The death of Cleopatra biography. Legends about the life, love and death of the great Cleopatra

Queen Cleopatra VII Philopator - the last ruler of Hellenistic Egypt.

She belonged to the Ptolemaic dynasty and lived in 69-30 BC.

Cleopatra is considered the last Egyptian pharaoh, although this is not entirely correct. The queen became famous for her beauty, which was considered unearthly.

According to the legends spread by Greek and Roman authors, she was so beautiful that many men were willing to give their lives in just one night with her. The dramatic love of Cleopatra and the Roman commander Mark Antony and Julius Caesar is known. She had children from both.

However, the unearthly beauty of Cleopatra did not save Egypt from losing independence. The country was conquered by Rome. Later ancient authors describe Cleopatra most often in a negative way.

Apparently, the ancient authors denigrated the image of the queen to please Octavian, the conqueror of Egypt, who considered her a dangerous opponent of Rome, moreover, "spoiled" Mark Antony. Perhaps Octavian was infuriated by the pride of the queen, who committed suicide so as not to become his prisoner.

General information

Cleopatra (69 - 30 BC) was the daughter of Ptolemy XII and the sister of Ptolemies XIII and XIV. Most likely, she was born from a concubine, since only Berenice was the legitimate daughter of Ptolemy. At first, Cleopatra reigned with her brothers as co-rulers, but soon gained full power, getting rid of the second co-ruler-brother - Ptolemy XIV.

There is very little information about the queen's childhood and youth. It is known that in 58-55 there was a turmoil in Egypt, as a result of which her father was overthrown and expelled from the country. Berenice became the new ruler. But not for long - the father, relying on the help of the Romans, returned and again took the throne.

He launched a large-scale repression against his enemies, including killing own daughter Berenice. These dramatic events certainly influenced the young Cleopatra, teaching her to be strong, domineering and ruthless. Egypt remained an independent country, but henceforth existed under a Roman protectorate.

Unusual is the fact that Cleopatra had a good education. At that time, the Greeks, even in royal families, did not care about the upbringing and education of women. In addition to this, the queen had a natural mind and ingenuity and could properly dispose of her education.

Egyptian queen Cleopatra photo

In addition to her native Greek, she spoke many languages ​​- Egyptian, Aramaic, Hebrew, Ethiopian, Berber, Persian and Latin. There are many images of the queen, but almost all of them idealize her appearance. However, there are several statues and portraits on coins that show her apparently realistic features - wavy hair, large eyes, a prominent chin and aquiline nose; all these traits were hereditary in the Ptolemaic family.

Meeting with Caesar

When his father died, Cleopatra was to take the throne. However, according to the custom adopted by the Ptolemies, a woman could not reign on her own. Therefore, she had to enter into a formal marriage with her brother Ptolemy XIII, who was then only nine years old. At first, the quite adult girl ruled herself, but the boy quickly grew up and, relying on the courtiers, achieved primacy in matters of power.

Then Cleopatra fled to Syria and gathered an army there. She moved to Egypt, but her brother was waiting for her at the border with his army. The situation became critical, but "something" happened. Gnaeus Pompey, the great Roman senator, arrived in Egypt. He was hiding from Caesar, who seized all power in Rome. Ptolemy ordered the senator to be killed, which was done. So he hoped to earn the favor of the Roman dictator.

However, he acted differently. He ordered to solemnly bury his political opponent, and demanded from Ptolemy XIII to return the debts accumulated by his father. On account of this, he could conquer Egypt, but he did not do this and decided to rely on Cleopatra, who would become a puppet.

Caesar called Cleopatra to his place in Alexandria. It was not easy for her to get there - her brother's troops stood in front of the city. She was helped by her lover Apollodorus, who secretly smuggled her in a boat, and then carried her to the palace - but not in a carpet, as is commonly believed, but in a bed bag. The dictator was immediately captivated by the beautiful queen. Soon they entered into an actual marriage, despite the fact that formally Cleopatra was married to her second young brother.

Ptolemy, believing that he had been betrayed, raised an uprising, but it was put down by Caesar. After defeating the rebels, Caesar and Cleopatra held lavish festivities in the Egyptian capital.

Under the auspices of Caesar

Caesar gave his favorite a rich villa in Rome, where she received noble Romans. He ordered her gilded statue to be installed in the temple of Venus. However, the honors given to her did not please the Republicans, and this hastened the death of the dictator.

Meeting with Mark Antony

After the assassination of Caesar, Cleopatra was forced to maneuver between the supporters of the murdered and his opponents. More precisely, she decided to cooperate with the killers of her patron, since they were very strong in politically and controlled vast holdings.

Serapion, the Syrian governor of Cleopatra, helped Cassius on her orders, sending him money and a fleet. The further reign of the queen was accompanied by disasters within the country:

• Prolonged crop failures and the threat of famine;
• The atrocities of the Roman legions remaining in Egypt;
• Egypt was also threatened by Antony, the Roman commander and governor in Cilicia.

Anthony was preparing for a big military campaign. To get for this more money, he decided to accuse Cleopatra of collaborating with Brutus and Cassius. To this end, he summoned the queen to him. However, she went to the trick. Knowing Antony's love for external brilliance, vanity and craving for luxury, she equipped a luxurious ship, decorated with gold, silver and other jewels, and went on it to him.

She herself was in the outfit of Aphrodite, and the girls dressed as nymphs ruled the ship. Arriving at Antony, she called him to the ship, where she arranged a feast. Mark Antony was captivated by such an appeal and Cleopatra herself. She also said that Serapion helped Cassius without her knowledge, and she herself prepared another fleet - for the Caesarians, but it could not be sent due to an unfavorable wind.

Instead of the punishment that Antony intended to bring down on Cleopatra, he fell in love with her. Their romance and life together lasted ten years. However, it is difficult to say what the role of political calculation was in these relations; it is known that with the help of Antony, the queen was able to carry out many of her plans, and with the help of Egyptian money he could support the army.

Death

When Egypt was occupied by troops, Cleopatra tried to resist, but this did not help. Roman troops reached the capital. Then the queen hid in her tomb. But Octavian was informed that she committed suicide. Then he threw himself on the sword in despair and died.

Cleopatra was saddened and also wanted to stick a dagger in herself, but then she changed her mind and decided to surrender to Octavian - in the hope that she would charm the conqueror again. However, the beauty of Cleopatra, somewhat weakened over the years, did not touch him. Octavian conquered Egypt and prepared to celebrate his triumph.

Cleopatra pretended to be sick and took to her bed. The servant, at her request, secretly brought poison into her chambers (according to another version - poisonous snake). Some time later, the queen died.

No one remembers the names of the pharaohs of Egypt, but Cleopatra is on everyone's lips. Someone considered her a courtesan, a woman of rare deceit, who caused a number of civil wars, others, on the contrary, took her as a standard of virtue.

