Cleopatra

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For other uses, see Cleopatra (disambiguation).

Cleopatra

The Berlin Cleopatra, a Roman sculpture of Cleopatra wearing a

royal diadem, mid-1st century BC (around the time of her visits to
Rome in 46–44 BC), discovered in an Italian villa along the Via
Appia and now located in the Altes Museum in Germany.[1][2][3][note 1]

Queen of the Ptolemaic Kingdom

Reign 51–30 BC (21 years)[4]

Predecessor Ptolemy XII Auletes

Successor Ptolemy XV Caesarion[note 2]

Ptolemy XII Auletes

Co-rulers
Ptolemy XIII Theos Philopator

Ptolemy XIV

Ptolemy XV Caesarion

Born Early 69 BC

Alexandria, Ptolemaic Kingdom

Died 10 August 30 BC (aged 39)[note 3]

 Alexandria, Roman Egypt

Burial Unlocated tomb

(probably in Egypt)

Spouse Ptolemy XIII Theos Philopator

Ptolemy XIV

Mark Antony

Issue Caesarion

Alexander Helios

Cleopatra Selene II

Ptolemy Philadelphus

Names

Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator

Dynasty Ptolemaic

Father Ptolemy XII Auletes

Mother Presumably Cleopatra VI Tryphaena (also known

as Cleopatra V Tryphaena)[note 4]

Cleopatra VII in hieroglyphs

Cleopatra
Qlwpdrt

Horus name (1): Wer(et)-neb(et)-neferu-achet-
seh
Wr(.t)-nb(.t)-nfrw-3ḫ(t)-sḥ
The great Lady of perfection, excellent in counsel

   

Horus name (2): Weret-tut-en-it-es

Wr.t-twt-n-jt=s
The great one, sacred image of her father
  
Cleopatra netjeret mer(et) ites
Qlwpdrt nṯrt mr(t) jts
The goddess Cleopatra who is beloved of her
father

Part of a series on

Cleopatra VII

 Early life
 Death
 Children
 Ancestry

Reign

 Siege of Alexandria
 Battle of the Nile
 Accession
 Assassination of Pompey
 Liberators' civil war
 Donations of Alexandria
 Battle of Actium
 Downfall

Legacy

 Cultural depictions
  Tomb

 v
 t
 e

Cleopatra VII Philopator (Greek: Κλεοπάτρα Φιλοπάτωρ;[5] 69 BC – 10 August

30 BC) was Queen of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt, and its last active ruler.[note 5] A
member of the Ptolemaic dynasty, she was a descendant of its founder Ptolemy I
Soter, a Macedonian Greek general and companion of Alexander the Great.[note 6] After
the death of Cleopatra, Egypt became a province of the Roman Empire, marking the
end of the second to last Hellenistic state and the age that had lasted since the reign
of Alexander (336–323 BC).[note 7] Her native language was Koine Greek, and she was
the only Ptolemaic ruler to learn the Egyptian language.[note 8]
In 58 BC, Cleopatra presumably accompanied her father, Ptolemy XII Auletes,
during his exile to Rome after a revolt in Egypt (a Roman client state) allowing his
daughter Berenice IV to claim the throne. Berenice was killed in 55 BC when
Ptolemy returned to Egypt with Roman military assistance. When he died in 51 BC,
the joint reign of Cleopatra and her brother Ptolemy XIII began, but a falling-out
between them led to open civil war. After losing the 48 BC Battle of
Pharsalus in Greece against his rival Julius Caesar (a Roman dictator and consul)
in Caesar's Civil War, the Roman statesman Pompey fled to Egypt. Pompey had
been a political ally of Ptolemy XII, but Ptolemy XIII, at the urging of his court
eunuchs, had Pompey ambushed and killed before Caesar arrived and
occupied Alexandria. Caesar then attempted to reconcile the rival Ptolemaic siblings,
but Ptolemy's chief adviser, Potheinos, viewed Caesar's terms as favoring Cleopatra,
so his forces besieged her and Caesar at the palace. Shortly after the siege was
lifted by reinforcements, Ptolemy XIII died in the 47 BC Battle of the Nile; Cleopatra's
half-sister Arsinoe IV was eventually exiled to Ephesus for her role in carrying out the
siege. Caesar declared Cleopatra and her brother Ptolemy XIV joint rulers but
maintained a private affair with Cleopatra that produced a son, Caesarion. Cleopatra
traveled to Rome as a client queen in 46 and 44 BC, where she stayed at
Caesar's villa. After the assassinations of Caesar and (on her orders) Ptolemy XIV in
44 BC, she named Caesarion co-ruler.
In the Liberators' civil war of 43–42 BC, Cleopatra sided with the Roman Second
Triumvirate formed by Caesar's grandnephew and heir Octavian, Mark Antony,
and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus. After their meeting at Tarsos in 41 BC, the queen had
an affair with Antony. He carried out the execution of Arsinoe at her request, and
became increasingly reliant on Cleopatra for both funding and military aid during his
invasions of the Parthian Empire and the Kingdom of Armenia. The Donations of
Alexandria declared their children Alexander Helios, Cleopatra Selene II,
and Ptolemy Philadelphus rulers over various erstwhile territories under Antony's
triumviral authority. This event, their marriage, and Antony's divorce of Octavian's
sister Octavia Minor led to the Final War of the Roman Republic. Octavian engaged
in a war of propaganda, forced Antony's allies in the Roman Senate to flee Rome in
32 BC, and declared war on Cleopatra. After defeating Antony and Cleopatra's naval
fleet at the 31 BC Battle of Actium, Octavian's forces invaded Egypt in 30 BC and
defeated Antony, leading to Antony's suicide. When Cleopatra learned that Octavian
 planned to bring her to his Roman triumphal procession, she killed herself by
poisoning, contrary to the popular belief that she was bitten by an asp.
Cleopatra's legacy survives in ancient and modern works of art. Roman
historiography and Latin poetry produced a generally critical view of the queen that
pervaded later Medieval and Renaissance literature. In the visual arts, her ancient
depictions include Roman busts, paintings, and sculptures, cameo
carvings and glass, Ptolemaic and Roman coinage, and reliefs.
In Renaissance and Baroque art, she was the subject of many works
including operas, paintings, poetry, sculptures, and theatrical dramas. She has
become a pop culture icon of Egyptomania since the Victorian era, and in modern
times, Cleopatra has appeared in the applied and fine arts, burlesque satire,
Hollywood films, and brand images for commercial products.

