Summary:
A biography of Cleopatra, the last pharoah of Egypt. While the majority of her life involved her relationship with Marc Antony, Cleopatra lived a life that was more complex than many people believe.
The Life of Cleopatra
Cleopatra's life is portrayed in movies as being a glamorous and simple life of a wealthy queen. Although her life was very glamorous, and she enjoyed living richly, her life in actuality involved a great deal of fighting, and was far more complex then many people think. She had many different husbands, and lovers. Majority of her life involved her relationship with Mark Antony. After his death, she became depressed, and when she found a way out of her depressed, imprisoned life, she took it. Cleopatra was the last pharaoh in Egypt. Cleopatra was a strong woman because of the great deal of battling, and sadness she dealt with, and the drama surrounding her love life.
Cleopatra was born in 69 B.C. Her father was the pharaoh Ptolemy XII. Her mother was most likely Cleopatra V Tryphaena, Ptolemy's sister, because it was common to marry siblings. Cleopatra had three sisters, Cleopatra VI, Berenice, and Arsinoe. She also had 2 two brothers, Ptolemy XIII, and Ptolemy XIV. She became pharaoh when her father died; she was seventeen or eighteen at the time. Cleopatra and her brother married, and then quarreled, silently, over the throne. (Cleopatra the Last Pharaoh)
When Cleopatra became queen she was seventeen or eighteen, and she reigned from 51 B.C. to 30 B.C. She died at the age of 39. She was highly intelligent, and could speak nine languages. In fact, she was the first Ptolemy who could speak Egyptian. She married her younger brother Ptolemy XIII when he was 12. It was a custom within the Ptolemaic Dynasty to marry within the family. They quarreled silently over the throne. In 48 B.C. she was forced into exile in Syria. In 49 B.C. she regained the throne through the help of Caesar. (Nardo 6) Caesar and Cleopatra became allies, and shortly after, became lovers.
Julius Caesar visited Alexandria in 48 B.C. Cleopatra knew that he could help her regain her throne, so she had herself smuggled into Alexandria in an oriental carpet. When he received this gift, he unrolled the carpet, and Cleopatra tumbled out. Cleopatra counted on Caesar to help her defeat her brother, Caesar agreed to help her, and Ptolemy XIII was later defeated and killed. Caesar and Cleopatra sailed leisurely on the Nile after the victory. Cleopatra became pregnant, and later gave birth to a son called Ptolemy Caesar. This boy was believed to be Caesar's son. (Cleopatra the Last Pharaoh) Ptolemy Caesar was nicknamed Caesarion or "Little Caesar, because of his strong resemblance to Caesar.
A year after the cruise, Caesar invited Cleopatra to come visit him in Rome. In the fall of 46 B.C., she came with Caesarion and her other brother/husband Ptolemy XIV. They lived in Caesar's villa just outside Rome for nearly two years. On the fifteenth of March, the ides of March, in 44 B.C. Caesar was brutally stabbed at the Senate meeting by conspirators. Cleopatra, knowing she was also in danger, quickly left Rome with her followers. Shortly after they returned to Egypt, Ptolemy XIV died. His death was possibly a poisoning that was commanded by Cleopatra. After his death, Cleopatra made Caesarion her co-ruler. Cleopatra would soon leave for Tarsus to meet with Marc Antony.
