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Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator 69-30
BC
Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator was born
69 B.C. and killed herself on August 30, 30 B.C.
She inspired countless playwrights and
artists because she masterfully blended love with politics. The epitome of a
femme fatale, Cleopatra became
Julius Caesar's lover and
Mark Antony's wife.
She spoke several languages and was said
to have been the only one in her household who spoke Egyptian. Cleopatra
was also complimented for her pleasant voice. She had - you got the
idea by now - immense charisma, was very intelligent, knew how to play
her charm and could be captivating, enchanting, and extremely hard to resist.
When her father, King Ptolemy XII
Auletes, died in 51 B.C., she first ruled with her brother
Ptolemy XIII
from 51 - 47 B.C. After he was killed in the Alexandrian War,
Cleopatra co-ruled with her other brother, Ptolemy XIV, from
47 - 44 B.C.
After a trip to Rome with his sister
Cleopatra, Ptolemy XIV
suddenly died. Evil tongues suggest that he died at his sister's
command in order to make way for Cleopatra's son
Ptolemy XV
Caesar, with whom she co-ruled 44 - 30 B.C.
Cleo's Folks
Cleopatra's family wasn't really Egyptian. She was a descendant of
the Macedonian Ptolemy, a general in the army of
Alexander the Great. Ptolemy
ruled Egypt 250 years before Cleopatra's birth.
As mentioned, Cleopatra's father was
King
Ptolemy XII Auletes, her mother is not known. Some are of the
opinion that her mother was Cleopatra V, the wife and sister of
Ptolemy XII.
Cleopatra had five
siblings and four children:
One son, Caesarion or Ptolemy XV, by
Julius Caesar, and three children by Mark Antony:
Alexander
Helios, Cleopatra Selene and
Ptolemy Philadelphus.
Meeting Julius
Julius Caesar was in pursuit of
Pompey, his Roman opponent, who fled
to Egypt. Cleopatra reflected on Egypt's future and decided that it
would benefit her country if she were to befriend the Roman world
power.
Meeting Mark
Cleopatra was in Rome, accompanied by her brother Ptolemy XIII, when
Julius Caesar was murdered in 44 B.C. The siblings retreated to
Egypt. Soon after, Roman General Mark Antony ordered Cleopatra to
meet him in Tarsus to explain the rumor that she supported Roman
enemies.
Cleopatra managed not only to vindicate herself but also to make a
lasting impression on the general. Antony, completely taken by
Cleopatra and by now suffering from a hormone overdose, abandoned his previous political plans and sailed back to
Alexandria with her.
Cleopatra's Death
Cleopatra always wanted to secure and protect Egypt, and to see her
kingdom, if possible, live up to its former glory days. As it turned
out, both of the men to whom she looked for help eventually failed
her. She made one last effort to get on good terms with
Octavian but
he rejected her outright.
Antony and Cleopatra both committed suicide. He was 52 at the time,
and she was 39. According to their wishes, they were buried
together. The location of their tomb is unknown.
Famous Cleopatra
Quote by Blaise Pascal
This is the English translation from French
philosopher Blaise Pascal's
Pensées:
Vanity.
How wonderful
it is that a thing so evident as the vanity
of the world is so little known, that it is
a strange and surprising thing to say that
it is foolish to seek greatness!
He who will
know fully the vanity of man has only to
consider the causes and effects of love. The
cause is a je ne sais quoi and the
effects are dreadful. This je ne sais
quoi, so small an object that we cannot
recognize it, agitates a whole country,
princes, armies, the entire world.
Cleopatra's
nose: had it been shorter, the whole aspect
of the world
would have been altered.
Vanity.
The cause and
the effects of love: Cleopatra.
He who does
not see the vanity of the world is himself
very vain. Indeed who do not see it but
youths who are absorbed in fame, diversion,
and the thought of the future? But take away
diversion, and you will see them dried up
with weariness. They feel then their
nothingness without knowing it; for it is
indeed to be unhappy to be in insufferable
sadness as soon as we are reduced to
thinking of self, and have no diversion.
Cleopatra Trivia
Here you will find
Cleopatra's timeline.
See more under
Ancient
Egyptians.
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