Egyptian Aphrodite

Cleopatra came from the Greek Ptolemaic dynasty, which was founded by an associate and commander of Alexander the Great - Ptolemy. After the conquest of Egypt, he was appointed satrap (ruler) of that country.

Today, the name Cleopatra has become synonymous with beauty, but scientists cannot say anything definite about her. appearance. Writing about her unprecedented beauty begins only a couple of hundred years after her death. The most famous is the description of her by Plutarch, given in the Comparative Biographies. The Roman historian characterized Cleopatra as the owner of an irresistible charm, whose appearance, combined with the rare persuasiveness of speeches, firmly cut into the soul: “The very sounds of her voice caressed and delighted the ear, and the language was like a multi-stringed instrument, easily tuned to any tune - to any dialect ".

The historian Sextus Aurelius Victor, who was negative towards Cleopatra, wrote about her: "She was so depraved that she often prostituted, and possessed such beauty that many men paid with their death for possessing her for one night."

Since the mummy of Cleopatra has not been found, the busts are considered the most reliable source for her appearance. The most famous is a damaged bust from Shershell in Algiers, created after the death of the queen on the occasion of the wedding of her daughter. A typical Greek face with the same hooked nose and wavy hair in a bun.

Femme fatale

This is exactly what Cleopatra was for all husbands and cohabitants, starting with her brother and first husband - King Ptolemy XIII, who at the time of accession to the kingdom was only 9 years old, while Cleopatra was already 17. For some time she ruled virtually alone, but then the courtiers seized power. Julius Caesar returned Cleopatra to the throne. When he was in Alexandria, the queen, in an attempt to enlist his support, penetrated him in a very original way.

Plutarch says that “Cleopatra, taking with her only one of her friends, Apollodorus of Sicily, got into a small boat and, at nightfall, landed near the royal palace. In order to remain unnoticed, she climbed into a bed bag and stretched out in it to her full length. Apollodorus carried him across the court to Caesar. They say that even this cunning of Cleopatra seemed bold to Caesar and captivated him.

In the dynastic struggle between sister and brother, he stood up for his sister. A civil war ensued, during which the infant king Ptolemy XIII drowned in the Nile in an attempt to escape.

Under Caesar

Thus begins the reign of Cleopatra under the Roman protectorate and her affair with Caesar, despite the fact that, in accordance with tradition, she was married to her other brother, Ptolemy XIV.

From the great commander she had a son - Caesarion ("little Caesar"), to whom she prophesied a great future. In the summer of 46 BC. Caesar summons Cleopatra to Rome, ostensibly to conclude a formal peace treaty between Rome and Egypt. He erects for her a luxurious villa in his gardens on the banks of the Tiber. Such veneration of the Egyptian queen, which could lead to the proclamation of Caesar as king, did not please the Roman senators. On March 15, 44 BC, Julius Caesar was assassinated as a result of a conspiracy.

Cleopatra left Rome and returned to Alexandria. According to the historian Josephus Flavius, there she poisoned her brother-husband, fearing an overthrow in the absence of a patron.

Anthony and Cleopatra

The novel of Antony and Cleopatra is in the top of the most legendary and tragic novels ancient world. After the death of Caesar in Rome, a struggle for power broke out between two groups: the murderers of the dictator - Cassius, Brutus, and his associates - Octavian and Mark Antony. Octavian and Antony defeated the conspirators. Anthony needed the wealth of Egypt. Having found out through trustees about the amorous and simple-minded Anthony, who was more likely a brave soldier than a cunning politician, she arrived to him on a luxurious ship with a gilded stern and silver-plated oars, where she herself sat in the outfit of Aphrodite, accompanied by maids in the attire of nymphs and boys in the outfit of cupids. . Soon Antony left the army and went with Cleopatra to Alexandria.

From him, Cleopatra gave birth to three children: twins - the boy Alexander Helios, the girl Cleopatra Selene and Ptolemy Philadelphus. Antony, who was himself married to the sister of his ally Octavian, left his lawful wife and began distributing land to his illegitimate heirs. Caesarion receives the title of king of kings, Alexander receives Armenia, Ptolemy - Syria and Asia Minor, Cleopatra Selene - Cyrenaica. He made such a decision not without the influence of the queen. This signed his and Cleopatra's death warrant.

"Suicide Alliance"

The noble couple lost the decisive battle with Octavian. Right in the midst of the naval battle of Actium, Cleopatra left the battlefield with her fleet. Anthony fled after her, leaving his soldiers behind. Returning to Alexandria, they awaited Octavian's invasion, spending their time in endless feasting and entertainment. By this time, they vowed to die together. They even organized a “suicide bomber union”, whose members pledged to prefer death to captivity.

True, when the legions of Octavian entered Alexandria, only Mark Antony fulfilled the oath, throwing himself on the sword. Cleopatra, however, allowed herself to be captured, apparently in the hope that she would be able to find an approach to a new winner. This is the end of Cleopatra's story. Not wanting to repeat the fate of her sister Arsinoe, who was once led through the streets of Rome in golden chains by her ally Julius Caesar, she decided to commit suicide. It is believed that even before Octavian's invasion, she was looking for a poison that brings an easy and painless death by conducting tests on prisoners. According to the official version, her choice fell on the poison of the Egyptian cobra.

Cleopatra VII Philopator (ancient Greek Κλεοπάτρα Φιλοπάτωρ). She was born on November 2, 69 BC. - died on August 12, 30 BC The last queen of Hellenistic Egypt from the Macedonian Ptolemaic (Lagid) dynasty.

Cleopatra was born on November 2, 69 BC. e. (officially year 12 of the reign of Ptolemy XII), apparently in Alexandria. She is one of the three (known) daughters of King Ptolemy XII Auletes, possibly from a concubine, since, according to Strabo, this king had only one legitimate daughter, Berenice IV, queen in 58-55 BC. e.

Nothing is known about Cleopatra's childhood and youth. Undoubtedly, she was strongly impressed by the turmoil of 58-55, when her father was overthrown and expelled from Egypt, and his daughter (Cleopatra's sister) Berenice became queen.

Restored to the throne by the forces of the Roman governor of Syria, Gabinius, Ptolemy XII throws himself into massacres, repressions and murders (of which Berenice fell as a victim).

As a result, he turns into a puppet, kept in power only thanks to the Roman presence, burdening the finances of the country. The troubles of her father's reign taught a lesson to the future queen, who used all means to get rid of opponents and everyone who stood in her way - such as from her younger brother Ptolemy XIV in 44 BC. e. and later from sister Arsinoe IV.

Cleopatra VII ruled Egypt for 21 years in succession with her brothers(they are traditionally formal husbands) Ptolemy XIII and Ptolemy XIV, then in an actual marriage with the Roman commander Mark Antony. She was the last independent ruler of Egypt before the Roman conquest and is often, although not entirely correctly, considered the last pharaoh of Ancient Egypt. Widespread fame acquired through a love affair with Julius Caesar and Mark Antony. By Caesar she had a son, by Antony two sons and a daughter.

