Cleopatra was born in 69 BC to Ptolemy XII Auletes, the king of Egypt. She was part of the Ptolemaic dynasty that had ruled Egypt since the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC. Cleopatra's lineage can be traced back to Ptolemy I Soter, a Macedonian Greek general who served under Alexander.
As a member of the royal family, Cleopatra was privileged but her early life was tumultuous. Her father Ptolemy XII faced threats to his rule and was driven out of Egypt in 58 BC. Cleopatra would have been about 11 years old at the time. She spent her adolescence in exile with her father as he attempted to regain his throne with the military backing of Rome.
Ptolemy XII died in 51 BC, leaving his throne jointly to 18-year-old Cleopatra and her younger brother Ptolemy XIII, who was about 10 years old at the time. As was customary for Macedonian Greek royalty, the siblings were expected to marry and rule Egypt together. However their relationship was troubled from the beginning.
Seeking sole power over Egypt, Cleopatra was forced to flee Alexandria in 48 BC during a civil war against Ptolemy XIII, who was aided by powerful court eunuchs and also by the Roman dictator Pompey. Cleopatra would regain the upper hand the following year when Julius Caesar arrived in pursuit of Pompey, who had recently been defeated in a Roman civil war.
Cleopatra famously had herself smuggled rolled up inside a carpet to meet Caesar when she was 21 years old. Captivated by her intelligence and ambition, Caesar supported Cleopatra's claim as sole ruler of Egypt over her brother. An affair developed and nine months after their first meeting Cleopatra gave birth to a son she named Caesarion, which means “little Caesar”.
Caesar defeated Ptolemy XIII and installed Cleopatra as the sole ruler of Egypt, alongside her other younger brother Ptolemy XIV, whom she later had killed. Caesar spent several months living openly with Cleopatra in Egypt from 47-45 BC and even took her on his military campaigns in the Middle East. Although he was already married to a Roman woman named Calpurnia, it was rumored Caesar intended to marry Cleopatra and make their son his heir. However, this was cut short when Caesar was assassinated in Rome in 44 BC before he could make his plans official.
After Caesar’s assassination, Mark Antony seized control in Rome and summoned Cleopatra to explain her role in Caesar’s plans. Cleopatra was determined to charm Mark Antony the same way she had won over Caesar. By all accounts she was successful beyond expectation. Mark Antony became utterly devoted to her, spending the winter of 41-40 BC living in luxury with Cleopatra in Egypt while his wife Fulvia was leading armies on his behalf back in Rome.
Mark Antony and Cleopatra formalized their alliance when Antony’s divorce from Fulvia was finalized. Their twin children Alexander Helios and Cleopatra Selene were born soon after their marriage in 37 BC. Mark Antony increasingly adopted Eastern styles, causing outrage back in Rome. Meanwhile he ceded significant portions of the Roman Empire in the Middle East to Cleopatra, including Cyrenaica, Judaea, Crete, Cyprus and parts of Syria and Lebanon.
In a lavish public ceremony known as the Donations of Alexandria held in 34 BC, Cleopatra was formally named Queen of Kings with Caesarion as her co-ruler, while Alexander Helios was declared ruler of Armenia, Media and Parthia - lands occupied by Rome’s enemies - and Ptolemy Philadelphos was awarded Syria and lands across the Mediterranean up to Caria.
Outraged, Octavian, the adopted heir of Julius Caesar back in Rome, waged an unrelenting smear campaign against Mark Antony and Cleopatra, portraying them as debauched Hellenistic monarchs attempting to overthrow Rome. When Octavian officially declared war on Cleopatra, Antony was ordered home by the Roman Senate, but he instead joined the Egyptian fleet to fight Octavian at sea. After several key defections of generals and troops, Antony’s forces were defeated by Octavian in 31 BC at the Battle of Actium.
Refusing to flee without Antony, Cleopatra returned with him and their remaining forces to defend Alexandria. However Mark Antony believed Cleopatra had betrayed him and taken Octavian’s side, so in despair he attempted suicide by stabbing himself. He ended up dying in Cleopatra’s arms.
Soon after, Octavian invaded Alexandria. Perhaps sensing she would meet the same public humiliation as her sister Arsinoe IV, whom the Romans had paraded through the streets in defeat, Cleopatra arranged to secretly have herself bitten by a poisonous asp. According to legend she was found dead, wearing her royal robes with the serpent still attached to her arm. This was on August 12, 30 BC at the age of 39.
With the death of Antony and Cleopatra, almost three hundred years of Ptolemaic rule in Egypt came to an end. It marked the start of Roman annexation of the country as a province. Their three surviving children were sent to Rome with Octavia Minor, Mark Antony’s Roman widow, who became their guardian.
Cleopatra’s legacy endured through her influence on Julius Caesar and Mark Antony, as well as her role in the wider political struggle between Octavian and Mark Antony over control of the Roman Republic. She has lived on in popular culture and literature over two millennia as one of history’s most powerful and alluring female rulers, known for her intelligence, ambition and romance with two of Rome's most powerful men. Her distinct style of eye make-up and her opulent portrayals with an asp draped on her shoulder remain iconic images of ancient Egypt.
While she was fiercely dedicated first and foremost to maintaining the power and independence of Egypt, Cleopatra has often been romanticized more for her unraveling the uncompromising will of powerful Roman counterparts like Caesar and Antony, rather than as a formidable queen ruling over Egypt during a difficult period of transition from the age of Hellenistic monarchs to the beginning of the Roman Empire.
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