Cleopatra VII

Tessa Holz
How She Was Remembered
Cleopatra is thought of as being one of
the most beautiful women in history

This is based off of the Roman

writings, which depict her as someone
who ruled by seduction, and had no
real intelligence

Liz Taylor as Cleopatra in the 1963 film, Cleopatra

The Reality
Cleopatra was not as lovely as she is
remembered, as is evidenced by this coin

Her real power was her charm and

intelligence

Ancient Egyptian coin depicting Cleopatra

Early life
Born in 69 B.C. to the Pharaoh Ptolemy XII (Auletes) and Cleopatra V Tryphaena

In 51 B.C., Auletes died of natural causes

Cleopatra and her brother, Ptolemy XIII ascended the throne

In 49 B.C., Ptolemy betrayed Cleopatra, moving Egypts forces against her, and
forcing her to flee to Syria

While there, she raised an army of mercenaries, and returned a year later to
challenge her brothers rule
Caesar and Cleopatra
While she was away, Ptolemy invited Julius Caesar to stay in Alexandria (Egypt
was a subservient ally of Rome)
Cleopatra smuggled herself into the palace where Caesar was staying and
begged for his help to regain her throne
Caesar and Cleopatra continued
Caesar agreed to provide troops for her, and, using both his troops and her
mercenaries, she challenged Ptolemys troops
During the war that followed, Ptolemy XII was drowned in the Nile
The throne was then returned to Cleopatra, though she was forced to marry her
last remaining brother (Ptolemy XIV), due to Egyptian custom
Despite this, Cleopatra developed a relationship with Caesar
Around 47 B.C., she gave birth to Ptolemy Caesar (Caesarion)
In 44 B.C., Caesar was assassinated, leaving Cleopatra out a powerful ally
To cement her position as Pharaoh and ensure that Caesarion inherited it,
Cleopatra had her brother (Ptolemy XIV), and her younger sister (Arsinoe) killed
If she hadnt killed them, they may have killed her
Antony and Cleopatra
Following Caesars assassination,
Cleopatra sent troops to Rome to
support his allies (Antony and Octavian)
With the help of Egypt, Caesars allies
won Rome back from Brutus and Cassius
(Caesars assassins)
Marc Antony invited Cleopatra to Rome,
to formally thank her for her assistance
During this time, he ended up falling in
love with her
Antony and Cleopatra continued
Cleopatra returned to Egypt in 41 B.C., with Antony following not long after
In 40 B.C., shortly after Antony went back to Rome, Cleopatra gave birth to twins,
Alexander Helios and Cleopatra Selene
In 37 B.C., Antony returned to Cleopatra, to negotiate getting funds for Romes
attempt to take Parthia. In exchange, he returned much of Egypts eastern empire
from Roman rule
During this time, they became lovers again, and in 36 B.C., she gave birth to
another son, Ptolemy Philadelphos
After being defeated in Partha, Antony returned to Egypt
The Defeat of Cleopatra
While in Egypt, Antony declared Caesarion as Caesars true heir, thereby
threatening Octavian, whose claim to power was that was that he was Caesars
grandnephew and adopted son
Antony also granted Roman land to each of his children to Cleopatra
Octavian was outraged, and accused Antony of being a traitor
In 32 B.C., the Roman senate stripped Antony of all his titles, and declared war on
Cleopatra
The Defeat of Cleopatra continued
The Roman army quickly defeated the troops of Antony and Cleopatra, and
Cleopatra went into hiding in her royal retreat
Antony heard a rumor of Cleopatras death, and fell on his sword
He was carried to the Queens retreat, and died in Cleopatras arms
In her grief over Antonys death, and in
order to avoid being captured by the
Romans, Cleopatra locked herself and her
two most trusted servants into her
chamber, and committed suicide
The means of her suicide are still unclear,
but the prevailing legend is that she
allowed an Egyptian asp to bite her
 The Rule of Cleopatra
Based on the remaining records of her rule, Cleopatra
was very popular among the Egyptian people
She came from an ethnically Greek family, and
precedents had always followed Greek custom, most
not even bothering to learn the Egyptian language
Cleopatra, however, embraced the Egyptian culture
She learned the language, and commissioned many
portraits of herself in traditional Egyptian style
She also identified herself highly with Isis, the
Egyptian goddess of magic
In one papyrus dated to 35 B.C., she is referred to as
Philopatris, or She who loves her country.