Sources on Cleopatra - Plutarch, Suetonius, Appian, Dio Cassius, Josephus Flavius.

For the most part, ancient historiography is unfavorable to her. There is an opinion that the denigration of Cleopatra was carried out by the conqueror of Egypt, Octavian and his entourage, who sought by all means to denigrate the queen, presenting her not just dangerous enemy Rome and the evil genius of Mark Antony. An example is the judgment about Cleopatra of a Roman historian of the 4th century. Aurelius Victor: "She was so depraved that she often prostituted, and possessed such beauty that many men paid with their death for the possession of her for one night."

Testament of Ptolemy XII, who died in March 51 BC. e., passed the throne to Cleopatra and her younger brother Ptolemy XIII, who was then about 9 years old, and with whom she was married formally, since according to Ptolemaic custom, a woman could not reign on her own.

She ascended the throne under the official title of Θέα Φιλοπάτωρ (Thea Philopator), that is, a goddess who loves her father (from an inscription on a stele from 51 BC). The first three years of his reign were not easy due to a 2-year crop failure caused by insufficient flooding of the Nile.

With the accession of the co-rulers, the latent struggle of the parties immediately began. Cleopatra at first ruled alone, removing her young brother, but then the latter took revenge, relying on the eunuch Potinus (who was something like the head of government), the commander Achilles and his tutor Theodotus (orator from Chios).

In a document dated October 27, 50 B.C. e., the name of Ptolemy appears underlined in the first place.

In the summer of 48 BC. e. Cleopatra, who fled to Syria and recruited an army there, at the head of this army set up camp on the Egyptian border, not far from the fortress of Pelusium. Her brother was also stationed there with the army, blocking her path to the country.

The turning point was the flight of the Roman senator Pompey to Egypt and his assassination by Ptolemy's supporters.

Cleopatra and Caesar

At this point, Rome intervenes in the struggle.

Pompey, defeated at Pharsalus, in early June 48 BC. e. appears at the Egyptian coast and asks the Egyptian king for help.

Young Ptolemy XIII, or rather his advisers, hoping to achieve generous favors from the winners, give the order to kill the Roman. This was done as soon as Pompey set foot on Egyptian soil, in front of his entire entourage (July 28, 48). But the king miscalculated: Caesar, who, in pursuit of Pompey, landed in Egypt two days later, was angry at this massacre and buried Pompey's head at the walls of Alexandria, where he erected the sanctuary of Nemesis.

Once in Egypt, Caesar tried to replenish his treasury with the help of debts that Ptolemy XII made to the Roman banker Rabirius during his efforts to restore the throne, and which Caesar now chalked up.

He writes that Caesar “did not dare” to turn Egypt into a Roman province, “so that some enterprising governor would not be able to rely on a province with huge resources for new troubles.”

However, Caesar announced his intention to act as an arbiter in the dispute of the kings. Ptolemy XIII and without him was the actual ruler, moreover, recognized by Pompey. Therefore, Caesar was interested in Cleopatra, who could become a puppet, who owed him power.

Shortly after his arrival, he summons Cleopatra to his place in Alexandria. Getting into the capital, guarded by the people of Ptolemy, was not an easy task - Cleopatra was helped to do this by her admirer, the Sicilian Apollodorus, who secretly carried the queen in a fishing boat, and then carried him to Caesar's chambers, hiding in a large bed bag (and not in a carpet, as this is embellished in films, see Cleopatra Carpet). From this fact, we can conclude about the fragile physique of the queen. Throwing herself at the feet of the Roman dictator, Cleopatra began to complain bitterly about her oppressors, demanding the execution of Potinus.

52-year-old Caesar was captivated by the young queen, especially since the return to the will of Ptolemy XII was consistent with his own political interests. When the next morning Caesar announced this to the 13-year-old king, he ran out of the palace in a rage and, tearing off his diadem, began to shout to the assembled people that he had been betrayed. The crowd was outraged, but Caesar at that moment managed to calm her down by reading the king's will.

However, the situation for Caesar became more complicated. The detachment that accompanied him consisted of only 7 thousand soldiers; supporters of the murdered Pompey gathered in Africa, and these circumstances aroused hope in the party of Ptolemy to get rid of Caesar.

Potinus and Achilles summoned troops to Alexandria. The execution of Potinus by Caesar could no longer stop the uprising. The troops, supported by the townspeople, outraged by the extortion and self-will of the Romans, received a leader when Ptolemy XIII and his sister Arsinoe fled to them. As a result, Caesar in September 48 BC. e. was besieged and cut off from reinforcements in the royal quarter of Alexandria. Caesar and Cleopatra were saved only by the approach of reinforcements led by Mithridates of Pergamon.

The rebels were defeated on January 15, 47 BC. e. near Mareotian Lake, while fleeing, King Ptolemy drowned in the Nile. Arsinoe was taken prisoner and was then held in Caesar's triumph.

This was followed by a joint journey of Caesar and Cleopatra on the Nile in 400 ships, accompanied by noisy festivities. Cleopatra, formally combined with her other young brother Ptolemy XIV, actually became the undivided ruler of Egypt under a Roman protectorate, the guarantee of which was the three legions left in Egypt. Shortly after Caesar's departure Cleopatra's son is born on June 23, 47, who was named Ptolemy Caesar, but which went down in history under the nickname given to him by the Alexandrians Caesarion. They claimed that he looked a lot like Caesar both face and posture.

Caesar fought with the king of Pontus Farnak, then with the last supporters of Pompey in Africa; immediately after the end of the wars, he calls Cleopatra and her brother to Rome (summer 46 BC), formally - to conclude an alliance between Rome and Egypt. Cleopatra was allocated Caesar's villa in his gardens on the banks of the Tiber, where she received noble Romans who were in a hurry to pay their respects to the favorite. This caused extreme irritation among the Republicans and became one of the reasons that hastened the death of Caesar.

There was even a rumor (transmitted by Suetonius and indicative of the general mood) that Caesar was going to take Cleopatra as his second wife and move the capital to Alexandria. Caesar himself ordered that a gilded statue of Cleopatra be placed at the altar of Venus the Ancestor (Venus as the mythical ancestor of the Julius family, to which he belonged). Nevertheless, Caesar's official will did not contain any mention of Caesarion, whom he thus did not dare to recognize as his son.

Sovereign reign of Cleopatra

Caesar was killed as a result of a conspiracy on March 15, 44 BC. e. A month later, in mid-April, Cleopatra left Rome and arrived in Alexandria in July.

Shortly thereafter, the 14-year-old Ptolemy XIV died. According to Josephus Flavius, he was poisoned by his sister: the birth of a son gave Cleopatra a formal co-ruler. In this situation, the maturing brother was completely redundant to her.

In 43 BC. e. famine struck Egypt and the Nile did not flood for two years in a row. The queen was primarily concerned with supplying her rebellious capital. The three Roman legions left behind by the late Caesar raged until their withdrawal.