Contents

 1Etymology
 2Biography
o 2.1Background
o 2.2Early childhood
o 2.3Reign and exile of Ptolemy XII
o 2.4Accession to the throne
o 2.5Assassination of Pompey
o 2.6Relationship with Julius Caesar
o 2.7Cleopatra in the Liberators' civil war
o 2.8Relationship with Mark Antony
o 2.9Donations of Alexandria
o 2.10Battle of Actium
o 2.11Downfall and death
 3Cleopatra's kingdom and role as a monarch
 4Legacy
o 4.1Children and successors
o 4.2Roman literature and historiography
o 4.3Cultural depictions
 4.3.1Depictions in ancient art
 4.3.1.1Statues
 4.3.1.2Coinage portraits
 4.3.1.3Greco-Roman busts and heads
 4.3.1.4Paintings
 4.3.1.5Portland Vase
 4.3.1.6Native Egyptian art
 4.3.2Medieval and Early Modern reception
 4.3.3Modern depictions and brand imaging
o 4.4Written works
 5Ancestry
 6See also
 7Notes
 8References
o 8.1Sources
 8.1.1Online
 8.1.2Print
 9Further reading
 10External links

Etymology
The Latinized form Cleopatra comes from the Ancient Greek Kleopátra (Κλεοπάτρα),
meaning "glory of her father",[6] from κλέος (kléos, "glory") and πᾰτήρ (patḗr, "father").
[7]
 The masculine form would have been written either as Kleópatros (Κλεόπᾰτρος)
or Pátroklos (Πᾰ́τροκλος).[7] Cleopatra was the name of Alexander the Great's sister,
as well as Cleopatra Alcyone, wife of Meleager in Greek mythology.[8] Through the
marriage of Ptolemy V Epiphanes and Cleopatra I Syra (a Seleucid princess), the
name entered the Ptolemaic dynasty.[9][10] Cleopatra's adopted title Theā́
Philopátōra (Θεᾱ́ Φιλοπάτωρα) means "goddess who loves her father". [11][12][note 9]

Biography
Background
Main article: Early life of Cleopatra

Hellenistic Kingdoms that emerged after the death of Alexander the Great

Hellenistic portrait of Ptolemy XII Auletes, the father of Cleopatra, located in the Louvre, Paris[13]

