Cleopatra VII

Biography

Cleopatra VII Philopator was the last ruler of the Ptolemaic dynasty, the last independent monarch of the ancient world, and — in Octavian's propaganda and in Western cultural memory — something quite different from the historical reality. She was a polyglot administrator who spoke nine languages (the first of the Ptolemies to speak Egyptian), a political strategist who had survived three civil wars of her own dynasty before meeting Caesar, and the ruler of the richest kingdom in the Mediterranean. The image of her as primarily a femme fatale seducing Romans into political destruction was Octavian's creation, and it worked so well that it largely persists. Her alliance with Caesar was a political calculation first and a personal relationship second. She needed Roman power to secure her throne; he needed Egyptian grain and gold for his armies. She bore him a son, Caesarion, and spent time in Rome in 46-44 BC before his assassination removed her primary protector. With Antony she found both a political partner and a genuine personal ally — the years they spent in Alexandria between campaigns were, by ancient accounts, genuinely happy. She bore him three children and made him gifts of territories that Rome regarded as belonging to the empire. The final act was her masterstroke and her failure simultaneously. When Octavian besieged Alexandria in 30 BC, she preserved her treasure and tried to negotiate — she would support Octavian if he would let Caesarion and her children survive. Octavian agreed to nothing. When Antony died, she knew she faced either a Roman triumph (displayed in chains) or death. She chose death, and she chose the time and manner of it — dressed in her royal robes, reportedly arranging for an asp to be smuggled in with a basket of figs. Octavian wanted her for his triumph; she denied him the satisfaction.

Key Battles