The war between the murderers of Caesar, Cassius and Brutus on the one hand, and on the other hand, his heirs Antony and Octavian, demanded resourcefulness from the queen.

The East was in the hands of Caesar's assassins: Brutus controlled Greece and Asia Minor, and Cassius settled in Syria. Cleopatra's viceroy in Cyprus, Serapion, helped Cassius with money and a fleet, with the undoubted consent of the queen, no matter what feelings she had for the murderers of her Roman patron. She later officially retracted Serapion's actions. On the other hand, Cleopatra equipped the fleet, allegedly, as she later assured, to help the Caesarians.

In 42 BC. e. The Republicans were crushed at Philippi. The situation for Cleopatra immediately changed.

Cleopatra and Mark Antony

Cleopatra was 28 years old when she was in 41 BC. e. met a 40-year-old Roman commander. It is known that Antony, as head of the cavalry, participated in the restoration of Ptolemy XII to the throne in 55, but it is unlikely that they met at that time, although Appian cites a rumor that Antony was carried away by the 14-year-old Cleopatra even at that time. They could have met during the queen's stay in Rome, but before meeting in 41, they apparently did not know each other well.

In the division of the Roman world, made after the defeat of the Republicans, Antony got the East. Antony decides to implement Caesar's project - a big campaign against the Parthians. Preparing for the campaign, he sends the officer Quintus Dellius to Alexandria to demand Cleopatra to come to Cilicia. He was going to accuse her of helping the assassins of Caesar, apparently hoping, under this pretext, to get as much money from her for the campaign.

Cleopatra, having found out through Dellius about the character of Antony and, above all, about his amorousness, vanity and love for outward brilliance, arrives on a ship with a gilded stern, purple sails and silver-plated oars; she herself sat in the outfit of Aphrodite, on both sides of her stood boys in the form of erotes with fans, and the maidservant in the robes of nymphs controlled the ship.

The ship moved along the Cydn River to the sound of flutes and citharas, wrapped in incense smoke. Then she invites Antony to her place for a sumptuous feast. Antony was completely fascinated. The queen easily rejected the prepared accusations, stating that Serapion acted without her knowledge, and she herself equipped a fleet to help the Caesarians, but this fleet, unfortunately, was delayed by contrary winds. As a first courtesy to Cleopatra, Antony, at her request, ordered the immediate execution of her sister Arsinoe, who sought refuge in the temple of Aphrodite in Ephesus.

Thus began a ten-year affair, one of the most famous in history - even though we cannot judge how much political calculation in relations with Antony was necessary for Cleopatra to carry out her plans. For his part, it was only with the help of Egyptian money that Antony could support his huge army.

Anthony, leaving the army, followed Cleopatra to Alexandria, where he spent the winter of 41-40. BC e., indulging in drinking and entertainment. For her part, Cleopatra tried to bind him as tightly as possible.

Plutarch says: “She played dice with him, drank together, hunted together, was among the spectators when he practiced with weapons, and at night, when he, in the dress of a slave, wandered and loitered around the city, stopping at the doors and the windows of the houses and showering their usual jokes on the hosts - people of a simple rank, Cleopatra was here next to Antony, dressed to match him.

One day, Antony, thinking to impress Cleopatra with his fishing abilities, sent divers who constantly planted a new “catch” on his hook. Cleopatra, quickly figuring out this trick, for her part sent a diver, who planted dried fish on Antony.

While they were having fun in this way, the Parthian prince Pacorus went on the offensive, as a result of which Rome lost Syria and the south of Asia Minor with Cilicia. Antigonus Mattathius, a prince from the Hasmonean (Maccabean) dynasty hostile to the Romans, was approved by the Parthians on the throne of Jerusalem. Mark Antony launched a short counter-offensive from Tyre, but was then forced to return to Rome, where, after a clash between his wife Fulvia and Octavian's supporters, a peace agreement was reached in Brundisium. The clashes were caused by the fault of Fulvia, who, according to Plutarch, hoped in this way to tear Antony away from Cleopatra.

Fulvia died at this time, and Antony married Octavian's sister, Octavia. At the same time in 40 B.C. e. Cleopatra in Alexandria gave birth to twins from Antony: the boy Alexander Helios ("The Sun") and the girl Cleopatra Selene ("Moon").

For 3 years until the autumn of 37 BC. e. there is no information about the queen. Upon the return of Anthony from Italy, the lovers meet in Antioch in the autumn of 37, and from that moment begins new stage in their politics and their love. Antony's legate Ventidius expelled the Parthians.

Antony replaces the Parthian henchmen with his own vassals or direct Roman rule. Thus, the famous Herod, with his support, becomes king of Judea. Something similar happens in Galatia, Pontus and Cappadocia. Cleopatra directly benefits from all this, since her rights to Cyprus, which she actually owned, as well as to the cities of the Syrian and Cilician coasts, are confirmed. mediterranean sea, the kingdom of Chalkidike in present-day Lebanon.

In this way, Cleopatra managed to partially restore the power of the first Ptolemies.

Cleopatra ordered to count from this moment new era his reign in documents. She herself took the official title of Θεα Νεωτερα Φιλοπατωρ Φιλοπατρις (Fea Neotera Philopator Philopatris), that is, "the younger goddess who loves her father and fatherland." The title was intended for the annexed Syrians, who already had a queen (senior goddess) of Ptolemaic blood, Cleopatra Fea, in the 2nd century BC. BC, the title also indicated, according to historians, the Macedonian roots of Cleopatra, which was a weighty argument for the Greek-Macedonian ruling class of Syria.

Children of Cleopatra and Mark Antony

In 37-36 BC. e. Antony launched a disastrous campaign against the Parthians, mainly because of the harsh winter in the mountains of Armenia and Media. Antony himself narrowly escaped death.

Cleopatra remained in Alexandria, where in September 36 BC. e. gave birth to the third child from Anthony - Ptolemy Philadelphus. In Rome, they began to consider the union of Antony and Cleopatra as a threat to the empire and personally to Octavian. The latter, in the early spring of 35, sent his sister Octavia, the lawful wife of Antony and the mother of his two daughters - Antonia the Elder (future grandmother of Emperor Nero) and Antonia the Younger (future mother of Germanicus and Emperor Claudius) - so that she would join her husband.

However, as soon as she reached Athens, Antony ordered her to return immediately. This happened with the participation of Cleopatra, who threatened Antony with suicide if he accepted his wife.

Anthony wanted to take revenge for the defeat in the war with the Parthians: in 35 BC. e. he captured the king of Armenia Artavazd II, made an alliance with another Artavazd - the king of Media Atropatene and celebrated a triumph, but not in Rome, but in Alexandria with the participation of Cleopatra and their common children.

A little later, Caesarion received the title of king of kings. Alexander Helios was proclaimed king of Armenia and the lands beyond the Euphrates, Ptolemy Philadelphus received (nominally, since he was about 2 years old) - Syria and Asia Minor, and, finally, Cleopatra Selene II - Cyrenaica.

