolemy XV Caesar
Ptolemy XV Caesar (right) and his mother, Cleopatra VII, relief in the temple of
Hathor, Dandarah, Egypt.(more)

The Parthian campaign was a costly failure, as was the temporary conquest of
Armenia. Nevertheless, in 34 bce Antony celebrated a triumphal return to
Alexandria. This was followed by a celebration known as “the Donations of
Alexandria.” Crowds flocked to the Gymnasium to see Cleopatra and Antony seated
on golden thrones on a silver platform with their children sitting on slightly
lower thrones beside them. Antony proclaimed Caesarion to be Caesar’s son—thus
relegating Octavian, who had been adopted by Caesar as his son and heir, to
legal illegitimacy. Cleopatra was hailed as queen of kings, Caesarion as king of
kings. Alexander Helios was awarded Armenia and the territory beyond the
Euphrates, his infant brother Ptolemy the lands to the west of it. The boys’
sister, Cleopatra Selene, was to be ruler of Cyrene. It was clear to Octavian,
watching from Rome, that Antony intended his extended family to rule the
civilized world. A propaganda war erupted. Octavian seized Antony’s will (or
what he claimed to be Antony’s will) from the temple of the Vestal Virgins, to
whom it had been entrusted, and revealed to the Roman people that not only had
Antony bestowed Roman possessions on a foreign woman but intended to be buried
beside her in Egypt. The rumour quickly spread that Antony also intended to
transfer the capital from Rome to Alexandria.



Antony and Cleopatra spent the winter of 32–31 bce in Greece. The Roman Senate
deprived Antony of his prospective consulate for the following year, and it then
declared war against Cleopatra. The naval Battle of Actium, in which Octavian
faced the combined forces of Antony and Cleopatra on September 2, 31 bce, was a
disaster for the Egyptians. Antony and Cleopatra fled to Egypt, and Cleopatra
retired to her mausoleum as Antony went off to fight his last battle. Receiving
the false news that Cleopatra had died, Antony fell on his sword. In a last
excess of devotion, he had himself carried to Cleopatra’s retreat and there
died, after bidding her to make her peace with Octavian.



Cleopatra buried Antony and then committed suicide. The means of her death is
uncertain, though Classical writers came to believe that she had killed herself
by means of an asp, symbol of divine royalty. She was 39 and had been a queen
for 22 years and Antony’s partner for 11. They were buried together, as both of
them had wished, and with them was buried the Roman Republic.





CLEOPATRA THROUGH THE AGES

The vast majority of Egypt’s many hundreds of queens, although famed throughout
their own land, were more or less unknown in the outside world. As the dynastic
age ended and the hieroglyphic script was lost, the queens’ stories were
forgotten and their monuments buried under Egypt’s sands. But Cleopatra had
lived in a highly literate age, and her actions had influenced the formation of
the Roman Empire; her story could not be forgotten. Octavian (the future emperor
Augustus) was determined that Roman history should be recorded in a way that
confirmed his right to rule. To achieve this, he published his own autobiography
and censored Rome’s official records. As Cleopatra had played a key role in his
struggle to power, her story was preserved as an integral part of his. But it
was diminished to just two episodes: her relationships with Julius Caesar and
Mark Antony. Cleopatra, stripped of any political validity, was to be remembered
as an immoral foreign woman who tempted upright Roman men. As such, she became a
useful enemy for Octavian, who preferred to be remembered for fighting against
foreigners rather than against his fellow Romans.

This official Roman version of a predatory, immoral Cleopatra passed into
Western culture, where it was retold and reinterpreted as the years passed,
until it evolved into a story of a wicked life made good by an honourable death.
Meanwhile, Muslim scholars, writing after the Arab conquest of Egypt about 640
ce, developed their own version of the queen. Their Cleopatra was first and
foremost a scholar and a scientist, a gifted philosopher and a chemist.



Cleopatra (1917)
Theda Bara in the film Cleopatra, 1917.(more)

Cleopatra
Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton in Cleopatra (1963), directed by Joseph L.
Mankiewicz.(more)

Plutarch’s Parallel Lives, translated from the Greek into French by Jacques
Amyot (1559) and then from the French into English by Sir Thomas North (1579),
served as the inspiration behind Shakespeare’s play Antony and Cleopatra
(1606–07). Shakespeare dropped some of Plutarch’s disapproval and allowed his
queen to become a true heroine. His was by no means the first revision of
Cleopatra, nor was it to be the last, but his is the Cleopatra that has lingered
longest in the public imagination. From Shakespeare stems a wealth of
Cleopatra-themed art—plays, poetry, paintings, and operas. In the 20th century
Cleopatra’s story was preserved and further developed through film. Many
actresses, including Theda Bara (1917), Claudette Colbert (1934), and Elizabeth
Taylor (1963), have played the queen, typically in expensive, exotic films that
concentrate on the queen’s love life rather than her politics. Meanwhile,
Cleopatra’s seductive beauty—a seductive beauty that is not supported by the
queen’s contemporary portraiture—has been used to sell a wide range of products,
from cosmetics to cigarettes. In the late 20th century Cleopatra’s racial
heritage became a subject of intense academic debate, with some African American
scholars embracing Cleopatra as a black African heroine.

For a list of ancient Egyptian kings, see list of pharaohs of ancient Egypt. For
a list of Egyptian dynasties, see list of dynasties of ancient Egypt.

Joyce Tyldesley


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External Websites
 * Spartacus Educational - Biography of Cleopatra
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 * King College - Women's History Resource Site - Cleopatra VII
 * Encyclopedia Romana - The Beauty of Cleopatra
 * Jewish Virtual Library - Biography of Cleopatra
 * CNN - Who was the real Cleopatra?
 * Ancient Origins - The Enigma of Cleopatra's Death: Was it Suicide or Murder?
 * LiveScience - Cleopatra: Facts and Biography
 * GlobalSecurity.org - Cleopatra VII
 * World History Encyclopedia - Biography of Cleopatra VII

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 * Cleopatra - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11)
 * Cleopatra - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)


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