Queen of Egypt for nearly 300 years, Cleopatra VII was one of the first female rulers at the time. Cleopatra was a very smart women. She studied many subjects such as philosophy, literature, art, music, and medicine. She also knew six different languages, which were Aramaic, Ethiopic, Greek, Hebrew, Latin, and of course Egyptian. This made her a very powerful and wise pharaoh. Cleopatra was the oldest of two. She had a younger brother, Ptolemy XIII, who ruled the Macedonian dynasty with her. Her father was King Ptolemy XII, who ruled the Ptolemaic reign for 26 years. There isn’t much information about her mother, but in the article on biography.com it says, “Little is known about Cleopatra's mother, but some speculation presumes she may have been her father's sister, Cleopatra V Tryphaena.” (Biography.com Editors) When King Ptolemy XII died in 51 B.C., he left the throne to Cleopatra and her brother Ptolemy XIII. At that time Cleopatra was 18 years old, and Ptolemy XIII was only 10 years old! Following there tradition, Cleopatra and Ptolemy got married as it was likely back then. …show more content…
He fell in love with Cleopatra, which was good for her because she had access to enough military power to overthrow her brother and keep her control on Egypt as sole ruler. After they defeated Ptolemy's forces at the Battle of the Nile, Cleopatra was reunited with her throne once again. Soon after, Ptolemy XIII returned to Egypt to try and get the throne back, but was found dead in Nile River. Soon after, Cleopatra gave birth to a son named Caesarian. In the article it says, “In 47 B.C. Cleopatra bore Caesar a son, whom she named Caesarian. However, Caesar never acknowledged the boy was his offspring, and historical debate continues over whether he was indeed his father. Cleopatra eventually followed Caesar back to Rome, but returned to Egypt in 44 B.C., following his assassination.”(Anne
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.
Caesar and Cleopatra married and bore a child. They named him Caesarion, which means Little Caesar. Because Caesar love Cleopatra, he did anything for her. Ancient History states, “During the Alexandrian War, he killed Ptolemy XIII and defeated his army.
After Ptolemy XIII’s death, Caesar restored Cleopatra and Ptolemy XIV, her youngest brother, as rulers of Egypt. In 47 B.C., Cleopatra gave birth to a child that was believed to be Caesar’s. The child was Ptolemy XV Philopator Philometor Caesar, but was known to the Egyptian people as Caesarion, which means “Little Caesar.” In 46 to 45 B.C. Cleopatra, Ptolemy XIV, and Caesarion traveled to Rome to be with Caesar. He was murdered soon after in March of 44 B.C. They returned to Egypt where Ptolemy XIV died soon after their return. (“Cleopatra VII’s Childhood…”) Cleopatra feared for their lives because of the Caesarion posed to Octavian. (“Cleopatra: The Woman…”)
After Ptolemy XIII has his guardians revolt against Cleopatra, she was forced to flee to Syria, leaving the throne open to her brother and meaning she had to work to gain her power back. Cleopatra found an opportunity when Julius Caesar, one of the most powerful men in Rome at that time, arrived at Alexandria during his war with Pompey the Great. It was soon clear that Caesar and Ptolemy XIII were not amicable after Ptolemy presented the head of Pompey to Caesar, who, instead of being pleased with the defeat of his enemy, believed this move to be an insult to the greatness of his opponent. This gave Cleopatra the chance to create a connection between herself and Caesar, who prolonged his stay in Alexandria. Cleopatra smuggled herself in a rug into the palace where the Roman leader was staying, and impressed him with her intelligence, scheming and desirability that ran further, making her stand out from the rest of the women who tempted Caesar. It was not long before Caesar and Cleopatra began an affair, and he reinstated her power over Egypt, causing an end to the ruling of Ptolemy XIII and with it came the birth of Caesarion, their child and intended heir to the throne. Throughout this whole ordeal, it becomes apparent how calculating and knowledgeable Cleopatra was on how to influence the leader of Rome and to become appealing in a way that would
In 69 BC Cleopatra was born into an Egyptian dynasty. A dynasty in decline and under the protection of Rome. At the young age of 18 she assumed the throne along with one
Cleopatra was a woman. “Cleopatra stood at one of the most dangerous intersections in history: that of women and power. Clever women, Euripides had warned hundreds of years earlier, were dangerous” (112). The number of successful female leaders up until this day is drastically smaller than the male ones, and even now in 21st century the stereotype of a leader is a male. How did Cleopatra manage to go around this stereotype and become such a successful ruler? She got the men of her time obsessed with her. When thinking about power, we should remember Aristotle’s saying, “Yet what difference does it make weather the women rule or the rulers are ruled by women? The result is the same”. Cleopatra managed to be a ruler herself, while ruling the most influential men of her time. No one before, or after Cleopatra was ever able to do this again, but to this day she is a role model. She proved that not only men can be in charge and that women can do as much as a man
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.