In 42 B.C. Antony requested for Cleopatra to come to Tarsus so that he could question her as to whether she had aided his enemies or not. Cleopatra arrived on a luxurious barge, with purple sails and silver oars. The boat was sailed by maids. The maids were dressed in sea nymph costumes. Cleopatra was dressed as Venus, goddess of love. Antony was in awe with this deliberate display of luxury. Antony was enchanted and charmed by Cleopatra, so much that he immediately forgot about his responsibilities and left for Alexandria with Cleopatra for the winter. Finally, Antony had to return to his duties as a ruler and said goodbye to Cleopatra. (Cleopatra)
Cleopatra gave birth to twins six months later. The twins were names Cleopatra Selene and Alexander Helios. Cleopatra and the twins did not see Antony for four years. During these four years, Antony married Octavia, and they had two daughters named Antonia. In 37 B.C., Antony had another rendezvous with Cleopatra. From then on, He lived in Alexandria with Cleopatra. In 36 B.C. he married Cleopatra and she had another son, Ptolemy Philadelphus. Octavia decided to visit Antony. Cleopatra wanted desperately to keep Antony away from his other wife. She intentionally cried, fainted, and starved herself, and in the end Antony cancelled his trip to meet Octavia in Athens.(Cleopatra) His unfaithfulness to Octavia would soon create problems for him and Cleopatra.
Antony's bigamy disgusted the Roman people. Octavian, the half-brother of Octavia, persuaded the Roman Senate to wage war against Egypt. Antony's troops fought a sea battle against the Romans off the coast of Actium, Greece; in 31 B.C. (World History 148) Cleopatra saw the ships getting destroyed, so she signaled to her ships to head back for Egypt. Antony abandoned his ship, and followed her ship until he caught up with it and got on board. "Shattered by his dreadful defeat, he stayed in the open prow of Cleopatra's ship day and night through the long voyage to Egypt. He spoke to no one, including the Queen." (Hornblow 169) Finally, Antony received word that his forces had surrendered and his allies had turned to Octavian. During this time, Antony and Cleopatra lived separately. Cleopatra had begun to experiment with poisons, to see which would cause the most painless death. She also had a mausoleum built, where she kept all of her treasures. She also prepared for a Roman invasion during this time.
In 30 B.C. Octavian reached Alexandria. Marc Antony marched his army out of the city to meet the enemy. Antony's fleet saluted and joined the Roman fleet. His cavalry also left him. His infantry was defeated, and Antony returned to the city, shouting that he had been betrayed by Cleopatra. Cleopatra was terrified that he would hurt her, so she fled to her mausoleum locked herself in, and ordered her servants to tell Antony that she was dead. (Cleopatra) Antony believed the servants, and now that his only reason to live was gone, he went to his room and stabbed himself in the stomach. He passed out, and when he awoke, Cleopatra's secretary came and told him that Cleopatra wanted to see him. He was carried to her mausoleum, where they pulled him up on ropes because Cleopatra did not want to open the door because of Octavian's approaching troops. He lay on her bed, and later died. His death caused depression and weakness in Cleopatra.
Finally, Octavian and his men reached the mausoleum, but Cleopatra refused to let them in. They negotiated through a barred door, and while a man was talking to her another man climbed through the window. When she saw the man, she tried to stab herself, but she was stopped, and they took her prisoner. Her children were also taken prisoner. Cleopatra was so depressed that she was determined to die.
One day Octavian gave her permission to visit Antony's tomb. After that, she went to her mausoleum took a bath, and ordered a feast. While she was there a man arrived with a basket of figs. The guards inspected the basket, but found nothing, so they allowed it to be delivered to Cleopatra. After she ate her feast, she wrote a letter to Octavian asking to be buried next to Antony. After seeing this letter, Octavian sent messengers to tell the guards that she was planning to commit suicide. When they went to check on her, she was already dead on her golden bed. There were two pricks on Cleopatra's arm, and it is believed that she allowed herself to be bitten by an asp (a poisonous snake) that had been smuggled in with the fig basket. Cleopatra was the last pharaoh, and after her death, Egypt became a Roman province. (Cleopatra)
Although, Cleopatra's life toward then end was depressing and difficult, she was a very strong woman for putting up with it all. She was the last pharaoh, but she was an excellent pharaoh. There was a great deal of battling in her life. Her love life was very complex, but in the end, she got to be with Antony forever. Cleopatra, the last pharaoh of Egypt will never be forgotten for all of the things that she has contributed to history.