Not all of the granted territories were under the real control of Anthony. Josephus claims that Cleopatra also demanded Judea from Antony, but was refused.

The news of the distribution of land caused great indignation in Rome, Antony clearly broke with all Roman traditions and began to play the Hellenistic monarch.

Battle of Actium

Antony still enjoyed considerable popularity in the senate and the army, but with his antics in the Eastern Hellenistic spirit, challenging Roman norms and traditional ideas, he himself gave Octavian a weapon against him.

By 32 B.C. e. it came to civil war. At the same time, Octavian proclaimed it a war of "the Roman people against the Egyptian queen." The Egyptian, who enslaved the Roman commander with her charms, was portrayed as the focus of everything oriental, Hellenistic-royal, alien to Rome and "Roman virtues."

On the part of Antony and Cleopatra, a fleet of 500 ships was prepared for the war, of which 200 were Egyptian. Antony waged the war sluggishly, indulging in feasts and festivities in all Greek cities along the way with Cleopatra, and giving Octavian time to organize the army and navy.

While Antony was gathering troops to the western coast of Greece, intending to cross to Italy, Octavian himself quickly crossed to Epirus and imposed a war on Antony on his territory.

Cleopatra's stay in Antony's camp, her constant intrigues against everyone in whom she saw her ill-wishers, did Antony a disservice, prompting many of his supporters to defect to the enemy. Characteristic is the story of an ardent supporter of Antony Quintus Dellius, who nevertheless was forced to defect to Octavian, because he was warned that Cleopatra was going to poison him for a joke that she considered offensive to herself.

The defectors informed Octavian of the contents of Antony's will, which was immediately removed from the Temple of Vesta and published. Antony officially recognized Cleopatra as his wife, her sons as his legitimate children, and bequeathed to bury himself not in Rome, but in Alexandria next to Cleopatra. Antony's will completely discredited him.

Octavian, who was not a major military leader, found in the person of Mark Vipsanius Agrippa a competent commander who successfully waged war. Agrippa managed to drive the fleet of Antony and Cleopatra into the Gulf of Ambracia and blocked it. Their troops began to feel the lack of food.

Cleopatra insisted on a sea breakthrough. At the council of war, this opinion prevailed.

The result was the naval Battle of Actium on September 2, 31 BC. e. When Cleopatra feared that victory was slipping away, she decided to flee with her entire fleet in an attempt to save something else. Anthony ran after her. His defeated fleet surrendered to Octavian, and after that, the demoralized land army surrendered without a fight.

Death of Cleopatra and Mark Antony

Antony returned to Egypt and did nothing to continue the fight against Octavian. However, he did not have any real resources. He wasted his strength in drinking parties and luxurious festivities, and announced, together with Cleopatra, the creation of the "Union of Suicide Boats", whose members swore to die together. Their close associates had to join this union. Cleopatra tested poisons on the prisoners, trying to find out which poison brings a quicker and painless death.

Cleopatra was preoccupied with saving Caesarion. She sent him to India, but he then returned back to Egypt. She herself at one time considered a plan to escape to India, but when trying to transport ships across the Isthmus of Suez, they were burned by the Arabs. These plans had to be abandoned.

In the spring of 30 B.C. e. Octavian marched on Egypt. Cleopatra tried cruel measures to protect herself from treason: when the commandant of Pelus Seleucus surrendered the fortress, she executed his wife and children. By the end of July, Octavian's troops appeared near Alexandria itself. The last parts that remained with Antony, one after another, went over to the side of the winner.

On August 1st it was all over. Cleopatra with trusted servants Irada and Charmion locked herself in the building of her own tomb. Antony was given the false news of her suicide. Antony threw himself on his sword. Soon, the women dragged him, dying, into the tomb, and he died in the arms of Cleopatra, who was crying over him.

Cleopatra herself, holding a dagger in her hand, demonstrated readiness for death, but entered into negotiations with Octavian's envoy, allowed him to enter the tomb building and disarm it. Apparently, Cleopatra still retained a faint hope of seducing Octavian, or at least agreeing with him, and keeping the kingdom. Octavian showed less pliability to female charms than Caesar and Antony, and the charms of a woman in her thirties and a mother of four children may have weakened somewhat.

The last days of Cleopatra are described in detail by Plutarch according to the memoirs of Olympus, her doctor. Octavian allowed Cleopatra to bury her lover; her own fate remained unclear. She said she was sick and made it clear that she would starve herself to death - but Octavian's threats to kill the children forced her to accept treatment.

A few days later, Caesar (Octavian) himself visited Cleopatra in order to console her somehow. She lay on the bed, depressed and dejected, and when Caesar appeared at the door, she jumped up in one chiton and threw herself at his feet. Her long untidy hair hung in tufts, her face went wild, her voice trembled, her eyes went out.

Octavian admonished Cleopatra with encouraging words and left.

Soon, the Roman officer Cornelius Dolabella, who was in love with Cleopatra, informed her that in three days she would be sent to Rome for the triumph of Octavian. Cleopatra ordered that a pre-written letter be handed over to him and locked herself with the maids. Octavian received a letter in which he found complaints and a request to bury her with Antony, and immediately sent people. The messengers found Cleopatra dead, in royal attire, on a golden bed. Since before that a peasant with a pot of figs went to Cleopatra, who did not arouse suspicion among the guards, it was decided that a snake was carried in the pot to Cleopatra.

It was claimed that two light bites were barely visible on Cleopatra's hand. The snake itself was not found in the room, as if it immediately crawled out of the palace.

According to another version, Cleopatra kept the poison in a hollow hairpin. This version is supported by the fact that both of Cleopatra's maids died with her. It is doubtful that one snake killed three people at once. According to Dio Cassius, Octavian tried to revive Cleopatra with the help of the Psylli, an exotic tribe that could suck out poison harmlessly to themselves.

The death of Cleopatra on August 12, 30, deprived Octavian of a brilliant captive at his triumph in Rome. In the triumphal procession, only her statue was carried.

Caesar's adopted son Octavian executed Caesar's own son by Cleopatra Ptolemy XV Caesarion in the same year. Children from Antony walked in chains at the triumphal parade, then were brought up by Octavian's sister Octavia, Antony's wife, "in memory of her husband."

Subsequently, Cleopatra's daughter Cleopatra Selene II was married to the Moorish king Yuba II, thanks to which the bust of Cleopatra from Shershell appeared.

The fate of Alexander Helios and Ptolemy Philadelphus remained unknown. It is assumed that they died early.

Egypt became one of the Roman provinces.

Appearance of Cleopatra

The true appearance of Cleopatra is not easy to discern because of the romantic flair surrounding her and numerous films; but there is no doubt that she had enough courage and firmness of character to disturb the Romans.

There are no reliable images that accurately, without idealization, would convey her physical appearance.

