Cleopatra

After Alexander the Great's death in 323 B.C., his generals divided his huge empire into smaller kingdoms. Ptolemy the Savior took over Egypt, where he reigned for the next four decades, establishing the Ptolemaic Dynasty. Egypt became the richest and most durable kingdom in the Hellenistic world, combining Greek and Middle Eastern cultures. Its last ruler was Queen Cleopatra VII, who had to contend with the rising power of Rome to the west. (Her name means "Her Father's Glory.")

Our knowledge of Cleopatra, born around 70, is somewhat limited. The evidence suggests she wasn't so beautiful--she was gap-toothed! But she seems to have been unusually intelligent, learning several languages. After her father Ptolemy XII died in 51 B.C. she shared the throne with her brother Ptolemy XIII, but they ended up contending for power in a civil war. Julius Caesar arrived in Alexandria in 48 in pursuit of his defeated rival Pompey, then made an alliance with her which defeated her brother's forces in the Battle of the Nile the following year. The two of them had a son named Caesarion.

Cleopatra returned to Rome with Caesar in 46, remaining there until his assassination. Then she supported the triumvirate of Marc Antony, Octavian/Augustus and Lepidus in their victorious war against Caesar's assassins. She met Antony in 41 and they eventually had three children. Antony took over the Greek-speaking eastern part of the Roman sphere, relying on her financial and military support. In 34 Antony granted much of his land to Cleopatra's children in the Donations of Alexandria.

Back in Rome, Augustus' propagandists seized on this act to accuse Antony of treason. He forced Antony's supporters to flee Rome and declared war on Cleopatra. Antony was defeated in the naval Battle of Actium in 31, then killed himself. Cleopatra seems to have followed suit, to avoid being publicly displayed as a prisoner in Augustus' Roman triumph. Augustus also executed Caesarion. Cleopatra was the last Pharaoh: Egypt would now be a Roman province.

For background reading you can try Joyce Tyldesley's Cleopatra: Last Queen of Egypt.

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