Cleopatra and Her Rule in Egypt

Cleopatra, the last and most important pharaoh in Egypt’s history. She was given the throne at just 17 years old and made Egypt thrive. She had led them for many years to not be taken over by Rome. She was one of the only pharaohs in her dynasty that really loved the Egyptian culture and tried connecting to the Egyptians. She had made the biggest impact on Egypt. Throughout this paper, we will learn about Cleopatra, the last pharaoh of Egypt.

Cleopatra was born around 70 or 69 B.C. Most of her life is unknown because most stories about her were destroyed. The stories we have today are all written by her enemies, the romans. They all told about her "life" the way they viewed it. As a disgrace and a backstabbing, seductive woman. From the stories and what happened in them we can estimate around the time she was born. (history.com staff, 2018)

Cleopatra‘s father was Ptolemy XII and her mother is believed to be Cleopatra V Tryphaena. She was Ptolemy XII wife and possibly half-sister. During Cleopatra’s time, royalty would marry their siblings or half-siblings to keep royalty in their blood line. She also had siblings named Ptolemy XIII Theos Philopator, Ptolemy XIV of Egypt, Arisinoe IV of Egypt, and Berenice IV of Egypt. Cleopatra had also continued the practice of marrying siblings, so she married both her brothers. In the end, by all of her siblings wanted the throne, she had to murder 3 of her siblings. (biography.com, 2018)

Cleopatra’s early childhood experiences were filled with learning. She would read books, especially in Greek, and would learn languages, philosophy, and many more. Since she was in the royal bloodline, she could be the pharaoh of Egypt when she’s old enough. In her family, especially her, were always cautious with her siblings because they all wanted the throne and all were willing to kill for it. She soon, very young, married her sibling Ptolemy XIII Theos Philopator. Around the time the throne was given to Ptolemy XIII Theos Philopator. This made her co-ruler of the throne at just 17 years old. (Shecter, pg.10)

Her early education had already started at a young age, so she was already very smart in her teens. She would speak, read, and write in Greek because even though living in Egypt and being in a family of rulers over Egypt, Greek is her native language and culture. This is because the first pharaoh of the Ptolemy Dynasty, Ptolemy I Soter, was originally Alexander the Great’s general and took Egypt after he died. This turned Egypt into a Hellenistic kingdom. She loved Egypt, wanting to rule it, so she learned the Egyptian and Latin language. She is one of the only Pharaoh, from the Ptolemy Dynasty, that learned Egyptian. (duckster.com, 2018)

She never went to college, because there was no college during her time, but growing up, she never stopped learning. She even started to learn early politics. She was so smart that Plutarch once said, "For her beauty, as we are told, was in itself not altogether incomparable, nor such as to strike those who saw her; but converse with her had an irresistible charm, and her presence, combined with the persuasiveness of her discourse and the character which was somehow diffused about her behavior towards others, had something stimulating about it. There was sweetness also in the tones of her voice; and her tongue, like an instrument of many strings, she could readily turn to whatever language she pleased…' (history.com staff, 2018)

She had kept the Egyptian, and many other places traditions, by marrying both her brothers, Ptolemy XIII and Ptolemy XIV. She also married a Roman leader named Marc Antony and before she married Marc Antony, she had a romantic relationship with another Roman leader named Julius Caesar. With marrying and having a romantic relationship with 2 Roman leaders, it has led to Roman allies and help from one another. There were still many people, Romans and Egyptians, that did not like the idea of Cleopatra and the roman leaders being together. The Romans just wanted Romans to marry Romans and they wanted to overthrow Cleopatra to take over Egypt. Also, they did not want the off springs of Egyptians and Romans. (Joyce Tydesley, 2018)

Cleopatra had one child with Julius Caesar and three children with Marc Antony. The son that Cleopatra and Julius Caesar had was names Caesarion, which means little Caesar. The other children she had that were with Marc Antony were named Ptolemy Philadelphus, Cleopatra Selene II, and Alexander Helios. Cleopatra Selene II and Alexander Helios were twins and named after the sun and the moon. In the end, only Cleopatra Selene II would survive till an old age and would marry. All were children, except Caesarion, when Cleopatra died. (biographyonline.com, 2018)

Throughout Cleopatra’s life, she was a woman pharaoh. During her time, woman was thought to be lower than men, but she had the highest status of her time. She is one of the few pharaohs that were actually woman. Even though she was a co-ruler with her husbands, her brothers, or her children, she was the one who made the decisions for Egypt. She created all the ideas for ruling and tried becoming a good ruler. Many thought she was unfit for pharaoh, but proved them wrong by making Egypt and independent and great country. (thefamouspeople.com, 2018)

