The Life and Death of Cleopatra
Everyone wonders how Cleopatra gained control of Egypt and what she did while she reigned. Cleopatra ruled during the Ptolemaic Dynasty (BBC). The Ptolemaic rule ended with the death of this impressive woman. In Cleopatra’s lifetime she inherited the throne of Egypt; fell in love with two influential Romans, just to kill herself to escape punishment by Octavian.
Cleopatra’s father, King Auteles’, also known as Ptolemy XII or “The Piper” because he could play the flute. Cleopatra’s mother continues to be a mystery. They think she’s Auletes’ sister Cleopatra V Tryphaina (Nardo). They’re more Greek rather than Egyptian ancestry. While Auletes’ still in power he made the silver coin value one third lower than its original worth. This imposed unfair new taxes. Rebellion soon started by the time Cleopatra turned 10. Auletes’ in his attempt to strengthen his position asked the ruler of Rome, Julius Caesar, to declare Egypt an ally.
With this lofty title he thought it would make people fear him more. Caesar agreed but he demanded large amounts of bribes. After he agreed to give Caesar the money, Egypt’s finances got worse, making himself even more unpopular with his people (Nardo). In Auletes’ attempt to try and fix his problem, he went to Rome to seek more help from Caesar. At this time, his throne became the focus to his first born daughter.
Cleopatra Tryphaina, the King’s first born seized the Egyptian throne. A few followers of the King back in Egypt, killed the usurper (Nardo). King Auletes’ other daughter, Berenice, seized the throne next. To get the throne back required a large price for a Roman nobleman to seize it. By the time Auletes’ gained power again, he died, leaving the t...
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...t what she wanted. She always made the most of what she had (“Queen Cleopatra VII-Last Pharaoh of Egypt”). Cleopatra was a born leader and very ambitious. Greek historian Dio Cassius wrote: “Through her own unaided genius she captivated the two greatest Romans of her time, and because of the third, she destroyed herself” (Nardo).
Works Cited
BBC. "Cleopatra." N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Mar. 2014.
Naden, Corinne J., and Rose Blue. Cleopatra. Philadelphia, PA: Chelsea House, 2001. Print.
Nardo, Don. Cleopatra, Egypt's Last Pharaoh. San Diego, CA: Lucent, 2005. Print.
Nardo, Don. Cleopatra. San Diego, CA: Lucent, 1994. Print.
"Queen Cleopatra VII - Last Pharaoh of Egypt." About.com Ancient / Classical History. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.
"Tour Egypt :: Cleopatra: The Woman Behind the Name." Cleopatra: The Woman Behind the Name. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2014
Changing social habits of a contemporary society have seen Cleopatra depicted in many different ways. Whilst few artefacts remain of the true image of Cleopatra, we see from her portrait on the coins (Fear, 2008, p, 21 Fig 1.4) that despite being no legendary beauty, she had the power to captivate two of the greatest Romans of her time. Cleopatra consummated her union with Julius Caesar, which strengthened her grip on the throne, following his assassination; she formed alliance with Mark Antony, in opposition to Octavian, a coalition that would lead to her downfall as both Antony and Cleopatra’s combined forces would be defeated against Octavian in the battle of Actium in 31 BCE. (Fear, 2008, p.7)
Cleopatra VII or mainly known as Cleopatra was the last active pharaoh of Ancient Egypt. She was a member ...
It was not long before Caesar was assassinated and his close friend and a powerful general Mark Antony denounced the conspirators. Not long after Caesar’s death, Antony and Cleopatra fell in love and ruled Rome and Egypt together. Together, they had formed an alliance strong enough to take down the most powerful force in the world at the time, Rome. The fall of Antony and Cleopatra began when they were defeated at Actium in Greece against Octavian’s Roman army. Towards the end of the book, the author went into details on the true love that existed between Antony and Cleopatra.
Despite Egypt’s provincial annexation to Rome after her death, Cleopatra managed to keep the Romans at bay for nearly twenty-two years. Unfortunately, much of her achievements have been disparaged and attributed to the utilization of her sexuality. To add, her image as a competent female ruler has been further distorted by the media and literature alike. Much of this misrepresentation can be accredited to the scarcity of reliable and unbiased accounts about her life. The Romans were afraid of Cleopatra’s power and the alliances she created with their generals. Therefore, accounts of her life in Roman scripture are not particularly in her favor.
Amy Crawford the author of the article, “Who is Cleopatra?” supports this opinion with several examples from primary and secondary sources to shed light on the type of political leader she was and the motivations behind her actions. She explains that Cleopatra was a well-educated, clever, diplomat, who had deep devotion to her patriotism. Cleopatra made the effort to learn Egyptian, unlike her predecessors, among several other languages. She succeeded in ruthless power struggles with her siblings and created military alliances to maintain Egypt’s independence. Cleopatra sustained a vast,
Cleopatra family was a part of the Ptolemaic dynasty, a Greek family of Macedonian origin who ruled Egypt after the death of Alexander the Great. Cleopatra originally ruled with her father Ptolemy XII. She later had to rule with her brothers, Ptolemy XIII and Ptolemy XIV to whom she had to marry as part of her Egyptian family custom. Her marriage with her brother, Ptolemy XIV, ended quickly after he died from unknown sources. She had, even more, problems with her second marriage to brother, Ptolemy XIII. He had worked
Stacy Schiff author of Cleopatra strives through her book to denounce all historical myths surrounding Cleopatra. With the rigor of a true historian she is able to distinguish historical veracity from historical myth surrounding the queen from antiquity. The author highlights Cleopatra’s role as a powerful woman and in particular how she attempts to manage the various political or economic predicaments she faced. Stacy Schiff gives us a story that is masterfully reconstructed, allowing the reader insight into the historical context of the time- shedding new light on a woman whose greatest fault was not being a man.