Ptolemaic pharaohs were crowned by the Egyptian high priest of Ptah at Memphis,

but resided in the multicultural and largely Greek city of Alexandria, established
by Alexander the Great of Macedon.[14][15][16][note 10] They spoke Greek and governed Egypt
as Hellenistic Greek monarchs, refusing to learn the native Egyptian language.[17][18][19]
[note 8]
 In contrast, Cleopatra could speak multiple languages by adulthood and was the
first Ptolemaic ruler to learn the Egyptian language. [20][21][19][note 11] Plutarch implies that she
also spoke Ethiopian, the language of the
"Troglodytes", Hebrew (or Aramaic), Arabic, the Syrian
language (perhaps Syriac), Median, and Parthian, and she could apparently also
speak Latin, although her Roman contemporaries would have preferred to speak
with her in her native Koine Greek.[21][19][22][note 12] Aside from Greek, Egyptian, and Latin,
these languages reflected Cleopatra's desire to restore North African and West
Asian territories that once belonged to the Ptolemaic Kingdom.[23]
Roman interventionism in Egypt predated the reign of Cleopatra.[24][25][26] When Ptolemy
IX Lathyros died in late 81 BC, he was succeeded by his daughter Berenice III.[27]
[28]
 However, with opposition building at the royal court against the idea of a sole
reigning female monarch, Berenice III accepted joint rule and marriage with her
cousin and stepson Ptolemy XI Alexander II, an arrangement made by the Roman
dictator Sulla.[27][28] Ptolemy XI had his wife killed shortly after their marriage in 80 BC,
but was lynched soon thereafter in the resulting riot over the assassination. [27][29]
[30]
 Ptolemy XI, and perhaps his uncle Ptolemy IX or father Ptolemy X Alexander I,
willed the Ptolemaic Kingdom to Rome as collateral for loans, so that the Romans
had legal grounds to take over Egypt, their client state, after the assassination of
Ptolemy XI.[27][31][32] The Romans chose instead to divide the Ptolemaic realm among
the illegitimate sons of Ptolemy IX, bestowing Cyprus to Ptolemy of
Cyprus and Egypt to Ptolemy XII Auletes.[27][29]
Early childhood
Main article: Early life of Cleopatra
Cleopatra VII was born in early 69 BC to the ruling Ptolemaic pharaoh Ptolemy XII
and an unknown mother,[33][34][note 13] presumably Ptolemy XII's wife Cleopatra VI
Tryphaena (also known as Cleopatra V Tryphaena),[35][36][37][note 14][note 4] the mother of
Cleopatra's older sister, Berenice IV Epiphaneia.[38][39][40][note 15] Cleopatra Tryphaena
disappears from official records a few months after the birth of Cleopatra in 69 BC. [41]
[42]
 The three younger children of Ptolemy XII, Cleopatra's sister Arsinoe IV and
brothers Ptolemy XIII Theos Philopator and Ptolemy XIV,[38][39][40] were born in the
absence of his wife.[43][44] Cleopatra's childhood tutor was Philostratos, from whom she
learned the Greek arts of oration and philosophy.[45] During her youth Cleopatra
presumably studied at the Musaeum, including the Library of Alexandria.[46][47]
Reign and exile of Ptolemy XII
Main article: Early life of Cleopatra
Further information: First Triumvirate
In 65 BC the Roman censor Marcus Licinius Crassus argued before the Roman
Senate that Rome should annex Ptolemaic Egypt, but his proposed bill and the
similar bill of tribune Servilius Rullus in 63 BC were rejected.[48][49] Ptolemy XII
responded to the threat of possible annexation by offering remuneration and lavish
gifts to powerful Roman statesmen, such as Pompey during his
campaign against Mithridates VI of Pontus, and eventually Julius Caesar after he
became Roman consul in 59 BC.[50][51][52][note 16] However, Ptolemy XII's profligate behavior
bankrupted him, and he was forced to acquire loans from the Roman banker Gaius
Rabirius Postumus.[53][54][55]
Most likely a posthumously painted portrait of Cleopatra with red hair and her distinct facial features,
wearing a royal diadem and pearl-studded hairpins, from Roman Herculaneum, Italy, 1st century AD[56][57][note
17]

