| Cleopatra! What a life! What a woman! What a | | | | couple's exuberance was cut short however, with |
| nose! Like all the greats, she is known to one and | | | | the assassination of Julius in 44 BCE by a |
| all simply by the one name. Her's was a life that | | | | conspiracy of Roman senators. Cleopatra fled |
| was set to dominate world events in the most | | | | Rome with the four year old Caesarion. She was |
| dramatic of fashions. I blame the parents, from | | | | in a perilous position, Caesar had not made any |
| the day she graced the world with her presence, | | | | provisions for her, she returned to an Egypt that |
| she was informed that she was a goddess, she | | | | was ravaged by plague and famine. But Cleopatra |
| believed herself to be divine. There were going to | | | | was nothing if not capable, she quickly set about |
| be stormy waters ahead. She was the first of | | | | murdering her brother Ptolemy XIV and |
| the great Divas, her modern sisters Beyonce, | | | | establishing herself and her cherished Little Caesar |
| Britney and Mariah pale in comparison. Perhaps she | | | | as co-regents. |
| influenced them, but she took her influence from | | | | In the wake of Julius Caesar's assassination, |
| the gods themselves, using Isis and Aphrodite as | | | | Rome was flung into a bloody battle of succession |
| her blueprints. Reinventing herself more than | | | | with Mark Antony's Second Triumvirate |
| Madonna, Cleopatra was her own best publicist | | | | (consisting of he, Octavian and Lepidua) emerging |
| historian, she had a mood and a costume for | | | | victorious. He summoned Cleopatra to Tarsus in |
| every occasion, enchanting the masses with | | | | modern day Turkey under the dubious pretext of |
| mighty pageantry. | | | | quizzing her about her loyalty. Cleopatra seized |
| She is one of the most enduring figures in history, | | | | upon the opportunity, she arrived in the port of |
| yet she is also one of the most elusive. Bizarrely | | | | Tarsus with a magnificent fleet, sporting silver |
| and maddeningly, we still do not know what she | | | | oars and purple sails. Cleopatra ensured that she |
| actually looked like. Her beauty is feted but other | | | | made maximum impact, dressed as Aphrodite, |
| accounts assert her to be beautiful as opposed to | | | | being fanned by Erotes clad boys and Neried |
| a beauty, we have no idea, we are not even | | | | handmaidens. It worked, Mark Antony was |
| certain whether she looked Greek or Egyptian. | | | | bowled over, falling deeply in love with the |
| Much of the blame for the lack of sources can be | | | | Egyptian Queen. Cleopatra had marked him well, |
| apportioned to Octavian who ordered that all | | | | he was fond of wine and women, was vain, |
| images of her be destroyed, he also spread tales | | | | setting himself up as Dionysus and claiming to be |
| about her which blurs the line between fact and | | | | ancestor of Hercules. The meeting became more |
| fiction regarding her. | | | | than the cementing of a political alliance, it |
| We know it began hairy, her beauty was a | | | | burgeoned into a marriage of two gods, their |
| product of the union of a brother and sister, | | | | union would indeed change the order of the |
| dodgy beginnings to say the least. At the tender | | | | universe. Once again, Cleopatra brought the most |
| age of eighteen, Cleopatra became joint monarch | | | | powerful man in Rome back to Alexandria, once |
| of Egypt along with her twelve year old brother, | | | | again he did favours for her (including killing her |
| Ptolemy XIII who she bizarrely later married. | | | | sister Aristone) and once again she fell pregnant |
| Cleopatra didn't like to share anything, she | | | | quickly, giving birth to twins in 40 BCE, Alexander |
| attempted to depose of her younger brother | | | | Helios and Cleopatra Selene. |
| husband, but in the end it was her who was left | | | | Mark Antony though had learnt well from the |
| fleeing the country with her younger sister. Gone | | | | mistakes of Julius Caesar, he returned to his wife, |
| but not for good, she spent her exile in the | | | | Fulvia in Rome, leaving Cleopatra in Egypt, the |