When Cleopatra was ruling with her brother/husband Ptolemy XIII Theos, he was too young to rule so her had his advisors help him while ruling with Cleopatra. His advisers wanted Cleopatra out of the throne because they were power hungry and wanted then to take the throne from Ptolemy XIII Theos. They tricked Ptolemy XIII Theos to over throw Cleopatra of the throne, which made her run. She had run to Syria, but she wasn’t finished ruling the throne. She still wanted power of the throne so she conducted an army. She was soon going over throw her brother and his advisers. (thefamouspeople.com, 2018)

When she had conducted a great number of people for her army, she still needed help. She had learned that Julius Caesar was coming to visit Egypt and her brother, so she needed a way into the palace. Stories are told that she rolled herself into a rug and a loyal servant took her, in the rug, to the palace and said it was a present for Julius Caesar. When she got into the palace, she made an entrance to Julius Caesar and asked if he would help overthrow her brother. He said yes and they joined forces. They overthrew Ptolemy XIII Theos and restored Cleopatra to the crown. Ptolemy XIII Theos fled to the Nile, drowned, and Cleopatra and Julius Caesar had their child, Caesarion.

When Cleopatra finally had the throne, she was in a political turmoil with Egypt. There was so much confusion about who the pharaoh was and about the Roman’s. She had kept Egypt together and an independent kingdom for a long time from Rome. Many of the turmoil was caused by her brother and her father. They didn’t care for Egypt has much as she did and they never appreciated Egyptian culture. She loves the Greek culture, but also very much loved Egyptian culture. She wanted to do what was best for her country. (thefamouspeople.com, 2018)

A very big accomplishment for Cleopatra was that she was insanely smart. She was smarter than most historical men in her time. She would be about to speak in different languages all the time and going from to one to another. She was also very smart in military, by building an army and learning how to have allies. Her biggest allies were the Roman leaders Julius Caesar and Marc Antony. Her smartness in military lead her to win and lose great battles.

As said before, Cleopatra is one of a few pharaoh’s who ruled over Egypt, that were woman. The 3 most famous woman pharaohs being Cleopatra, Hatshepsut, and Nefertiti. Being a woman, and a good ruler, made her subjects love and hate her. They thought that woman was not good pharaoh’s but she turned the stereotype wrong by being a great pharaoh. She is known for being one of the best pharaoh’s out of the woman and the men. Also, being the best in the Ptolemy dynasty. (thefamouspeople.com, 2018)

One major thing she did during her ruling was taking on the Egyptian culture. She learned the Egyptian language and would wear Egyptian clothes. She is also one of the only pharaohs that tried learning the Egyptian culture. She loved both the Egyptian and Greek culture that she would combine them together. She would do that at the important announcements or even at dinner. This is another reason that her subjects loved her. They felt like she was trying to connect to them. (thefamouspeople.com, 2018)

Cleopatra had many interest later in life. She would rule and be with her children in Egypt. Sometimes she would stay in Rome to be with Marc Antony. During this time, Marc Antony’s wife Fulvia and her and Marc Antony’s children were in Rome, so sometimes they would have to stay hidden. She was still ruling Egypt but this time with her children. She still loved ruling Egypt and tried many things to make Egypt better. During this time, even being with a famous Roman leader Marc Antony, she still had many problems. One being that someone wanted to take Rome and Egypt for themselves. This man was named Octavian.

Later on, in life, Marc Antony and Octavian were fighting over who would rule over Egypt. Octavian wanted to rule because he was the rightful heir and in Julius Caesar's (the last Roman leader) will it said that he would be the ruler. Marc Antony wanted to rule because he was Julius Caesar’s general. The major impact that started the battle between them was that Marc Antony said to the Egyptian’s and to some romans that Caesarion (Cleopatra’s and assumed Julius Caesar’s son) was in fact the son of Julius Caesar and the rightful heir. Octavian did not like this and announced that he the actually and the next ruler of Rome. This lead to the battle between Octavian, Marc Antony, and Cleopatra.

Now, the battle between them was against the 2 roman leaders, Marc Antony and Octavian. Marc Antony needed more people to fight for him, so he went to Cleopatra to get some men. She did not say yes right away but then she said that she wanted to fight with him. The battle was named the Battle of Actium and was near to Actium of Greece. In the end, Marc Antony, Cleopatra, and Octavian had hard battle but one came out victorious. This was Octavian.

After the battle, she spent her last few days mourning. She had just lost the throne of Egypt. Also, Marc Antony and Cleopatra, got separated during the battle, so there were many rumors that Marc Antony heard about Cleopatra. One of the rumors that he heard was that she committed suicide. It is said that he was so sad and mourned after her death that he fell on his sword and soon died. When he had died, a servant rushed in to tell him that the rumor was false. It was already too late. (Diane Stanley, pg.36)

Cleopatra and heard of this and mourned even more. She soon went to where Antony’s body was and buried it. She was now being a prisoner of Octavian. She knew she couldn’t do anything, so she locked herself in a chamber with 2 of her most trust worthy servants. Octavian made her have very limitations on food and on the servants. This is because he wanted her to be his prisoner and did not want her to die. (Diane Stanley, pg.36)