In 58 BC the Romans annexed Cyprus and on accusations of piracy drove Ptolemy

of Cyprus, Ptolemy XII's brother, to commit suicide instead of enduring exile
to Paphos.[58][59][55][note 18] Ptolemy XII remained publicly silent on the death of his brother, a
decision which, along with ceding traditional Ptolemaic territory to the Romans,
damaged his credibility among subjects already enraged by his economic policies. [58]
[60][61]
 Ptolemy XII was then exiled from Egypt by force, traveling first to Rhodes,
then Athens, and finally the villa of triumvir Pompey in the Alban Hills,
near Praeneste, Italy.[58][59][62][note 19] Ptolemy XII spent nearly a year there on the outskirts
of Rome, ostensibly accompanied by his daughter Cleopatra, then about 11. [58][62][note
20]
 Berenice IV sent an embassy to Rome to advocate for her rule and oppose the
reinstatement of her father Ptolemy XII, but Ptolemy had assassins kill the leaders of
the embassy, an incident that was covered up by his powerful Roman supporters. [63][54]
[64][note 21]
 When the Roman Senate denied Ptolemy XII the offer of an armed escort and
provisions for a return to Egypt, he decided to leave Rome in late 57 BC and reside
at the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus.[65][66][67]
The Roman financiers of Ptolemy XII remained determined to restore him to power.
[68]
 Pompey persuaded Aulus Gabinius, the Roman governor of Syria, to invade Egypt
and restore Ptolemy XII, offering him 10,000 talents for the proposed mission.[68][69]
[70]
 Although it put him at odds with Roman law, Gabinius invaded Egypt in the spring
of 55 BC by way of Hasmonean Judea, where Hyrcanus II had Antipater the
Idumaean, father of Herod the Great, furnish the Roman-led army with supplies. [68]
[71]
 As a young cavalry officer, Mark Antony was under Gabinius's command. He
distinguished himself by preventing Ptolemy XII from massacring the inhabitants
of Pelousion, and for rescuing the body of Archelaos, the husband of Berenice IV,
after he was killed in battle, ensuring him a proper royal burial. [72][73] Cleopatra, then 14
years of age, would have traveled with the Roman expedition into Egypt; years later,
Antony would profess that he had fallen in love with her at this time. [72][74]
The Roman Republic (green) and Ptolemaic Egypt (yellow) in 40 BC

Gabinius was put on trial in Rome for abusing his authority, for which he was
acquitted, but his second trial for accepting bribes led to his exile, from which he was
recalled seven years later in 48 BC by Caesar.[75][76] Crassus replaced him as governor
of Syria and extended his provincial command to Egypt, but he was killed by
the Parthians at the Battle of Carrhae in 53 BC.[75][77] Ptolemy XII had Berenice IV and
her wealthy supporters executed, seizing their properties. [78][79][80] He allowed Gabinius's
largely Germanic and Gallic Roman garrison, the Gabiniani, to harass people in the
streets of Alexandria and installed his longtime Roman financier Rabirius as his chief
financial officer.[78][81][82][note 22] Within a year Rabirius was placed under protective custody
and sent back to Rome after his life was endangered for draining Egypt of its
resources.[83][84][80][note 23] Despite these problems, Ptolemy XII created a will designating
Cleopatra and Ptolemy XIII as his joint heirs, oversaw major construction projects
such as the Temple of Edfu and a temple at Dendera, and stabilized the economy.[85]
[84][86][note 24]
 On 31 May 52 BC, Cleopatra was made a regent of Ptolemy XII, as indicated
by an inscription in the Temple of Hathor at Dendera.[87][88][89][note 25] Rabirius was unable to
collect the entirety of Ptolemy XII's debt by the time of the latter's death, and so it
was passed on to his successors Cleopatra and Ptolemy XIII. [83][76]
Accession to the throne
Main articles: Early life of Cleopatra and Reign of Cleopatra

Left: Cleopatra dressed as a pharaoh and presenting offerings to the goddess Isis, on a

limestone stele dedicated by a Greek man named Onnophris, dated 51 BC, and located in the Louvre,
Paris
Right: The cartouches of Cleopatra and Caesarion on a limestone stele of the High Priest of Ptah in Egypt,
dated to the Ptolemaic period, and located in the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, London