| desert rallying Arab tribes to her cause. | | | | two would not meet again for four years. Fulvia |
| Meanwhile, however things were going a tad pear | | | | brought her own problems however, she had |
| shaped back in Alexandria for Ptolemy XIII. Four | | | | fallen foul of Octavian, but somewhat fortunately |
| thousand Roman legionnaires arrived in the port, | | | | she died, giving Mark Anthony the opportunity to |
| led by none other than Julius Caesar himself. | | | | patch things ups with Octavian by marrying his |
| Ptolemy fled lively, Julius moved into the palace | | | | sister, Octavia Minor. However, it was obvious |
| and began doling out orders. Cleopatra however, | | | | that Mark Anthony was still quite smitten by |
| was not going to be so easily jilted; famously she | | | | Cleopatra, for when he went to war with the |
| smuggled her way into the palace in a rolled | | | | Parthians, he sent for her to meet him at Antioch. |
| carpet. As it was unfurled, the beautiful Cleopatra | | | | They exchanged gifts, Mark Anthony giving |
| gracefully emerged, capturing an audience with | | | | Cleopatra huge tracts of land while she opened up |
| Caesar and his heart. Ptolemy was understandably | | | | her bounteous coffers to him. In the subsequent |
| rather furious; he had lost his sister, co-ruler, wife | | | | war however, Mark Antony was fairly battered, |
| and kingdom. He waged war on Alexandria, it | | | | he fell into the open and protective arms of |
| proved to be a rash decision, he lost the war and | | | | Cleopatra, returning to Egypt with her in 35BCE, |
| found himself at the bottom of the Nile. | | | | spurning Octavia who remained loyal to him and |
| Cleopatra was now the sole ruler of Egypt, albeit | | | | making Octavian furious. The die was cast, Mark |
| with serious Roman backing. Caesar believed that | | | | Antony decided there was no going back, he |
| he would be able to use her as a puppet, he had | | | | married Cleopatra and at the Donations of |
| obviously not really got to know her that well. | | | | Alexandria he began doling out parts of the |
| She willingly married her eleven year old brother, | | | | Eastern Roman Empire between her and her |
| Ptolemy XIV to appease the Alexandrian lobby | | | | children. Cleopatra never one to be behind the |
| whilst at the same time becoming pregnant in a | | | | door, began to set her sights on becoming |
| hurry by Caesar. Their son, Ptolemy Caesar was | | | | Empress of the world. |
| born in 47 BCE, he became better known as | | | | However, Octavian beat the lard out of Mark |
| Caesarion meaning Little Caesar. The little guy | | | | Antony at Actium in Greece and then pursued his |
| was something of a pawn between the two, | | | | retreating forces into Egypt. Mark Antony, |
| Cleopatra realised that she required the support | | | | believing Cleopatra to be dead, killed himself; |
| of Rome to keep her in control of Egypt, while | | | | Cleopatra followed suit a few days later preferring |
| Caesar had seen at first hand how the Egyptian | | | | death than to see the Romans march victoriously |
| people worshipped Cleopatra, that together they | | | | through the streets of Alexandria. To the end she |
| could unite Rome and Egypt and that Little Caesar | | | | remained enchanting, calling for an asp to be |
| would rule the whole shebang. However, it | | | | brought to her, the Egyptian religion proclaimed |
| definitely was not solely a marriage of | | | | that death by a snakebite would secure |
| convenience, for Caesar brought his mistress | | | | immortality. Her death marked the end of the |
| back to Rome, although it shocked society, for | | | | Egyptian Monarchs, and so a culture that had |
| Caesar was already married. He established her in | | | | spanned thousands of years ended, Egypt was |
| his home, where she lived in rather a rock and roll | | | | conquered and inaugurated as a province into the |
| fashion. She fashioned herself as the new Isis, | | | | Eastern Roman Empire. Cleopatra was the last |
| refused to worship Roman gods, lived in opulence | | | | Pharaoh of Egypt. |
| and basically scandalized Rome. The celebrity | | | | |