A damaged bust from Shershell in Algeria (the ancient city of Mauritanian Caesar), created after the death of Cleopatra on the occasion of the marriage of Cleopatra Selene II, her daughter from Mark Antony, with the king of Mauretania, Yuba II, conveys the appearance of Cleopatra in her last years. Although sometimes this bust is attributed to Cleopatra Selene II, daughter of Cleopatra VII.

Cleopatra VII is credited with Hellenistic busts depicting attractive young women with typically Greek faces, but the persons from whom the bust was made have not been positively identified.

It is believed that the busts depicting Cleopatra VII are kept in the Berlin Museum and the Vatican Museum, but the classical appearance makes one suspect the idealization of the image.

The profiles on the coins show a woman with wavy hair, large eyes, a protruding chin, and aquiline nose (hereditary Ptolemaic traits).

On the other hand, it is known that Cleopatra was distinguished by powerful charm, attractiveness, she perfectly used this for seduction and, in addition, she had a charming voice and a brilliant, sharp mind. As he who saw the portraits of Cleopatra writes: “For the beauty of this woman was not that which is called incomparable and strikes at first sight, but her appeal was distinguished by irresistible charm, and therefore her appearance, combined with a rare persuasiveness of speeches, with great charm, showing through in every word, in every movement, firmly cut into the soul. The very sounds of her voice caressed and delighted the ear, and the language was like a multi-stringed instrument, easily tuned to any tune - to any dialect. "

While the Greeks usually neglected the education of their daughters, even in royal families, Cleopatra clearly had a good education, which, superimposed on her natural intelligence, gave excellent results.

Cleopatra became a real polyglot queen, knowing, in addition to her native Greek language, Egyptian (the first of her dynasty made efforts to master it, maybe only with the exception of Ptolemy VIII Fiscon), Aramaic, Ethiopian, Persian, Hebrew and the language of the Berbers (the people who lived in southern Libya).

Her linguistic abilities did not bypass Latin, although enlightened Romans, like Caesar, for example, were themselves fluent in Greek.

Name Cleopatra - symbols, hieroglyphic writing, transliteration

Cleopatra in cinema:

♦ Cleopatra (Cléopâtre, France, 1899) - a silent black-and-white film directed by Georges Méliès, in the role of Cleopatra Jeanne D'alsi;
♦ Cleopatra (Cléopâtre, France, 1910) - a silent black-and-white film based on William Shakespeare's play "Antony and Cleopatra", directed by Henry Andreani and Ferdinand Zecca, in the role of Cleopatra Madeleine Roche;
♦ Cleopatra (Cleopatra, USA, 1912) - a silent black-and-white film directed by Charles L. Gaskill, in the role of Cleopatra Helen Gardner;
♦ Cleopatra (Cleopatra, USA, 1917) - silent black-and-white film, directed by J. Gordon Edwards, in the role of Cleopatra Ted Bar, the film is considered lost;
♦ Cleopatra (film, 1934) - Oscar nominee as Claudette Colbert;
♦ Caesar and Cleopatra (film, 1945) - in the role;
♦ Anthony and Cleopatra (film, 1951) - in the role of Pauline Lets;
♦ Two Nights with Cleopatra (film) (1953) - in the role;
♦ Cleopatra (film, 1963) - Oscar nominee as Cleopatra Elizabeth Taylor;
♦ I, Cleopatra and Anthony (film) (1966) - in the role of Stavras Paravas;
♦ Legions of Cleopatra (1959) - as Linda Crystal;
♦ Asterix and Cleopatra (cartoon, 1968) - voiced Cleopatra Micheline Dax;
♦ Antony and Cleopatra (film, 1974) - as Janet Sazman;
♦ Caesar and Cleopatra (1979) - in the role;
♦ Crazy Nights of Cleopatra (film) (1996) - as Marcella Petrelli;
♦ Cleopatra (film, 1999) - as Leonor Varela;
♦ Asterix and Obelix: The Mission of Cleopatra (film, 2002) - she performed the role of Cleopatra;
♦ Julius Caesar (film, 2002) - the role of Cleopatra was performed by Samuela Sardo;
♦ Roman Empire. August (film) (2003) - as Anna Valle;
♦ Rome (2005-2007) - HBO/BBC television drama, as Cleopatra by Lindsay Marshal

Cleopatra in art:

Poems "Cleopatra" (Pushkin, Bryusov, Blok, Akhmatova);
Alexander Pushkin "Egyptian Nights";
William Shakespeare "Antony and Cleopatra";
Bernard Shaw "Caesar and Cleopatra";
Georg Ebers "Cleopatra";
Henry Rider Haggard "Cleopatra";
Margaret George "Cleopatra's Diaries" (1997);
Davtyan Larisa. "Cleopatra" (poetic cycle);
A. Vladimirov "Cleopatra's Rule" (musical drama);
Maria Hadley. "Queen of Queens";
N. Pavlishcheva. "Cleopatra";
Théophile Gautier "The Night Given by Cleopatra"