Ptolemy XII died sometime before 22 March 51 BC, when Cleopatra, in her first act
as queen, began her voyage to Hermonthis, near Thebes, to install a new
sacred Buchis bull, worshiped as an intermediary for the god Montu in the Ancient
Egyptian religion.[5][90][91][note 26] Cleopatra faced several pressing issues and emergencies
shortly after taking the throne. These included famine caused by drought and a low
level of the annual flooding of the Nile, and lawless behavior instigated by the
Gabiniani, the now unemployed and assimilated Roman soldiers left by Gabinius to
garrison Egypt.[92][93] Inheriting her father's debts, Cleopatra also owed the Roman
Republic 17.5 million drachmas.[94]
In 50 BC Marcus Calpurnius Bibulus, proconsul of Syria, sent his two eldest sons to
Egypt, most likely to negotiate with the Gabiniani and recruit them as soldiers in the
desperate defense of Syria against the Parthians.[95] However, the Gabiniani tortured
and murdered these two, perhaps with secret encouragement by rogue senior
administrators in Cleopatra's court.[95][96] Cleopatra sent the Gabiniani culprits to
Bibulus as prisoners awaiting his judgment, but he sent them back to Cleopatra and
chastised her for interfering in their adjudication, which was the prerogative of the
Roman Senate.[97][96] Bibulus, siding with Pompey in Caesar's Civil War, failed to
prevent Caesar from landing a naval fleet in Greece, which ultimately allowed
Caesar to reach Egypt in pursuit of Pompey.[97]
By 29 August 51 BC, official documents started listing Cleopatra as the sole ruler,
evidence that she had rejected her brother Ptolemy XIII as a co-ruler. [94][96][98] She had
probably married him,[77] but there is no record of this.[5] The Ptolemaic practice
of sibling marriage was introduced by Ptolemy II and his sister Arsinoe II.[99][100]
[101]
 A long-held royal Egyptian practice, it was loathed by contemporary Greeks.[99][100][101]
[note 27]
 By the reign of Cleopatra, however, it was considered a normal arrangement for
Ptolemaic rulers.[99][100][101]
Despite Cleopatra's rejection of him, Ptolemy XIII still retained powerful allies,
notably the eunuch Potheinos, his childhood tutor, regent, and administrator of his
properties.[102][93][103] Others involved in the cabal against Cleopatra included Achillas, a
prominent military commander, and Theodotus of Chios, another tutor of Ptolemy
XIII.[102][104] Cleopatra seems to have attempted a short-lived alliance with her brother
Ptolemy XIV, but by the autumn of 50 BC Ptolemy XIII had the upper hand in their
conflict and began signing documents with his name before that of his sister,
followed by the establishment of his first regnal date in 49 BC.[5][105][106][note 28]
Assassination of Pompey
Main article: Reign of Cleopatra
A Roman portrait of Pompey made during the reign of Augustus (27 BC – 14 AD), a copy of an original
from 70 to 60 BC, and located in the Venice National Archaeological Museum, Italy

In the summer of 49 BC, Cleopatra and her forces were still fighting against Ptolemy
XIII within Alexandria when Pompey's son Gnaeus Pompeius arrived, seeking
military aid on behalf of his father.[105] After returning to Italy from the wars in
Gaul and crossing the Rubicon in January of 49 BC, Caesar had forced Pompey and
his supporters to flee to Greece.[107][108] In perhaps their last joint decree, both
Cleopatra and Ptolemy XIII agreed to Gnaeus Pompeius's request and sent his
father 60 ships and 500 troops, including the Gabiniani, a move that helped erase
some of the debt owed to Rome.[107][109] Losing the fight against her brother, Cleopatra
was then forced to flee Alexandria and withdraw to the region of Thebes. [110][111][112] By
the spring of 48 BC Cleopatra had traveled to Roman Syria with her younger sister,
Arsinoe IV, to gather an invasion force that would head to Egypt. [113][106][114] She returned
with an army, but her advance to Alexandria was blocked by her brother's forces,
including some Gabiniani mobilized to fight against her, so she camped outside
Pelousion in the eastern Nile Delta.[115][106][116]
In Greece, Caesar and Pompey's forces engaged each other at the decisive Battle of
Pharsalus on 9 August 48 BC, leading to the destruction of most of Pompey's army
and his forced flight to Tyre, Lebanon.[115][117][118][note 29] Given his close relationship with the
Ptolemies, Pompey ultimately decided that Egypt would be his place of refuge,
where he could replenish his forces.[119][118][116][note 30] Ptolemy XIII's advisers, however,
feared the idea of Pompey using Egypt as his base in a protracted Roman civil war.
[119][120][121]
 In a scheme devised by Theodotus, Pompey arrived by ship near Pelousion
after being invited by a written message, only to be ambushed and stabbed to death
on 28 September 48 BC.[119][117][122][note 31] Ptolemy XIII believed he had demonstrated his
power and simultaneously defused the situation by having Pompey's head, severed
and embalmed, sent to Caesar, who arrived in Alexandria by early October and took
up residence at the royal palace.[123][124][125][note 31] Caesar expressed grief and outrage over
the killing of Pompey and called on both Ptolemy XIII and Cleopatra to disband their
forces and reconcile with each other.[123][126][125][note 32]