Agrippina The Younger Cleopatra

Cleopatra was years ahead of her time in terms of political agenda and intellectual warfare. Cleopatra should be known as an important individual in history because of her influence in the direction of Egyptian history. She was extremely intelligent, calculating, and a master of manipulation. She used her power of sexual appeal to benefit herself and her status with society. Cleopatra had strong relations with powerful men of the era, but she still managed to surpass them with her superior intellect, and abuse their lustful obedience. Her beauty was a subject and also an inspiration for art in popular Western culture. Cleopatra’s importance in Europe should be known because she greatly impacted social development.

Cleopatra is famously known as the beautiful female Egyptian pharaoh with great physical beauty and seductive skills. That is pretty much all what people know, but there is actually more to it. Cleopatra is one of the most famous female rulers in history. She was the last pharaoh of Egypt who ruled areas including Cyrus, Egypt, part of Libya, and other territories in the Middle East. The history of Cleopatra is well-known for what had happened before and during her reign, and her relationship with Caesar and Mark Anthony.

How did Cleopatra rise to and maintain her power? Not much is known about her life since she lived so long ago, but what is known is enough to piece together some of her life story. Cleopatra was a strong and intelligent woman who made it through all the struggle and strife of the ancient world until it became too much for her. Cleopatra’s reign began and ended with tragedy, but was maintained by exploited love connections.

Cleopatra is also very culturally significant ruler of the Ancient Egypt civilization. “The name Cleopatra stems from Greek for “father 's glory,”” (Green) She was the last pharaoh of Ancient Egypt. Cleopatra 's story has fascinated people through the centuries. While she was a powerful political figure in her own right, she is probably most known because of her legend as being a

Queen Cleopatra VII was a powerful, intelligent, and passionate woman born from royal blood of the Ptolemaic Dynasty. As a successor of Hellenistic people and Alexander the Great she was not of an Egyptian blood but born in Alexandria and speaking Egyptian language. When her father Ptolemy Auletes died, Cleopatra was in the age of eighteen. She had three sisters Cleopatra VI, Berenice IV, Arsinoe IV two of them were older than her and one younger, and two younger brothers named Ptolemy XIII and Ptolemy XIV too. Cleopatra VII and her brother Ptolemy XIII inherited the kingdom of their father as it was written his will. Because of the law in Egypt of that time Cleopatra was unable to rule by her own without the presence of a male coruler, a brother or son. As a result she ruled together with her brother who she get married to although he was only twelve years old.

Cleopatra innovatively utilised Roman politicians to benefit both herself and Egypt. Cleopatra's skillful manipulation of Roman generals consequences in her triumphs but also ultimately the downfall of Egypt. Many agree that Cleopatra never truly loved Caesar or Antony but it does seem evident that at least Casar did in fact love Cleopatra. While Cleopatra skillfully used Caesar and Antony to rid her of enemies and threats to the throne it was also a Roman politicians that effected the end of her reign and the prosperity of Egypt. Cleopatra’s manipulation of Roman politians which at first benefited her but ultimately was the source of her destruction.

Tacitus as a main example writes about Agrippina the Younger in his “Annals” in such a way that it portrays to us a powerfully negative image of a power thirsty mother figure. Tacitus himself was a Roman historian and senator who disliked the Julio-Claudian dynasty, mostly its women because of the individuality and power they held. Tacitus holds Agrippina the younger responsible for the falling of the dynasty due to Nero’s character. He believes her influence was a negative one, she was only after power for herself and went about getting it by exploiting her son and entering into false marriages. “In public, Agrippina was austere and often arrogant. Her private life was chaste-unless power was to be gained. Her passion to acquire money was unbounded. She wanted it as a stepping stone to supremacy” (Tacitus, 7.5-7, Annals) It must be taken into account the criticism towards Agrippina the Younger is most possibly due to his own morals and opinions. In that time of Roman history women did not have many rights under law and were viewed as inferior so Tacitus may be sexist when writing these accounts of Agrippina. She was a powerful woman who posed threats to many people. Tacitus also was born in AD 55 meaning that he was only an infant when Agrippina the younger died, these accounts are not eye witness they are recreated and therefore are not completely reliable.