Despite the fact that Ptolemy was Greek, in order to acknowledged by society, he added numerous Egyptian customs in his administration. Historians defines Cleopatra as lovely and the prevailing ruler in each of the three of her co-rulers consist of two brothers and her son. She was higly educated woman because she studied science, astronomy and also she could speak different languages. “Cleopatra was a skilled orator. Plutarch wrote that the queen was gripping in her conversation and persuasive in her discussion, able to speak Ethiopian, Trogodyte, and the languages of the Hebraioi, Arabes, Syrians, Medes, and Parthians, and many others as well. Egyptian is not specified but can be presumed because Plutarch referred to the ignorance of that language on the part of her royal predecessors. In addition to her native Greek, she also knew Latin, although the Romans with whom she came into contact would insist on speaking Greek.” After her father death, she came to power in 51 B.C. at the age of eigthteen. “Thus when Cleopatra VII came to the throne in late 51 B.C., she was a remarkably educated
In 51 B.C., Ptolemy XII died, leaving the throne to 18-year-old Cleopatra and her brother, the 10-year-old Ptolemy XIII. It is likely that the two siblings married, as was customary at the time. Over the next few years Egypt struggled to face down a number of issues, from an unhealthy economy to floods to famine.
Yet, it was not until after the death of her father in 51 BCE that Cleopatra ascended to the throne and married with her brother Ptolemy XIII, who was ten at the time. The marriage happened as per Egyptian custom and as instructed in her father’s will (Roberts 126). Although Cleopatra was married to her brother, a male with inherent power in the Egyptian culture, he was “kept firmly in the background” (Roberts 126). With the opportunity granted to her by her father’s death, she “made decisions of state” (Roberts 126). Unfortunately, Cleopatra taking over
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,
Stacy Schiff in Cleopatra: A life present a well detailed historical past of Cleopatra the last of Egyptian queens. She married twice to a brother. She was treated brutal during the Civil war. Cleopatra only had been with two mean, Caesar and Anthony, and had a kid with Caesar according
They were fathered by Antony and named Alexander Helios and Cleopatra Selene II. In 36 B.C, Antony married Cleopatra, although he was already married to Octavia Minor (who was the sister of his fellow triumvir Octavian), and made Alexandria his permanent home (Burstein, 2008; Kershaw, n.d.). The couple then had another child named Ptolemy Philadelphus in 46 B.C.E In the autumn of 34 B.C.E Cleopatra and Antony held a political event called the Donations of Alexandria where they divided the lands of Rome and Parthia that they ruled amongst their children. Cleopatra and Caesarion were crowned co-rulers of Egypt and Cyprus; Alexander Helios was crowned ruler of Armenia, Media and Parthia; Cleopatra Selene II was crowned ruler of Cyrenaica and Libya; and Ptolemy Philadelphus was crowned ruler of Phoenicia, Syria, and Cilicia. Antony also gave Cleopatra the title of ‘Queen of Kings’. In this ceremony Cleopatra manipulated Antony into elevating Caesar’s child Caesarion above the others by awarding him with co-regency and other titles including God (Burstein, 2008; Kershaw, n.d.). Dr Stanley M. Burstein (2008), a university professor who specialises in Ancient Greek History and Greek Relations with Egypt, thinks that “although Antony still retained his position as triumvir, the donations of Alexandria leave no doubt that he dreamed of something far more grandiose, nothing less than to re-create for Rome the empire of
Cleopatra Berenice III. is one of the lesser known Ptolemies. She was born as the daughter of Ptolemy XI. Soter II. Not much is known about her early life. She then married Ptolemy X. Alexander I. He was originally married to Cleopatra III and killed her in 101. Their collective name at that time was „Theoi Philometores Soteres“ and they had a daughter whose fate is entirely unknown. After he was banished from the country during riots, her father was re-instated as pharao and returned to the country, During her father’s second reign from 88-81 B.C., she became his co-regent as he did not legitimately remarry. When he died in 81 B.C., she was crowned queen and chose the cult title „Thea Philopator“ (roughly translates to „the goddess who loves
Cleopatra married another brother, Ptolemy XIV. Law in Egypt prevented women from ruling, alone which is why she married him. Even though she married Ptolemy XIV she was in love with Caesar. Cleopatra spent the next several months with Caesar travelling along the Nile. In 46 BC Cleopatra gave birth to Caesar’s son who was named Caesarian or little Caesar. She emphasized that it was Caesar’s child and Caesar never formally accepted paternity over the child. Even