Cleopatra was Cleopatra VII, born 69BC.
Cleopatra was perhaps one of the most complicated,
Ironically, though Cleopatra saw Egypt as her Empire
Julius Caesar was much taken with Cleopatra...her youth,
The next day, Brother-husband PtolemyXIII,
Ptolemy was furious of course,and for six months, he and
It was not long after this that Cleopatra gave birth
Caesar adored Cleopatra, showered her with gifts,
~WHAT HAPPENED NEXT~
Caesar's assassination caused civil war and unrest
Mark Anthony summoned Cleopatra to see him in 42BC.
She ate with Mark Anthony, played with him,
Meanwhile, for political reasons, Mark Anthony
In Rome, people were enraged.
Cleopatra and Mark Anthony made Caesarion
In 33BC, an angry Octavian declared war on Egypt.
During these days, Cleopatra had a mausoleum built
It did not take Octavian long to capture Cleopatra.
Cleopatra was 39 years old when she died.
It is believed she was killed by an asp that she
Cleopatra, the last Pharaoh, was indeed an unusual woman.
~POSTSCRIPT~
Cleopatra's children were scattered.
In 1998, it is thought that her palace has been
Written by SISTERwho May 23, 1999.
Many interesting facts had to be left out
Hereon, she will be called only Cleopatra.
powerful women who has ever lived.
For her time she was especially unique.
The Romans thought she was the downfall of two
of their leaders, Julius Caesar and Mark Anthony.
She seemed to have cared deeply for Julius Caesar,
and no doubt, loved Mark Anthony deeply.
For this love, Rome hated her!
and gave much of the 39 years she lived
toward trying to make Egypt a secure kingdom.
It was to this end she seduced Julius Caesar...
by rolling herself up in a rug and having the rug
taken to his bedroom.
Voila! She presented herself!
charm, her intelligence (she spoke 9 languages).
She was much learned in Astromy and Math.
Caesar was impressed with this nineteen year old girl.
Caesar was 52 years old,
Cleopatra not his first or only mistress.
But Plutarch wrote that Cleopatra was very charming,
with a voice like a 'many-stringed instrument.'
who also had to been summoned to the great Caesar,
discovered Caesar and Cleopatra together.
He fled, knowing he had been outsmarted by his sister.
his forces led by Pothinus, struggled to keep Alexandria.
But finally, Pothinus was killed in battle, and
PtolemyXIII, drowned in the Nile River.
Alexandria belonged now to Cleopatra.
She became Egypt's Queen.
to Caesarion, "Little Caesar."
Cleopatra wanted her power and Egypt safe.
In 46BC, she made a grand entrance into Rome
and lived in one of
Caesar's homes for almost 2 years.
Her hope was that Caesar would name Caesarion his heir,
because Caesar had no other sons.
Cleopatra was very politically ambitious.
Caesarion strongly resembled Caesar,
and Caesar did claim him as his son, but not his heir.
erectd a statue of her in the temple of Venus Genetrix.
The Romans were scandalized...they hated Cleopatra,
and Caesar's public affair with her.
Rome was in unrest, very angry and unhappy with Caesar,
On March 15, 44BC, Caesar was stabbed to death.
Frightened, Cleopatra fled to Egypt,
making her son, Caesarion, co-regent of Egypt.
in Rome...the Roman Empire finally became ruled by:
Octavian,Caesar's great-nephew,and made heir in C's will,
Marcus Lepidus; and
Mark Anthony, grand soldier and old friend of Julius Caesar.
(Mark Anthony was known as Marcus Antonius)
He thought she had helped his enemies.
She came in lavish style...dresed as Venus.
She reclined under a gold canopy...
fanned by little boys dressed in cupid costumes.
Cleopatra wined and dined Mark Anthony that night
on her bardge...
and stole his heart forever.
hunted with him...rolled dice with him...
He found her utterly charming for many months.
Only upon great insistance from Octavian, did
Mark Anthony leave Clepatra and return to Rome,
and he left reluctantly.
