Cleopatra VII of Egypt

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Template:Redirect Cleopatra VII Philopator (January 69 BC – August 12 30 BC,Greek:Κλεοπάτρα Φιλοπάτωρ), later Cleopatra Thea Neotera Philopator kai Philopatris, was queen of ancient Egypt, the last member of the Ptolemaic dynasty and hence the last Hellenistic ruler of Egypt. Although many other Egyptian Queens shared the name, she is usually known as simply Cleopatra, and all of her similarly named predecessors have been mostly forgotten.

Cleopatra is one of the most famous people of all time. In a civil war between the government and the people, in which Julius Caesar played a major role as a military force, the Library of Alexandria was burned, as was the ancient museum of egypt in which scholars came from all over the world to study. This war, and the country's losses is considered the greatest loss of all time.

Cleopatra was a co-ruler of Egypt with her father (Ptolemy XII Auletes), her brothers/husbands Ptolemy XIII and Ptolemy XIV and later her son Caesarion. Cleopatra survived a coup engineered by her brother's courtiers, consummated a liaison with Julius Caesar that solidified her grip on the throne, and, after Caesar's assassination, aligned with Mark Antony, with whom she produced twins. She later married Mark Antony and gave birth to another son. In all, Cleopatra had 4 children, 3 by Antony and 1 by Caesar. Her unions with her brothers produced no children.

After Antony's rival and Caesar's legal heir, Octavian, brought the might of Rome against Egypt, Cleopatra took her own life on August 12, 30 BC. Her legacy survives in the form of numerous dramatizations of her story, including William Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra and several modern films.

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Life

A Greek by language and culture, Cleopatra is reputed to have been the first member of her family in their 300-year reign in Egypt to have learned the Egyptian language.

Image:Cleopatra VII Philopator inscriptions.JPG

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Birth and rule with father

"Cleopatra" is Greek for "father's glory," and her full name, "Cleopatra Thea Philopator" means "the Goddess Cleopatra, the Beloved of Her Father." She was the third daughter of the king Ptolemy XII Auletes, with whom she was first made to rule.When Cleopatra VII ascended the Egyptian throne, she was only seventeen. She reigned as Queen Philopator and Pharaoh between 51 and 30 BC, and died at the age of 39.

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Rule with Ptolemy XIII

On their father's death in the spring of 51 BC, at only 18 and as Auletes' oldest child (two older sisters having died), she became co-ruler with her younger brother Ptolemy XIII. She married him and consummated the marriage to strengthen her hold on the throne.

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Fall, recovery, Caesar

By August 51 BCE she was dropping his name from official documents, which flew in the face of Ptolemaic tradition that female rulers be subordinate to male co-rulers. Furthermore, it was Cleopatra's face alone that appeared on coins. Perhaps because of her independent streak a cabal of courtiers, led by the eunuch Pothinus, removed Cleopatra from power — possibly in 48 BCE, possibly earlier — a decree exists with Ptolemy's name alone from 51 BCE. She tried to raise a rebellion around Pelusium but she was soon forced to flee Egypt. Her only surviving sister, Arsinoë accompanied her Template:Ref

In the autumn of 48 BCE, however, Ptolemy imperiled his own power by injudiciously meddling in the affairs of Rome. When Pompey, fleeing the victorious Julius Caesar, arrived in Alexandria seeking sanctuary, Ptolemy had him murdered in order to ingratiate himself with Caesar. Caesar was so repelled by this treachery that he seized the Egyptian capital and imposed himself as arbiter between the rival claims of Ptolemy and Cleopatra. (It should be noted that Pompey had been married to Caesar's daughter, who died giving birth to their son). After a short war, Ptolemy XIII was killed and Caesar restored Cleopatra to her throne, with another younger brother Ptolemy XIV as new co-ruler.

Caesar wintered in Egypt in 48 BCE–47 BCE, and Cleopatra shored up her political advantage by becoming his lover. Egypt remained independent, but three Roman legions were left to protect it. Cleopatra's winter liaison with Caesar produced a son whom they named Ptolemy Caesar (nicknamed Caesarion, little Caesar). However, Caesar refused to make the boy his heir, naming his grand-nephew Octavian instead.

Cleopatra and Caesarion visited Rome between 46 BCE and 44 BCE and were present when Caesar was assassinated. Before or just after she returned to Egypt, Ptolemy XIV died mysteriously (possibly poisoned by Cleopatra). Cleopatra then made Caesarion her co-regent and successor (44–30 BCE).

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Mark Antony, and Cleopatra final fall, last stand, suicide?

In 42 BC, Mark Antony, one of the triumvirs who ruled Rome in the power vacuum following Caesar's death, summoned Cleopatra to meet him in Tarsus to answer questions about her loyalty. Cleopatra arrived in great state, and so charmed Antony that he chose to spend the winter of 42 BC–41 BC with her in Alexandria. During the winter, she became pregnant with twins, who were named Cleopatra Selene and Alexander Helios.

