Ptolemy XII Auletes, and her mother was
probably Auletes's sister, Cleopatra V Tryphaena.
The name Cleopatra is Greek for "father's
glory".
Biography
Cleopatra VII took the
throne alone at the death of her father in
Spring
51 BC. She was at the time the oldest child
of Auletes, since two older sisters had died.
She was subsequently co-ruler with two of her
brothers,
Ptolemy XIII, who opposed the Roman
domination, and
Ptolemy XIV. Since the Ptolomaic throne was
transmited in (matrilinear)
fashion, the Kings had to marry their sisters in
order to be qualified to rule. Following the
deaths of her brothers she named her eldest son
co-ruler as
Ptolemy XV
Caesarion (44-30
BC).
In 48, the advisors of Ptolemy XIII, led by
the eunuch Pothinus, removed Cleopatra's power
and forced her to flee Egypt. Later that year,
however, Ptolemy imperiled his own power by
injudiciously meddling in the affairs of Rome.
When Pompey, fleeing the victorious
Julius Caesar, arrived in Alexandria seeking
sanctuary, Ptolemy had him murdered in order to
ingratiate himself with Caesar. Caesar was so
repelled by this piece of treachery that he
seized the Egyptian capital and imposed himself
as arbitrer between the rival claims of Ptolemy
and Cleopatra. After a short war Ptolemy XIII
was killed and Caesar restored Cleopatra to her
throne, with Ptolemy XIV as new co-ruler.
Caesar wintered in Egypt in 48-47, and
Cleopatra shored up her political advantage by
becoming his lover. Egypt remained independent,
but three Roman legions were left to protect it.
Cleopatra's winter liaison with Caesar produced
a son whom they named Ptolomy Caesar (nicknamed
Caesarion, little Caesar). Caesar refused to
make
Caesarion his heir, naming his grand-nephew
Octavian instead.
Cleopatra and Caesarion visited Rome between
46 and
44 BC and were present when Caesar was
assassinated. Before or just after she returned
to Egypt, Ptolemy XIV died mysteriously.
Cleopatra then made Caesarion her co-regent. She
may have poisoned her brother.
In 42,
Mark Antony, one of the
triumvirs who ruled Rome in the power vacuum
following Caesar's death, summoned Cleopatra to
meet him in
Tarsus to answer questions about her
loyalty. Cleopatra arrived in great state, and
so charmed Antony that he chose to spend the
winter of 42-42 with her in Alexandria. The
result of this winter was twins, who were named
Cleopatra Selene and
Alexander Helios.
Four years later, in 37, Antony visited
Alexandria again while en route to make war with
the
Parthians. He renewed his relationship with
Cleopatra, and from this point on Alexandria
would be his home. He may have married Cleopatra
(a letter quoted in Suetonius suggests this),
although he was at the time, married to
Octavia, sister of his fellow triumvir
Octavian. He and Cleopatra had another
child,
Ptolemy Philadelphus. At the
Donations of Alexandria in late
34 BC, following Antony's conquest of
Armenia: Cleopatra and Caesarion were crowned
co-rulers of
Egypt and
Cyprus;
Alexander Helios was crowned ruler of
Armenia,
Media, and
Parthia;
Cleopatra Selene was crowned ruler of
Cyrenaica and
Libya; and
Ptolemy Philadelphus was crowned ruler of
Phoenicia,
Syria, and
Cilicia. Cleopatra also took the title of
Queen of Kings.
There are a number of unverifiable but famous
stories about Cleopatra, of which one of the
best known is that, at one of the lavish dinners
she shared with Antony, she playfully bet him
that she could spend ten million sesterces on a
dinner. He accepted the bet. The next night, she
had a conventional, unspectacular meal served;
he was ridiculing this, when she ordered the
second course - only a cup of strong vinegar.
She then removed one of her priceless pearl
earrings, dropped it into the vinegar, allowed
it to dissolve, and drank the mixture.
Antony's behavior was considered outrageous
by the Romans, and Octavian convinced the senate
to levy war against Egypt. In 31 BC Antony's
forces faced the Romans in a naval action off
the coast of Actium. Cleopatra was present a
fleet of her own, but when she saw that Antony's
poorly equipped and manned ships were losing to
the Romans' superior vessels, she took flight.
Antony abandoned the battle to follow her.
Following the
battle of Actium, Octavian invaded Egypt. As
he approached Alexandria, Antony's armies
deserted to Octavian. Cleopatra and Antony both
committed
suicide, Cleopatra by using a snake to
poison herself. Their son
Caesarion was killed by the Romans. The
three sons of Cleopatra with Antony were spared
and taken back to Rome where they were reared by
Antony's wife Octavia.
Although it is often said that Cleopatra used
an
asp to kill herself, it is possibly more
likely that her death was effected by an
Egyptian
cobra, which was sometimes used to execute
criminals. There is also a story that Cleopatra
asked several of her servants to test out
various forms of suicide, before choosing the
method which she believed to be most effective.
A
Macedonian Greek by language and culture,
Cleopatra is reputed to have been the first
member of her family in their 300-year reign in
Egypt to have learned the
Egyptian language.