The move from the Republic system to the principate, an autocratic system of government, meant the roles and status of main groups and genders of society would inevitably change. Specifically we see the traditional role of women change, going from the traditional ‘matrona’ to an independent imperial woman with a broadened influence over the state. Agrippina the younger is exemplary of this change and is viewed as one of the most influential women of her time. Ancient sources are hostile towards this ‘power hungry’ figure however modern revisionists give a deeper insight into the woman behind the hostile accounts. Nether less both ancient and modern sources agree Agrippina had a

Cleopatra, Greek queen of Egypt, was born at the beginning of 69 B.C and one of the few women rulers in ancient Egypt. Her father was Ptolemy XII And Cleopatra was the last pharaoh in Egypt. She is known as clever, covetous, skilled, beguiling and manipulative. Cleopatra’s physical features are not certain and there is not enough information about her profile. “The colour of her eyes and of her hair is not known; nor can it be said whether her skin was white as alabaster, like that of many of her Macedonian fellow countrywomen, or whether it had that olive tone so often observed amongst the Greeks. Even her beauty, or rather the degree of her beauty, is not clearly defined.” Cleopatra was born at the finish of the Ptolemaic dynasty, because,

"For Rome, who had never condescended to fear any nation or people, did in her time fear two human beings; one was Hannibal, and the other was a woman" (Lefkowitz and Fant 126). During a time dominated by male rulers, Cleopatra VII Philopator (69 BCE – 31 BCE), the Last Pharaoh of Egypt, stood out among them all. With Egypt’s wealth at her disposal, she was “incomparably richer than anyone else” (Schiff 2). The amount of power a ruler had at the time of Cleopatra’s existence depended highly on the level of financial stability. However, wealth was not all Cleopatra was known for. She exhibited high militant leadership skills equal to that of her male counterparts to keep Egypt a prosperous country.

Queen Cleopatra Thea Philopator VII, born 69 B.C and died about 30 B.C. had a few dimensions of leadership. First, she was pioneering. Cleopatra VII was charismatic, dynamic, bold, and good at making connections. She was cunning in her pursuits to get what she wanted. One time, she slipped through the enemies line and was smuggled secretly into Egypt rolled up in a carpet to see Julius Caesar in order to become his ally. (Peters, 2017) When she lost the throne to her brother, Cleopatra did not want to accept the loss and produced a militia that attacked her brother in Pelusium. Her brother was drowned when she won the future battle. (Peters,

Julia Agrippina, most commonly referred to as Agrippina the Younger or Agrippina Minor, played a notable role in the Julio-Claudian dynasty and Roman imperial politics. She wielded considerable authority in tradition, depicted as a woman of political ascendancy, virtually in control of public affairs as wife of one emperor and mother of another (Wife of Claudius). The term “empress,” often incorporated into literature about Agrippina, has a misleading connotation. No such word existed in the Latin language, and no woman publically or technically governed the affairs of Rome (Ginsberg, 5). Nevertheless, the forceful personality, extensive influence, and ambition that she exuded triggered a fascination for ancient writers and modern scholars.

Despite their similarities, there were a number of differences between Cleopatra and Agrippina The Younger. The primary difference between these two women was what they actually did with their power. While Cleopatra was able to make significant changes to Egypt with the power that she held, the primary result of Agrippina’s acquisition of power and influence was her son, Nero, becoming Emperor. The dominant viewpoint held by the majority of historians is that Nero’s time as Princeps did not benefit many, and is widely looked upon as a “reign of terror… that imposed an increasingly repressive regime upon the upper-classes and through his policies and personal conduct, undermined the values of materialism” (Rudich, 1993, p. 4). Agrippina, like

Cleopatra VII, the last reigning queen of Egypt, has intrigued us for centuries. Her story is one that has been told many times, and the many different and vastly varied representations of her and her story are solely based on the ways in which men and society have perceived women and their role in society throughout history. By looking at the perceptions of women starting from the Hellenes, the Greeks who greatly influenced Roman ideals, and following those perceptions through to the end of the 19th Century, it

Cleopatra’s reign over Egypt started from the deaths of her two elder sisters and the death of her father. Her