On August 30, 30 B.C., one of Cleopatra’s servants came to her with a basket of grapes, but there was something else in the basket. A snake, specifically a cobra. It is said that Cleopatra died by committing suicide which is written by Plutarch. She and the 2 servants committed suicide by being poisoned. From Plutarch, he said that she was bitten from the snake. Well, that’s what we thought. Now with more technology, snake experts, and Egyptologist, we know now that a cobra can’t fit into a basket. Also, we now know that the snake’s bite/poison couldn’t have killed 3 people. (Evan Andrews, 2018)

Octavian got a letter from Cleopatra that said she wanted to be buried next to Marc Antony. Octavian knew what she was going to do so he tried getting to her first. When he got to her, it was already too late. He barged into the chamber and saw Cleopatra and 2 of her servant’s dead. She was soon buried next to Marc Antony and Octavian soon toke Egypt and Rome. He then changed his name to Caesar Augustus. (Evan Andrews, 2018)

There is a something missing, today we are not sure if we found Cleopatra’s or Marc Antony’s tomb. There have been many findings that say that it could be Cleopatra or Marc Antony, be we soon learned they were fake. Then an archaeologist named Kathleen Martinez, was digging at the temple of the god Osiris, and found many hidden tunnels, jewelry, skulls and mummified bodies. The most important thing being coins with Cleopatra’s face. Another man named Zahi Hawass helped her to and they found out that the mummified bodied were during Cleopatra’s time. They are still looking if there really is Cleopatra’s and Marc Antony’s tombs in the temple. (Susan Blackby, pg.144)

There have been many dedications to Cleopatra throughout the years. There is a play that is made by Shakespeare that is about called Antony and Cleopatra. There are also many movies that are made to tell her life story. One of the movies having a famous actress names Elizabeth Taylor and it is the most expensive movie that has ever been made. Many of the monuments made to her don’t exist now. They all were destroyed after her death by the order of Caesar Augustus (Octavian). (Duckster.com, 2018)

Even though in the end Cleopatra could not keep Egypt an independent country, she had made many impacts on the country and the world. One is being a very educated woman. She was born and raced in a society where woman was "lower" than men. She was not going to go along with stereotypes and she became one of the most educated people and pharaohs of her time. She was even smarter than most famous Roman leaders. She made woman during her time not to be looked down upon and made woman have a righteousness with society. (history.com staff, 2018)

Being the ruler of a very important country and living in Rome for a while, she had made a big impact on fashion. We now know that she wasn’t as strikingly beautiful as we thought, but had put both Greek and Egyptian elements in her clothing because she was raised in both traditions. While she was in Rome, even if she wasn’t liked by the romans, many women would try to do her style of clothes and many were said to be mistaken to be her sometimes. Even today in the 20s century, many famous designers still use ideas from Egyptian and Greek culture together. Now, the fashion sense has moved forward and is not only on clothes. You can now find them on vases, doors, buildings, coins, and even clocks. (history.com staff, 2018)

Cleopatra was a very powerful leader. She loved her country and her people, so she tried helping Egypt as much as she could. She helped it grow richer and bigger. This even meant that she would conspire with the enemies. She would try getting romans, specifically powerful romans, to help her with power, military, or to help her keep her throne. She would do anything for more political power and to make her country wealthy and great. Even though many people during her time didn’t agree or like what she was doing to make Egypt powerful, the romans, she did make Egypt better and more prosperous. (history.com staff.com, 2018)

One of the biggest reasons why Egypt had thrived for such a long time during Cleopatra’s ruling was because she had relationships with 2 of the most powerful leaders of Rome. This had lead to more people in military, having allies with people from different countries, and even some off springs. She because a famous leader throughout her time and both Egypt and Rome got a lot of power. Sadly, with both countries having this much power, the Romans and the Egyptians wanted to take over each other. Of course, since both countries famous leaders were allies, they couldn’t take over each other and had to work together in jobs and also in their armies. This was like this until Octavian came and took rightful power of the throne. (history.com staff, 2018)

Although she lost Egypt to Octavian/Caesar Augustus, she inspired many women to lead independent lives. To not to be ruled by the opposition from men. She showed that women did not need to be ruled over by men and they were not in a lower standing than men. She showed this by being an incredible pharaoh. She also showed that woman can do a lot of things that men can do and showed that women are smart by being about to speak many languages and being as smart as many of the roman leaders. Also showed that women have a voice and can make a difference on the world around them. (history.com staff, 2018) Throughout this paper, we learned about Cleopatra and her life ruling over Egypt. She had made a huge difference on everything around her and tried making Egypt thrive over Rome. She showed the biggest impact on the Egyptian people by trying to connect with their culture and trying to connect with the people. Being given the throne at such a young and trying to be overthrown by siblings or over other rulers, she tried everything she had to stay in rule and to make a difference. Even though she may have lost Egypt, she had inspired many people during her time and even now. She inspired people to be smart or even to have a good sense of fashion.