• Cleopatra VII, the last queen of Egypt, was born in Alexandria in 69 BC.
• Cleopatra's father was Ptolemy XII Auletes. In total, he had six children: four daughters (Cleopatra VII was the third in a row) and two sons, who later became Cleopatra's husbands in turn.
• The Hellenistic Ptolemaic dynasty was founded by the commander of Alexander the Great, Ptolemy, who, after the collapse of Alexander's empire, took possession of Egypt.
• Little is known about Cleopatra's mother, and biographers only suggest that she could be Queen Cleopatra V Tryphena - it is precisely established that she was the mother of the eldest daughters of Auletes. Tryphena disappeared at the beginning of 68 BC, and since bigamy was forbidden in the Hellenistic family, it was she who most likely was the mother of the last queen of Egypt.
• Cleopatra received a classical education, was brought up in the best Greek and Arabic traditions, and knew several languages.
• 51 BC - Ptolemy XII dies. In the will, the deceased ruler declares Rome the guarantor of the Egyptian state and asks the Roman people to take care of their family. The Roman commander Pompey was appointed executor of the will and guardian of the king's children. According to custom, eighteen-year-old Cleopatra should marry her own brother, ten-year-old Ptolemy XIII, and rule Egypt with him.
• The actual rulers of Egypt in the very first years after the death of Ptolemy XII are royal dignitaries: the teacher of eloquence Theodotus, the eunuch Potin, the commander of the palace guards of Achilles. They manage to quarrel Cleopatra with her brother-husband and provoke an uprising in Alexandria - it was announced to the people that Queen Cleopatra seeks to rule alone, and for this she will resort to the help of Rome. Cleopatra flees to Syria, dignitaries begin to rule on behalf of Ptolemy XIII.
• 48 BC - Cleopatra manages to raise an army on the border of Egypt and Arabia. She opposes her brother. The troops of Cleopatra and Ptolemy XIII meet at Pelusium and are ready to start the battle at any moment.
• At the same time, the Roman dictator Gaius Julius Caesar arrives in Alexandria. He declares that he has the right to resolve the conflict between brother and sister as a representative of Rome. Cleopatra realizes that she needs to meet with Caesar. At night, she secretly arrives in Alexandria, accompanied by only a few servants. The queen orders to be wrapped in a carpet and taken to Caesar. The next day, Caesar publicly reads the will of Ptolemy Auletes and declares that Cleopatra and her brother should reign together.
• 47 BC - Potinus and Achilles cannot come to terms with Caesar's decision. They raise an uprising (known as "Cleopatra's war"), secretly proclaim the youngest daughter of Ptolemy Avlet Arsinoe as queen of Egypt. Caesar wins this war, Arsinoe is captured and subsequently flees from Egypt to Rome. As a result of the uprising, Ptolemy, Potin, and Achilles perish.
• After the victory, Caesar forces Cleopatra to marry her second brother, 16-year-old Ptolemy Neotheros. Cleopatra agrees, but actually reigns in Egypt alone, relying on Rome. At the same time, the love affair of the 52-year-old Caesar and Cleopatra from a secret becomes well known.
• A few months later, a son is born to Cleopatra and Caesar, who receives the name Ptolemy-Caesarion. Already having a family, Caesar in Rome is looking for an opportunity to marry Cleopatra, making Caesarion his heir.
• 46 BC - Cleopatra, along with her husband, Caesarion and retinue, moves to Rome and settles in one of the villas that belonged to Caesar. She is officially declared "a friend and ally of the Roman people."
• 44 BC - Julius Caesar is assassinated. Perhaps one of the reasons for his death was the suspicion that he wanted to marry Cleopatra, establish a monarchy in Rome and subjugate Rome to Egypt. After the death of Caesar, Cleopatra returns to Egypt.
• 43 BC - Cleopatra's husband Ptolemy XIV dies. There is a version that he was poisoned by order of his wife. Cleopatra declares her son Ptolemy Caesarion Philopator and Philometer (the latter names mean "Loving father" and "Loving mother") as the king and pharaoh of Egypt, as well as her co-ruler.
• After the assassination of Caesar, a civil war breaks out in Rome. Cleopatra supports in her followers of her beloved - the triumvirate of Mark Antony, Octavian and Lepidus. She sends Egyptian warships to help them, but this fleet was intercepted and went over to the side of the enemy. The second fleet sent by Cleopatra in support of the triumvirate sank.
• 42 BC - The triumvirate wins. The newly-minted ruler of the eastern part of Rome, Mark Antony, calls Cleopatra to him to give explanations about the support of the enemy. Antony also intends to make Egypt a dependent province of Rome.
• 41 BC - Antony and Cleopatra meet in the city of Tarsus in Cilicia. Cleopatra deliberately delays this meeting for several months. She comes to Tarsus in the dress of Aphrodite, on a magnificently decorated ship. Antony was taken on board by Cleopatra, and she acted as hostess. After the meeting, Cleopatra gave a sumptuous feast in honor of Antony. As a result, Antony falls in love with Cleopatra without memory, and Egypt remains an independent state.
• The same year - by the hands of Anthony Cleopatra gets rid of his enemies in Rome. By order of Antony, her sister Arsinoe and several other rebels were executed. Soon Cleopatra and Antony leave for Egypt.
• 40 BC - Antony returns to Rome. In the same year, Cleopatra gives birth to twins, who are called Alexander Helios and Cleopatra Selene.
• 39 BC - on one of the borders of Egypt, an uprising against Cleopatra rises. Her troops put down this rebellion.
• 37 BC - At the request of Antony, Cleopatra goes to Laodicea to provide food for his army. An indispensable condition for this trip was Antony's promise to marry Cleopatra. 36 BC - Antony fulfills his promise and marries Cleopatra. They have another son, named Ptolemy.
• 34 BC - Anthony conducts a successful military campaign in Armenia. The triumph is celebrated in Alexandria, where the victor grants Cleopatra and all her children new Roman territories.
• 32 BC - Rome is outraged by the distribution of Roman lands to the Egyptians. Anthony at this time is fighting in Media (he dreamed of implementing the plan of Alexander the Great and becoming the ruler of the lands from India to the Atlantic Ocean). Cleopatra comes to Anthony, she is ready to provide him with military support. Because of this, many allies turn away from the latter - the Egyptian queen did not enjoy special respect from the Romans.
Early 31 BC - Antony divorces his wife Octavia. He proclaims Cleopatra "the queen of kings" and writes a will in which he declares Cleopatra and his children from her to be his heirs. The same year - Anthony's will falls into the hands of his main opponent in Rome, Octavian (brother ex-wife Anthony Octavia). Octavian immediately publishes the will and finally sets the Romans against Antony. Cleopatra is at war.
• September 2, 31 BC - the decisive battle of the war took place at sea at Cape Actions. The fleet of Cleopatra and Antony is defeated. Antony returns to his legions, and Cleopatra returns to Alexandria to equip new troops.
• Octavian negotiates with Cleopatra. She offers to give up the Egyptian throne in favor of her son Caesarion. Octavian vs. He demands that Cleopatra kill Antony - only then can he guarantee her life.
• Antony loses the battle of Alexandria. He arrives at Cleopatra's palace, but on her orders he is informed that Cleopatra has died - the queen hoped that, having heard this news, Antony would commit suicide. The queen herself took refuge in her own tomb. In general, her calculation was justified, but Antony's suicide attempt ended in his severe injury, and he died only some time later in the arms of his beloved.
• After Antony's death, Cleopatra attempts to starve herself to death, but Octavian threatens to kill her children, and Cleopatra is forced to continue living. August 30 BC - Cleopatra learns that she and her children will have to "decorate" Octavian's triumph in Rome. This meant that in a triumphal procession they would be led as prisoners.
• August 31, 30 BC - Cleopatra decides to commit suicide. She writes a letter to Octavian asking him to bury her next to Antony. After receiving the letter, Octavian immediately sends guards to Cleopatra's chambers, but too late - she and her two maids are already dead. Two snake bite wounds were found on Cleopatra's body, but there was no snake in the room. According to the most common version, maids brought the snake to Cleopatra in a basket of figs. The mummy of Cleopatra is now kept in London, in the British Museum.

Vivien Leigh as Cleopatra in the film "Caesar and Cleopatra" (1945)

Quotes: 1. Men are not Gods... They don't need our souls. 2. Every day is like the last! 3. Never fight the strong until you yourself are just as strong! 4. On our lips and eyes was the imprint of eternity. 5. We welcome all strange and terrible events, but we despise comfortable ones.

