Cleopatra

Among the figures that are still remembered today from Ancient Egypt we can find Cleopatra , a descendant of kings who was the last queen who belonged to the Ptolemaic dynasty . She was a woman whom her people loved very much and who knew how to conquer the love and hearts of renowned men such as Julius Caesar and Marco Antonio.

Cleopatra biography

Cleopatra was born in the city of Alexandria . Historians place his date of birth in 69 BC . With the aim to keep alive the family dynasty, contracted marriage with his brother Ptolemy XIII.

Shortly after their marriage, a series of conflicts began that caused Cleopatra to be removed from her throne. The civil struggles of Rome reached the city of Egypt and Julius Caesar then began to enter the conflict between Cleopatra and her brother. During the Alexandrian War , Ptolemy XIII died and thanks to Julius Caesar, Cleopatra once again occupied his throne by marrying her other brother Ptolemy XIV, whom she always dominated.

He managed to stay in the reign thanks to his intelligence with which he was able to seduce the lovers who helped him maintain his posture. Every time one of these men died, she tried to conquer someone else until she met Octavio Augusto, a man she could not fall in love with.

Cleopatra’s personal life

He married his brother Ptolemy XIII but this he did only to be able to continue on the throne. Her first great love was the well-known Julius Caesar , with him she spent a lot of time, enjoyed parties and made several trips. In order to stay on the throne, Cleopatra had to marry another of her brothers, Ptolemy XIV, but he was only 10 years old. She then maintained her relationship as a lover with Julius Caesar and together they had a son, Cesarion .

After the death of Julius Caesar, he met Marco Antonio , a Roman general . They fell in love and he then decided to stay by her side in Egypt until he had to return to Rome where he married another woman, Octavia. Cleopatra had two twins and later married Marco Antonio, to later give birth to another of their children.

She also tried to seduce Octavio , however, this was a cold man and she could not conquer him on the contrary, she was humiliated and exhibited by him in the streets of Rome, which is why she decides to end his life.

Reign

His reign had its beginning at the time when his father died, Ptolemy XII Auletes , approximately in the year 51 BC It ended, according to the experts on August 10 or 12 of the year 30 BC He initially came to the throne as a co-regent alongside of his brother, nevertheless, a conflict between both provoked a war.

She was in charge of governing Egypt and some other territories as an absolute monarch , she was the only one who could carry out legislation within her kingdom and in addition, she was also considered the only authority of a religious nature . While she was queen, she was part of the construction of temples for Egyptian and Greek gods, built a synagogue for the Jewish people living in Egypt, the Caesarean of Alexandria and actively participated in matters related to her people such as hunger.

He also ordered that prices , tariffs and the monopoly that existed at the time for some products be controlled . He also created a series of strong laws that made the peasants stay in their homes during the sowing and harvesting periods.

Death

He tried to conquer Octavian Augustus in order to save his throne, however, he did not fall before his charms and on the contrary he took it as a spoil of war to take it to Rome. Seeing this situation, she decided to commit suicide using an ancient Egyptian ritual that consisted of letting me be bitten by an asp . Given this, Augustus decided to end the life of Cleopatra’s son, Caesarion , thus ending the entire Ptolemaic dynasty.

Grave

For many years, historians and researchers have tried to find Cleopatra’s tomb as her exact whereabouts are unknown. Many consider that, logically, it should be buried in some of the temples dedicated to her . Despite the large number of archaeological excavations , the exact place where his remains rest has not yet been found.

What did Cleopatra do

During her reign, Cleopatra managed to achieve and maintain the stability of her country for a long time , she was in charge of fighting for the ideals left by Alexander the Great and was able, with her intelligence, to end hunger in her people. He fought with all his might to prevent and counteract the siege by the Roman Empire and managed to move his kingdom forward in the face of the economic crisis they were facing.

Personality

His personality was characterized by being determined , intelligent and by looking for the way to achieve what he wanted. She was so cunning that she managed to keep her people from starving, she was insightful , agile and quick to make decisions. She also had a very seductive personality and thanks to her talent she managed to conquer very important characters in history.

Physical characteristics

According to various historians and Egyptologists, Cleopatra actually conquered more for her great personality and not so much for her beauty. Various findings indicate that he was 5 feet tall , his skin was dark, and he was overweight . His nose was prominent , his lips were thin, and he had a slightly pointed jaw . There are writings by Plutarco , who described the queen not as a beautiful person but with a personality that bewitched everyone.

Parents

His mother was Cleopatra V Tryphena and his father Ptolemy XII who was not very interested in the problems in his people and who was seen by many as a corrupt man.

Husbands

Her first husband was Ptolemy XII I, who was her brother and who had been appointed as a monarch. Her second husband was Ptolemy XIV , who was her younger brother who was only ten or eleven years old. Her third husband was Marco Antonio, with whom she married in 36 BC. This was a bigamist marriage as he had already married another woman.

Sons

Cleopatra had children by the side of Marco Antonio. Alexander Hellos who was declared on his sixth birthday as the King of Armenia and the Seleucid Empire. Another of his sons was Philadelphus , who would later be named king of Syria and Asia Minor. Eventually their daughter Selene was born , who was appointed as Queen of Crete and Cyrenaica.

Importance

Cleopatra was an important woman in her time as she ruled Egypt during the Macedonian dynasty. He was able, during his tenure, to establish and create a series of very powerful alliances with Rome , thanks to his relations with Julius Caesar and with Marco Antonio. He managed, thanks to his intelligence, to make his people overcome themselves and leave the hunger and misery that had plagued them for many years.

Cleopatra quotes

Some of his important phrases are the following:

• I am not your slave, you are my guest. (addressed to Julius Caesar)
• If you really love me, tell me how much you love me.
• Every man has a dream image of himself with a woman, and your mission is to make this dream come true. The closer you get to this dream, the more you will be able to satisfy it … Put aside the concoctions and perfumes. The spell is to conjure desire and dream and bring it to life. If you succeed, you can change and you may come to love the man. (phrase that he directed to Jehosheba, a prostitute of the time).

Curiosities

Cleopatra was not actually as beautiful as the movies have made her look, on the contrary, she used her sex appeal and political cunning to win over men. He spoke approximately twelve languages and studied mathematics , public speaking, and astronomy , to name a few sciences. He used many concoctions and toxic substances to produce poisons, thinking that one day he would need them.

Presence in popular culture

In popular culture, Cleopatra has held an important place and her story has been told many times through books and movies . In all of them the queen is described as a sensual, beautiful and mystical woman. Some paintings have also been made in his name as well as some plays .