Born: 13 January 69 BCE.
Died: 12 August 30 BCE.
Cleopatra is undoubtedly one of the most famous women in all of history. Although most famous for her love affairs with Julius Caesar and Mark Antony, she was also a very intelligent woman and a shrewd politician who was popular with her Egyptian subjects. According to Plutarch, it was her charm, intelligence, and sweet voice rather than her physical beauty that made Caesar and Antony fall in love with her. Indeed, her tragic demise has inspired many great works of art, ranging from Shakespearean drama to Hollywood films.
Historical Background
Cleopatra VII was born in 69 BCE to parents Ptolemy XII and Cleopatra V, both members of the Ptolemaic dynasty, which had ruled Egypt since 305 BCE. Educated in Alexandria, Cleopatra became co-ruler with her brother, Ptolemy XIII, in 51 BCE after the death of their father. In 48 BCE, she fought a civil war with Ptolemy XIII and subsequently allied herself with Julius Caesar, with whom she had a son named Caesarion on 23 June 47 BCE. Upon being restored to the throne of Egypt, Cleopatra followed Caesar to Rome in 45 BCE but returned to Egypt after his murder the following year. In 41 BCE, Cleopatra met Mark Antony at Tarsus and began a love affair which resulted in the birth of two children, Alexander Helios and Cleopatra Selene, on 25 December 40 BCE. The couple eventually married in 37 BCE, and while Antony conducted military campaigns against the Parthians and Armenians, she had her fourth child, Ptolemy Philadelphus, in 36 BCE. In 32 BCE, Octavian declared war on the couple and defeated their navy at the Battle of Actium on 2 September 31 BCE. The doomed pair escaped Actium for one last winter of love, only to commit suicide in August 30 BCE: Antony by his sword, and Cleopatra by the bite of a snake. She was 39 years old.
Historical Influences
Cleopatra was a very intelligent woman who could not only speak nine different languages (including Hebrew, Arabic and Egyptian) but also wrote books about make-up, gynecology, and alchemy. Indeed, she portrayed herself as the living embodiment of the Egyptian Goddess Isis, who was “the Universal Goddess, the great healer and keeper of the sacred alchemical mysteries” (Rose, 2002, p.244). In addition, there is evidence that she believed herself to be the harbinger of a new Golden Age where “the reign of law and justice, and the long feud of East and West – from Troy to Xerxes, from Alexander to Rome – should be finally ended in reconciliation and concord” (Tarn, 1932, p.148). This prophecy stemmed from the Sibylline Oracles, which stated that either a Roman or a monarch from the East would give birth to a child who would usher in a universal kingdom of peace. In Cleopatra’s case, this would refer to Caesarion or Alexander Helios, but I may cover this in a future book.
Key Battle
Cleopatra’s signature battle was the Battle of Actium (31 BCE). It was the decisive naval battle of the Roman Civil Wars, and Cleopatra herself commanded 60 Egyptian galleys in reserve to support her Roman husband, Mark Antony. When Octavian and Agrippa attempted to outflank and envelop Antony’s line, a gap opened in the centre, which Cleopatra exploited by hoisting her sails and sailing through the line back to Egypt. Upon seeing Cleopatra’s flight, Antony disengaged from the battle with 20 warships and chased after her, abandoning his navy and army to their fate.
Historical Significance
The story of Cleopatra’s life has fascinated people throughout history. Although she failed to bring about a new Golden Age of peace and harmony, she has been immortalised as the great lover of Mark Antony, with their love depicted in many works of art, from William Shakespeare's play Antony and Cleopatra to the 1963 film Cleopatra starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. If she and Antony had emerged victorious at Actium, then an empire less narrowly Roman might have evolved. Nevertheless, their daughter, Cleopatra Selene, survived and was married to Juba II of Mauretania in 25 BCE, turning their capital city into a bastion of Ptolemaic culture. The couple had a son named Ptolemy, who ruled Mauretania between 23 CE and 40 CE, while the Queen of Palmyra, Zenobia, would claim descent from Cleopatra in the third century CE.
Bibliography
Alma-Tadema, Lawrence. “The Meeting of Antony and Cleopatra.” Wikimedia Commons. Last revised July 23, 2012. www.commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sir_Lawrence_Alma-Tadema_-_The_Meeting_of_Antony_and_Cleopatra.jpg
Plutarch. Life of Antony. Translated by Bernadotte Perrin. Cambridge, Loeb Classical Library, 1920.
Rodgers, Nigel. The History and Conquests of Ancient Rome. London, Hermes House, 2007.
Rose, Sharron. The Path of the Priestess: A Guidebook for Awakening the Divine Feminine. Rochester, Inner Traditions, 2002.
Simpson, Margaret. Cleopatra and Her Asp. London, Scholastic, 2000.
Tarn, W.W. “Alexander Helios and the Golden Age.” The Journal of Roman Studies 22 (1932): 135–60. https://doi.org/10.2307/296819.