Progress:

Professional, social position: Cleopatra was the ruler of Egypt from 51 to 30 AD. BC.
Main contribution (what is known): Cleopatra to revive and preserve the identity of Egypt during her 21 year reign. She is the image and model of a woman who uses her mind, ingenuity and charm to conquer powerful husbands and achieve her goals.
Contributions: Cleopatra was a representative of the Hellenic aristocracy, her ancestors were Macedonians who spoke a dialect of the Greek language, however, she became the first ruler of the dynasty to learn the Egyptian language.
She also adopted and revived the customs, deities and rites of ancient Egypt. She adopted the symbol of the Goddess Hathor, the daughter of the Sun God Ra.The goddess Isis was considered her patroness and, consequently, during her reign it was believed that she was the reincarnation and incarnation of the goddess of wisdom.
Perhaps the young queen of Egypt saved her country from becoming a province of the expanding Roman Empire.
All this contributed to the creation of the image of Cleopatra in culture, as a woman who uses her charm to conquer the most powerful men in the Western world.
The death of Cleopatra marks the end of the Hellenistic Ptolemaic period and the beginning of the Roman era in the eastern Mediterranean.

Life:

Origin: She was born in 69 BC in Alexandria. Cleopatra's father Ptolemy XII Neos Dionysus was a direct descendant of Ptolemy I Soter, general of Alexander the Great, and her mother Cleopatra V was queen of Egypt. Cleopatra was the third daughter in the family. She also had a younger sister and two younger brothers.
Education: Cleopatra received a good education, especially in the field foreign languages. Her natural talent allowed her to master her native Greek, Egyptian, Aramaic, Ethiopian, Persian, Hebrew, the Berber language and Latin.
Main stages of activity:
Governing body: 51 BC-August 12, 30 BC
Her co-rulers:
Ptolemy XIII (51 - 47 BC)
Ptolemy XIV (47 - 44 BC)
Caesarion (44 - 30 BC)
She was the last pharaoh of the Ptolemaic dynasty, of Macedonian origin, who ruled Egypt from 304 BC. Cleopatra ruled Egypt with her two brothers and simultaneously husbands Ptolemy XIII (51 - 47 BC) and Ptolemy XIV (47 - 44 BC) and with her son, Ptolemy XV, or Caesarion ( 44 - 30 BC).
Her whole life was spent in a difficult struggle for power, in which she skillfully used her natural mind, charm and beauty.

As a child, Cleopatra was greatly impressed by the uprising of 58-55, during which her father Ptolemy XII was overthrown and expelled from Egypt, and Cleopatra's sister Berenice became queen. Later, her father was restored to the throne with the help of the Roman governor of Syria, Gabinius. Ptolemy XII began a brutal repression during which her sister Berenice also died.
When in March 51 BC. e. her father died, 18-year-old Cleopatra and her brother, 12-year-old Ptolemy XIII, began to jointly rule Egypt. In 50 BC Cleopatra entered into a serious conflict with the troops of the Roman governor Gabinius and soon lost power. She attempted to mutiny around Sin, but was defeated and forced into hiding with her sister Arsinoe.
During the civil war in Rome, in 48 BC. Pompey fled from Caesar to Alexandria. By order of the 15-year-old Ptolemy, Pompey was beheaded in front of his wife and children. When Caesar arrived in Egypt two days later, Ptolemy presented him with the severed head of Pompey. And although Pompey was an enemy of Caesar, this angered him and Cleopatra immediately saw the opportunity to use Caesar's anger towards Ptolemy for her own purposes.
When they met, Caesar was struck by the mind and extraordinary beauty of Cleopatra and subsequently helped her become the sole ruler of Egypt. Ptolemy XIII died fighting against Caesar and Cleopatra was restored to the throne. She married her second brother, Ptolemy XIV, but was effectively the sole ruler of Egypt.
In 46 BC Caesar invited her to Rome. She was visiting him in Rome, just at the time when he was assassinated on March 15, 44 BC as a result of a conspiracy. In April of the same year, Cleopatra returned to Alexandria, where Ptolemy XIV soon died under mysterious circumstances. Thereafter, she made her infant son Caesarion her partner on the throne.
After 37 BC e. she and Antony jointly opposed Rome, and in 32 BC. Rome declared war on Cleopatra, seeing their alliance as a threat to the Roman Empire and Octavian.
After their defeat at the naval Battle of Actium (31 BC), Cleopatra and Antony attempted to make peace with Octavian, but were unsuccessful. Alexandria was surrendered in 30 BC and Antony and then Cleopatra committed suicide.
The main stages of personal life: In 48 BC Cleopatra met Julius Caesar, who arrived in Egypt in pursuit of Pompey. She entered Caesar's palace wrapped in a carpet that was intended as a gift for Caesar. Cleopatra skillfully took advantage of the situation and defeated Caesar with her ingenuity, courage and beauty.
Although Cleopatra was only 21 when she met Caesar and he was 52 years old, they became lovers and their love affair continued throughout Caesar's stay in Egypt from 48 to 47 BC.
Nine months after their first meeting, in 47g. BC. Cleopatra bore him a child. He was named by Ptolemy Caesar or Caesarion, meaning "little Caesar".
In 41 BC e. she agreed to meet Mark Antony on her ship at Tarsus in Cilicia. Legend has it that Cleopatra dressed up as the Roman goddess of love, Venus. She filled her ship with so many rose petals that the Romans smelled the fragrance before they saw her ship. At dusk about a loud ship of precious wood, under scarlet sails andto the sound of soft musicapproached Anthony. When night fell, bright lights flashed on the ship.
She charmed Antony and subsequently gave birth to twins for him: the boy Alexander Helios ("The Sun") and the girl Cleopatra Selene ("Moon").
Cleopatra hoped to tie Antony to her, but in the spring of 40 BC. he left Egypt. Antony returned to Rome and married Octavian's cousin Octavia. They had two daughters. But in 37 B.C. he fled back to Cleopatra.
He married her in 36 BC. and she bore him another son, Ptolemy Philadelphus (Philadelphus).
In 31 BC Cleopatra tried to negotiate with Octavian for the recognition of her children as successors to Egypt. But since in return Octavian demanded the death of Antony, Cleopatra refused. After Antony committed suicide, Cleopatra followed suit, committing suicide by snakebite on August 12, 30 BC. e.
Her son Caesarion, who was declared pharaoh, was killed on the orders of Octavian.
Personality.Cleopatra was famous for her beauty, intelligence and character, which combined imperiousness and female sexuality in an unusual way.
Cleopatra was a charming, seductive and at the same time smart and educated woman who spoke 9 languages. She was distinguished by personal courage and magnetism, and she had enough personal power to be feared by the Romans.
Dio Cassius spoke of the attractiveness of Cleopatra: "She was a woman extraordinary beauty and in the prime of her youth, she struck with her charm. She also had the most charming voice and the knowledge of how to please everyone."
Zest: Cleopatra, had Macedonian, Greek and Iranian genes. On coins, Cleopatra is depicted in profile, with wavy hair, large eyes, a protruding chin and aquiline nose. In his Pensées, the philosopher Blaise Pascal argued that Cleopatra's classically beautiful profile changed world history: "If Cleopatra's nose were shorter, the whole face of the world would change." At the same time, some historians believed that she was not beautiful and had many masculine features.