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Cleopatra
Cleopatra  VII Philopator (January 69 BC – August 12, 30 BC) was queen
of ancient Egypt, the last member of the Ptolemaic dynasty and hence the last
Hellenistic ruler of Egypt. Although many other Egyptian Queens shared the name,
she is usually known as simply Cleopatra, and all of her similarly named
predecessors have been mostly forgotten.
As co-ruler of Egypt with her father (Ptolemy XII Auletes), her brother/husband Ptolemy XIV, and later her son Caesarion, Cleopatra survived a coup engineered by her brother's courtiers, consummated a liaison with Julius Caesar that solidified her grip on the throne, and, after Caesar's assassination, aligned with Mark Antony, with whom she produced twins. She later married Mark Antony and gave birth to another son. After Antony's rival and Caesar's legal heir, Octavian, brought the might of Rome against Egypt, Cleopatra took her own life on August 12, 30 BC. Her legacy survives in the form of numerous dramatizations of her story, including William Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra and several modern films.
Early life and name"Cleopatra" is Greek for "father's glory," and her full name, "Cleopatra Thea Philopator" means "the Goddess Cleopatra, the Beloved of Her Father." She was the third daughter of Ptolemy XII Auletes, a Graeco-Egyptian born in Alexandria, Egypt. She was first briefly co-ruler with her father, Ptolemy XII Auletes and on his death became co-ruler with her brother Ptolemy XIII in the spring of 51 BC. She was at the time the oldest child of Auletes, since two older sisters had died. She also had one younger sister whose name was Arsinoe IV. She was subsequently co-ruler with her brother, Ptolemy XIV. Following the deaths of her brothers she named her eldest son co-ruler as Ptolemy XV Caesarion (44–30 BC).
At the age of 18, she was left the throne on the death of her father, Ptolemy XII Auletes, in spring 51 BC, to rule jointly with her 12 year old brother, Ptolemy XIII. However, by August she was dropping his name from official documents, which flew in the face of Ptolemaic tradition that female rulers be subordinate to male co-rulers. Furthermore, it was Cleopatra's face alone that appeared on coins. Perhaps because of her independent streak a cabal of courtiers led by the eunuch Pothinus, removed Cleopatra from power — possibly in 48 BC, possibly earlier — a decree exists with Ptolemy's name alone from 51 BC. She tried to raise a rebellion around Pelusium but she was soon forced to flee Egypt. Her sister Arsinoë accompanied her. [1] In the autumn of 48, however, Ptolemy imperiled his own power by injudiciously meddling in the affairs of Rome. When Pompey, fleeing the victorious Julius Caesar, arrived in Alexandria seeking sanctuary, Ptolemy had him murdered in order to ingratiate himself with Caesar. Caesar was so repelled by this treachery that he seized the Egyptian capital and imposed himself as arbiter between the rival claims of Ptolemy and Cleopatra. (It should be noted that Pompey had been married to Caesar's daughter, who died giving birth to their son). After a short war, Ptolemy XIII was killed and Caesar restored Cleopatra to her throne, with Ptolemy XIV as new co-ruler. Caesar wintered in Egypt in 48 BC–47 BC, and Cleopatra shored up her political advantage by becoming his lover. Egypt remained independent, but three Roman legions were left to protect it. Cleopatra's winter liaison with Caesar produced a son whom they named Ptolemy Caesar (nicknamed Caesarion, little Caesar). However, Caesar refused to make the boy his heir, naming his grand-nephew Octavian instead. Cleopatra and Caesarion visited Rome between 46 BC and 44 BC and were present when Caesar was assassinated. Before or just after she returned to Egypt, Ptolemy XIV died mysteriously. Cleopatra then made Caesarion her co-regent. She may have poisoned her brother. In 42 BC, Mark Antony, one of the triumvirs who ruled Rome in the power vacuum following Caesar's death, summoned Cleopatra to meet him in Tarsus to answer questions about her loyalty. Cleopatra arrived in great state, and so charmed Antony that he chose to spend the winter of 42 BC–41 BC with her in Alexandria. During the winter, she became pregnant with twins, who were named Cleopatra Selene and Alexander Helios. Four years later, in 37 BC, Antony visited Alexandria again while on route to make war with the Parthians. He renewed his relationship with Cleopatra, and from this point on Alexandria would be his home. He may have married Cleopatra according to the Egyptian rite (a letter quoted in Suetonius suggests this), although he was at the time married to Octavia, sister of his fellow triumvir Octavian. He and Cleopatra had another child, Ptolemy Philadelphus. At the Donations of Alexandria in late 34 BC, following Antony's conquest of Armenia, Cleopatra and Caesarion were crowned co-rulers of Egypt and Cyprus; Alexander Helios was crowned ruler of Armenia, Media, and Parthia; Cleopatra Selene was crowned ruler of Cyrenaica and Libya; and Ptolemy Philadelphus was crowned ruler of Phoenicia, Syria, and Cilicia. Cleopatra also took the title of Queen of Kings. There are a number of unverifiable but famous stories about Cleopatra, of which one of the best known is that, at one of the lavish dinners she shared with Antony, she playfully bet him that she could spend ten million sesterces on a dinner. He accepted the bet. The next night, she had a conventional, unspectacular meal served; he was ridiculing this, when she ordered the second course — only a cup of strong vinegar. She then removed one of her priceless pearl earrings, dropped it into the vinegar, allowed it to dissolve, and drank the mixture. Antony's behavior was considered outrageous by the Romans, and Octavian convinced the Senate to levy war against Egypt. In 31 BC Antony's forces faced the Romans in a naval action off the coast of Actium. Cleopatra was present with a fleet of her own, but when she saw that Antony's poorly equipped and manned ships were losing to the Romans' superior vessels, she took flight. Antony abandoned