Four years later, in 37 BCE, Antony visited Alexandria again while en route to make war with the Parthians. He renewed his relationship with Cleopatra, and from this point on Alexandria would be his home. He married Cleopatra according to the Egyptian rite (a letter quoted in Suetonius suggests this), although he was at the time married to Octavia Minor, sister of his fellow triumvir Octavian. He and Cleopatra had another child, Ptolemy Philadelphus. At the Donations of Alexandria in late 34 BCE, following Antony's conquest of Armenia, Cleopatra and Caesarion were crowned co-rulers of Egypt and Cyprus; Alexander Helios was crowned ruler of Armenia, Media, and Parthia; Cleopatra Selene was crowned ruler of Cyrenaica and Libya; and Ptolemy Philadelphus was crowned ruler of Phoenicia, Syria, and Cilicia. Cleopatra also took the title of Queen of Kings.

There are a number of unverifiable but famous stories about Cleopatra, of which one of the best known is that, at one of the lavish dinners she shared with Antony, she playfully bet him that she could spend ten million sesterces on a dinner. He accepted the bet. The next night, she had a conventional, unspectacular meal served; he was ridiculing this, when she ordered the second course — only a cup of strong vinegar. She then removed one of her priceless pearl earrings, dropped it into the vinegar, allowed it to dissolve, and drank the mixture.

Antony's behavior was considered outrageous by the Romans, and Octavian convinced the Senate to levy war against Egypt. In 31 BCE Antony's forces faced the Romans in a naval action off the coast of Actium. Cleopatra was present with a fleet of her own. Popular legend tells us that when she saw that Antony's poorly equipped and manned ships were losing to the Romans' superior vessels, she took flight and that Antony abandoned the battle to follow her, but no contemporary evidence states this was the case.

Image:The Death of Cleopatra arthur.jpg

Following the Battle of Actium, Octavian invaded Egypt. As he approached Alexandria, Antony's armies deserted to Octavian. on August 12 30 BCE. Cleopatra's son by Caesar, Caesarion, was executed by Octavian. The three children of Cleopatra with Antony were spared and taken back to Rome where they were reared by Antony's wife, Octavia.

Antony committed suicide, and a few days later Cleopatra also committed suicide (either by poison or snake bite). She did not want the shame of being paraded in a triumph by Octavian in Rome, but some also argue that she committed suicide out of love for Antony.

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Cleopatra in art, film, TV, and literature

Cleopatra's story has fascinated scores of writers and artists through the centuries. No doubt, much of her appeal lay in her legend as a great seductress who was able to ally herself with two of the most powerful men (Caesar and Antony) of her time.

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Literature-Drama

Among the more famous works on her:

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Literature-other

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TV

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Films

Image:Filmed cleopatra plays.JPG

The earliest Cleopatra-related motion picture was Antony and Cleopatra (1908) with Florence Lawrence as Cleopatra. The earliest film on Cleopatra as the main subject was Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, starring Helen Gardner (1912).

Among the film/TV works inspired by the Queen of the Nile:

A longer discussion of Cleopatra films is at: Cleopatra (movie).

a 2010 Disney drawn animated version called Cleopatra (2010 film).

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Ancient art - triumph painting, sculpture

The most famous painting of Cleopatra is one that almost certainly no longer exists now: because the queen died in Egypt well before Augustus' triumph could be put on in Rome, in which she would have walked in chains, he commissioned a large painting of her, which was carried in his triumphal procession, and which may have represented her being poisoned by an asp. The sources for the story are Plut. Ant. 86 and App. Civ. II.102, although the latter may well refer to a statue, and Cass. Dio LI.21.3 reports that the "image" was of gold, and thus not a painting at all. The purported painting was seen and engraved in the early 19th century: it was in a private collection near Sorrento. Since then, this painting is said to have formed part of a collection in Cortona, but there no longer appears to be any trace of it; its quiet disappearance is almost certainly due to its being a fake. For comprehensive details on the entire question, see the external links at the end of this article.

Busts and other sculpture are portrayed throughout this page.

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Paintings, Renaissance onwards

Cleopatra and her death have inspired hundreds of paintings from the Renaissance to our own time, none of them of any historical value of course; the subject appealing in particular to French academic painters.


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Opera




A very partial chronological list follows:

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The suicide

  • Suicide of Cleopatra. Oil on canvas. 46 x 36-3/4 in. (116.8 x 93.3 cm) painted by Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, also called Guercino. Painted in 1621 and which hangs in the collection in the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, California. It shows Cleopatra and in her hand a snake that she prepares to use in her suicide.

Image:Guido Cagnacci Death of Cleopatra.jpg

  • The Death of Cleopatra, painted by Guido_Cagnacci, painted in 1658. Oil on canvas. Hanging in the Vienna Kunsthistorisches Museum.
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Other

  • Cleopatra and Caesar (Cléopâtre et César) (1866). Oil on canvas. Painted by Jean-Léon Gérôme (1824–1904). The original painting has been lost, and only copies remain. The work depicts Cleopatra standing before a seated Caesar, painted in the Orientalist style.

Summary: Cleopatra VII was Egypt's last ruler. Together with her husband, Mark Antony, she tried to take over parts of the Roman Empire. The couple were defeated by the Roman army and killed themselves. Legend says Cleopatra died by a bite from an asp.

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See also

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Notes

  1. Template:Note Alexander to Actium: Peter Green pp661-664
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External links

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General

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Paintings of Cleopatra

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