Cleopatra is most often remembered as the lover of two Roman consuls, Julius Caesar and Mark Antony, thereby forever connecting the Egyptian queen to the history of Rome. The stories of her relationships with the two men do not always paint a flattering picture of Cleopatra, as her reported promiscuity and presumption give her a colorful reputation. Cleopatra is also sometimes seen as a misunderstood woman, someone who was never given a fair opportunity to be accepted as the wife of Marc Antony nor the mother of Caesar's child. Some historians and authors use the issue of Cleopatra's race as a reason that she was ostracized from Roman society, saying that the Romans were prejudiced against Egyptians, and despite Cleopatra's Greek background, would never accept her as a suitable mate for a Roman consul. This theory, however, is far outweighed by the numerous justifications the Roman people had for their distaste of Cleoaptra. It is not surprising that Cleopatra never found acceptance in Rome, as she offered nothing to the relationship between Egypt and Rome, she stood for everything they were against, and little by little, she succeeded in destroying parts of the society that the Roman people had worked to build.
Cleopatra was immediately established from the second she burst out of the womb as a member of the royal family of the Ptolemy's; the family which had controlled the Egyptian throne since the rule of Ptolemy I which began in 323 BC. She was born the daughter of Ptolemy XII, King of Egypt, in 69 BC, her full name being Cleopatra VII, or "Thea Philopator" in Greek: a name, which literally translates to "a goddess loving her father." She did most definitely loved her father, so dearly, in fact, that he granted the throne to Cleopatra upon his death in 51 BC. From the moment she set foot on the throne, co-ruling Egypt with her brother and obligatory husband Ptolemy XIII, she was intent upon coercing her, and only her, influence upon all of Egypt. More specifically, she wished to possess a less influential bridegroom so that she could impose more of her ideas and policies upon Egypt. It is for this reason that Cleopatra initiated one of the most notorious and controversial relationships of all time with one of the most prominent figures in history; Julius Caesar. Caesar fell in love with Cleopatra from the moment he saw her. Even though she was not known to be exceptionally beautiful, it is derived from many accounts that she was the definition of a wicked temptress, the defining characteristic that obviously won Caesar's heart. Naturally, Caesar aided Cleopatra after Ptolemy XIII's advisors had driven her from the throne, and declared war upon Ptolemy XIII. Caesar and Cleopatra were victorious and Cleopatra returned safely to the throne. Shortly after the coup, Cleopatra was noticeably pregnant. The product of this pregnancy was a son, named Caesarion, who is widely believed to belong to Caesar.
Once in Syria and situated Cleopatra began constructing an army. She knew that an army alone wouldn’t get her power back. Cleopatra would need some outside help too to get the job done. She needed a powerful ally and Julius Caesar was just that person. She reached out many times to seek Julius Caesar’s support. After many failed attempts at getting his support he finally came through and agreed to help Cleopatra restore her po...
In this research paper I will be writing about Cleopatra VII. Her early life, family and her relationships’. Cleopatra VII was born around 69 BC and was the daughter of Ptolemy XII Auletes and Cleopatra V of Egypt. Her parents got married in the year 79 BC. Her father Ptolemy XII Auletes was the king of Egypt during 80-58 B.C. and 55-51 B.C. He was born in 117 BC and was also known as the “Piper” because he played the flute. He died in 51 BC, Alexandria, Egypt from being exiled. Her mother Cleopatra V was the queen of Egypt, born in 95 BC. She vanished around the time of Cleopatra’s birth in 69 BC then died in 57 BC. Some people believe she was either murdered or that she may have died while giving birth. (“Cleopatras Family”)
"The Unsolved Death of Cleopatra." Unearthing Ancient Secrets. Prod. Wyatt Channell. Science. SCI. 9 Mar. 2009. Television.
A. A. From Alexander to Cleopatra: The Hellenistic World. New York: Michael Grant Publications Ltd, 1982. Jones, Prudence J. Cleopatra: The Last Pharaoh. London: Haus, 2006.
(Cicarma,2017) With all the planning to negotiation the tactics of both were lacking and defeat. When all things are all well in the eyes that seem to doom Cleopatra puts herself in seat of death of a cobra granted that this was a myth or not. Plutarch says that those who believed in the asp theory that the snake was smuggled in to her bowl of figs. (Baldwin, 1964, p 182: 2) And still no one knows if it was Cleopatra killed Antony for her own free will. It was the power that struck her and her own risk to not anyone have her Antony right beside her. This goes to that this fascinated to us about Cleopatra show us in ways as a woman she did her best to reign and what she expected for the last Pharaoh to do what's right mind of her
"When she first met Mark Antony she purs'd up his heart upon the river. of Cycnus", in other words she dominated him from that point on. Antony went to Egypt with his only political purpose, Rome. Over the course of time however, Cleopatra's engineering, Antony lost his. purpose.