Six months later, Cleopatra had twins,
Cleopatra Selene and Alexander Helios.
married Octavia, Octavian's half-sister.
(They had three children).
By 37 BC, Mark Anthony was on his way to invade Parthia.
That campaign over, he went immediately to Cleopatra,
made Alexandria his home,
and married her in 36 BC.
Cleopatra had another son by Mark Anthony,
Ptolemy Philadelphus.
They deeply resented Mark Anthony's bigamy,
though Octavia remained loyal to him.
Further, they resented the lands Anthony
distributed to Cleopatra's children...
from the English channel to India,
many lands not even captured yet.
Of course, Octavian encouraged Rome against Anthony.
"King of Kings." They made
Alexander Helios was made King of Armenia;
Cleopatra Selene was made Queen of Cyrenaica and Crete;
Ptolemy Philadelphus was made King of Syria.
Cleopatra became "Queen of Kings."
In 31 BC, the great sea battle of Actium was fought.
As Mark Anthony began to lose the battle,
Cleopatra with her 60 ships left Actium...
Anthony abandoned his men and followed Cleopatra.
This act caused his men to not only be defeated, but
they joined Octavian's army.
Romans thought Mark Anthony now enslaved by
Cleopatra's charms.
It is written that for three days, Mark Anthony
sat in Cleopatra's ship and did not speak.
He brooded.
Upon reaching Alexandria, he moved into solitary quarters.
Meanwhile, Cleopatra tried to get her army and navy ready
to fight Octavian, for she knew he was coming.
She wrote and asked him to leave them alone,
but Octavian was not about to do that.
Meanwhile, Mark Anthony returned to Cleopatra's side.
where she stored all her gold and silver,
her pearls, emeralds, rubies, ivory,
many treasures.
As well, she experimented with poisons.
Cleopatra was an expert with cosmetics too,
even wrote a book about them.
She colored the palms of her hands and
the soles of her feet with henna.
She created special skin creams that are still a
mystery today.
In 30 BC, Octavian reached Alexandria.
Mark Anthony saw his fleet salute and join the Romans!
His infantry was quickly defeated too.
He thought Cleopatra had double-crossed him,
so she hid in her mausoleum.
He was told she was dead. Believing that,
he fell on his sword, attempting to kill himself.
Servents took him to Cleopatra when she feared his dying.
Mark Anthony died in Cleopatra's arms in the mausoleum.
She begged for her children and burial for Mark Anthony.
Octavian allowed her to bury her beloved Anthony,
and the funeral was a splendid, royal one.
Cleopatra did not want to be dragged through the streets
of Rome as her sister Arsinoe had been.
With Octavian's permission, she visited Mark Anthony's tomb.
In the masoleum, Cleopatra bathed and feasted.
She was found dead shortly after this,
lying on her golden bed, with her maid Iras
dying at her feet.
had smuggled into the mausoleum in a fig basket.
As she had requested of Octavian, she was buried
beside Mark Anthony.
From the beginning she wanted a kingdom, and power.
Her dream was of an enormous Egyptian Empire over which
she and her children ruled forever.
Cleopatra was only 15 years old when she began her rule,
nineteen years old when she met Julius Caesar.
She was 29 when she first had Mark Anthony on her barge
for dinner. Military campaigns kept them apart for 3 years,
but Cleopatra wheeled and dealed and loved Mark Anthony
for almost seven years.
Caesarion was strangled by his tutor.
It is believed both Alexander Helios and
Ptolemy Philadelphus were killed...they were
never heard of.
Cleopatra Selene married King Juba II of Maurentania.
They had two children, Ptolemy and Drusilla.
Egypt was never to have a Pharaoh again.
discovered. Perhaps one day, tourists will be able
to walk there in underwater tunnels.
Many treasures have already been found.
Cleopatra continues to fascinate us.
of this report. Please read more about
this period of history.
**Ptolemy is pronounced 'Tol-uh-me'
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