the battle to follow her. Following the Battle of Actium, Octavian invaded Egypt. As he approached Alexandria, Antony's armies deserted to Octavian. Cleopatra and Antony both committed suicide, Cleopatra by using a snake to poison herself on August 12, 30 BC. Cleopatra's son by Caesar, Caesarion, was executed by Octavian. The three children of Cleopatra with Antony were spared and taken back to Rome where they were reared by Antony's wife, Octavia. It is often said that Cleopatra used an asp to kill herself. "Asp" technically refers to a variety of venomous snakes, but here, it refers to the Egyptian cobra, which was sometimes used to execute criminals. There is also a story that Cleopatra asked several of her servants to test out various forms of suicide, before choosing the method which she believed to be most effective. Other sources suggest that she experimented different forms of "suicide" on prisoners. There is also an alternate theory that suggests she was assassinated by Octavian, instead of committing suicide; but this theory does not appear to be substained by our sources. A Greek by language and culture, Cleopatra is reputed to have been the first member of her family in their 300-year reign in Egypt to have learnt the Egyptian language. The race debateThere is often a debate between Egyptologists and Afrocentric historians as to what race Cleopatra belonged to. Egyptologists say that Cleopatra was descended from the Ptolemaic dynasty, a Macedonian family, whose patriach Ptolemy I Soter was once a general for Alexander the Great. Ptolemy I was the son of Arsinoe of Macedonia by either her husband Lagus, a Macedonian nobleman, or her lover Philip II of Macedon. Egyptologists say the Ptolemaic family tree indicates that there was a great deal of interbreeding in the family, and that because Cleopatra was the first monarch to learn Egyptian, that Cleopatra was Caucasian. Ancient busts and coins of Cleopatra also appear to point to her Caucasian ancestry. Contemporary descriptions of Cleopatra describe her as being short, average build, with a hawk-nose and red-brown hair. Afrocentric historians, however, claim that ancient Egypt was a predominately black civilization and that most ancient Egyptians were black people, considering that Egypt is an African country. Such a statement is however controversial since generally modern day Egyptians can be said to reflect a mixture of European, Middle Eastern, and East African and while mummies of leaders and royalty are generally not black. Even though they acknowledge Ptolemy was white, they believe there must have been sexual liaisons between the monarchs and the people of Egypt. Since Cleopatra's mother is not known (not identified on the Ptolemaic family tree), many believe she was an Egyptian concubine. However, a version that her mother was Auletes's sister, Cleopatra V Tryphaena (it was commonplace for members of the Ptolemaic dynasty to marry their siblings) exists. Significantly, the charge of illegitimacy was never made against Cleopatra, which is surprising considering the wealth of Roman propaganda against her, which adds credence to the latter theory regarding her mother. In light of the matrilineal nature of Egyptian succession, it is unlikely that her father would have named her as his heir had she been the offspring of a concubine considering she had a legitimate sister Arsinoe IV of Egypt. Further, no Roman historian ever describes Cleopatra as black, another odd omission from the propaganda against her if it was true. And finally, earlier known mistresses to the Ptolemaic family bore Greek names, so the presumed origin of an unknown mistress should not be a native Egyptian woman, but a member of the hellenistic population of Alexandria - or other Ptolemaic strongholds in the Mediterranean. The Ptolemies were not only Egyptian kings; there was a Ptolemaic court in the Greek city of Cyrene and another on Cyprus, where Cleopatra's ancestors spent much of their time. Cleopatra in art, film, TV, and literatureCleopatra's story has fascinated scores of writers and artists through the centuries. No doubt, much of her appeal lay in her legend as a great seductress who was able to ally herself with two of the most powerful men (Caesar and Antony) of her time. Among the more famous works on her:
Films about CleopatraThe earliest Cleopatra-related motion picture was Antony and Cleopatra (1908) with Florence Lawrence as Cleopatra. The earliest film on Cleopatra as the main subject was Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, starring Helen Gardner (1912). Among the film/TV works inspired by the Queen of the Nile:
Teresa Pavlinek portrayed Cleopatra in an episode of History Bites set during the Battle of Actium. A longer discussion of Cleopatra films is at: Cleopatra (movie). Paintings of CleopatraThe most famous painting of Cleopatra is one that almost certainly no longer exists now: because the queen died in Egypt well before Augustus' triumph could be put on in Rome, in which she would have walked in chains, he commissioned a large painting of her, which was carried in his triumphal procession, and which may have represented her being poisoned by an asp. The sources for the story are Plut. Ant. 86 and App. Civ. II.102, although the latter may well refer to a statue, and Cass. Dio LI.21.3 reports that the "image" was of gold, and thus not a painting at all. The purported painting was seen and engraved in the early 19th century: it was in a private collection near Sorrento. Since then, this painting is said to have formed part of a collection in Cortona, but there no longer appears to be any trace of it; its quiet disappearance is almost certainly due to its being a fake. For comprehensive details on the entire question, see the external links at the end of this article. Otherwise, Cleopatra and her death have inspired hundreds of paintings from the Renaissance to our own time, none of them of any historical value of course; the subject appealing in particular to French academic painters. A very partial chronological list follows:
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