cleobio

Cleopatra (69-30 BC)

    Cleopatra, or more precisely, Cleopatra VII, was the daughter of Ptolemy XII Auletes, king of Egypt. When her father died in 51BC Cleopatra, 17 years old, and her brother Ptolemy XIII, 12 years old, became the new rulers of Egypt with the provision that they had to marry each other. In the third year of their rule Ptolemy, encouraged by his advisers, took control of the government and drove Cleopatra into exile. She promptly gathered an army in Syria but was unable to defeat her brother until the arrival at Alexandria of Julius Caesar, who became her lover and gave her help against her brother. It wasn't easy, but Cleopatra's army and Julius Caesar Roman soldiers ultimately triumphed, and in 47BC Ptolemy XIII was killed. Caesar proclaimed Cleopatra queen of Egypt.
    Cleopatra was then forced by tradition to marry her younger brother, Ptolemy XIV, then about 11 years old. Cleopatra then went to Rome, where she lived as Caesar's mistress. She gave birth to a son, Caesarion; it is believed that Caesar was his father. After Caesar's assassination in 44BC, Cleopatra is said to have poisoned Ptolemy XIV. She then returned to Egypt and made Caesarion her co-ruler. Because Cleopatra hesitated to take sides in the civil war following Caesar's death, Mark Antony ordered her to meet him to explain her conduct. He fell in love with her and returned with her to Egypt. After living with her for some time, Antony had to return to Rome. The "Second Triumvirate" (which was the rule of Rome by the 3 men Octavian, Mark Antony and Lepidus) needed to be sure of each man's loyalty. Mark Antony would show his loyalty by marrying Octavian's sister, Octavia. After Antony left Cleopatra delivered twins. In 36BC Antony went to the East as commander of an expedition against the Parthians (modern Iraq). He sent for Cleopatra, who joined him at Antioch (Syria). Though still married to Octavia, Antony married Cleopatra. A third child was born. In 34BC, after a successful campaign against the Parthians, he celebrated his triumph at Alexandria where he announced his plan to have Cleopatra rule a portion of the Roman Empire under Antony's control . He continued to live in Egypt. In 32BC, fearing that Rome was being given away to Cleopatra, Octavian declared war against Cleopatra and Antony. Antony divorced Octavia.
    Cleopatra insisted on taking part in the war. At the naval battle at Actium in Greece in 31BC, believing Antony was about to lose the battle, she withdrew her ships from action, and she and Antony went back to Alexandria. As Octavian got nearer to Egypt with his armies, Antony received a false report of the death of Cleopatra; he committed suicide. Hearing that Octavian intended to display her in his triumph at Rome, Cleopatra committed suicide too. Though guarded by the Romans, she asked for a bowl of fruit (figs) in which a poisonous snake had been hidden, placed her hand in the basket, and was bitten. Caesarion, the last member of the Ptolemy dynasty, went into hiding, but was found a few years later and was put to death by Octavian. The last of the pharoahs dead, Egypt then became a Roman province.
    Cleopatra's life has been the subject of many stories, the most famous of which are the plays Antony and Cleopatra by Shakespeare, All for Love by the English dramatist John Dryden, and Caesar and Cleopatra by the British playwright George Bernard Shaw.