"[406], Another painting from Pompeii, dated to the early 1st century AD and located in the House of Giuseppe II, contains a possible depiction of Cleopatra with her son Caesarion, both wearing royal diadems while she reclines and consumes poison in an act of suicide. [314][296][316] Cleopatra hid herself in her tomb with her close attendants and sent a message to Antony that she had committed suicide. [188][189][191] A few months later, Cleopatra had Ptolemy XIV killed by poisoning, elevating her son Caesarion as her co-ruler. [298] She was afraid that news about the outcome of the battle of Actium would lead to a rebellion. [46][47], 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. Most people automatically associate the name Cleopatra with one person, but she actually wasn't the first or the last to bear the name. [498] Cleopatra I Syra's father Antiochus III the Great was a descendant of Queen Apama, the Sogdian Iranian wife of Seleucus I Nicator. Their daughter, Cleopatra Selene, became an important ruler in her own right, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cleopatra&oldid=1134355104, This page was last edited on 18 January 2023, at 07:55. [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. [224] Her sudden death led to a reconciliation of Octavian and Antony at Brundisium in Italy in September 40 BC. Cleopatra wasn't just some incredibly beautiful woman hellbent on having affairs with Roman rulers. [304] In Alexandria he built a reclusive cottage on the island of Pharos that he nicknamed the Timoneion, after the philosopher Timon of Athens, who was famous for his cynicism and misanthropy. [405][401][399] The woman in the basalt statue also holds a divided, double cornucopia (dikeras), which can be seen on coins of both Arsinoe II and Cleopatra. [271][269][172][note 51] Antony claimed that his rival had illegally deposed Lepidus from their triumvirate and barred him from raising troops in Italy, while Octavian accused Antony of unlawfully detaining the king of Armenia, marrying Cleopatra despite still being married to his sister Octavia, and wrongfully claiming Caesarion as the heir of Caesar instead of Octavian. [1] Contemporary images of Cleopatra were produced both in and outside of Ptolemaic Egypt. [415] It is likely, due to political expediency, that Antony's visage was made to conform not only to hers but also to those of her Macedonian Greek ancestors who founded the Ptolemaic dynasty, to familiarize himself to her subjects as a legitimate member of the royal house. [433][note 71] Her ivory-white skin, round face, long aquiline nose, and large round eyes were features common in both Roman and Ptolemaic depictions of deities. [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. [227] Herod had been installed as a tetrarch there by Antony, but he was soon at odds with Antigonus II Mattathias of the long-established Hasmonean dynasty. Cleopatra now had two surviving sisters and two younger brothers. Publications on ancient Greek medicine attributed to her are,[376] however, likely to be the work of a physician by the same name writing in the late first century AD. [168][126][169][note 41] Perhaps owing to his still childless marriage with Calpurnia, Caesar remained publicly silent about Caesarion (but perhaps accepted his parentage in private). [225][226], In December 40 BC Cleopatra received Herod in Alexandria as an unexpected guest and refugee who fled a turbulent situation in Judea. [455] The 14th-century English poet Geoffrey Chaucer, in The Legend of Good Women, contextualized Cleopatra for the Christian world of the Middle Ages. Caesarion was murdered in 30 BCE, at the . Africa was that purple territory east of Numidia, though in a less specific sense, "Africa" could refer to the entire Northern coast of the Continent. [43][44] Cleopatra's childhood tutor was Philostratos, from whom she learned the Greek arts of oration and philosophy. However, Cleopatra saw. [365][238] Cleopatra Selene II imported many important scholars, artists, and advisers from her mother's royal court in Alexandria to serve her in Caesarea, now permeated in Hellenistic Greek culture. [279] In 32 BC, the Antonian loyalists Gaius Sosius and Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus became consuls. By adulthood she was well-versed in many languages, incl [400][406][407] Detractors of this theory argue that the face in this statue is thinner than the face on the Berlin portrait and assert that it was unlikely she would be depicted as the naked goddess Venus (or the Greek Aphrodite). [2] These facets of their coinage represent the synthesis of Roman and Hellenistic culture, and perhaps also a statement to their subjects, however ambiguous to modern scholars, about the superiority of either Antony or Cleopatra over the other. [278][263], In a speech to the Roman Senate on the first day of his consulship on 1January 33 BC, Octavian accused Antony of attempting to subvert Roman freedoms and territorial integrity as a slave to his Oriental queen. [430], Cleopatra, mid-1st century BC, with a "melon" hairstyle and Hellenistic royal diadem worn over her head, now in the Vatican Museums[1][3][422], Cleopatra, mid-1st century BC, showing Cleopatra with a "melon" hairstyle and Hellenistic royal diadem worn over the head, now in the Altes Museum[1][3][422], In the House of Marcus Fabius Rufus at Pompeii, Italy, a mid-1st century BC Second Style wall painting of the goddess Venus holding a cupid near massive temple doors is most likely a depiction of Cleopatra as Venus Genetrix with her son Caesarion. Cleopatra's former rebellious governor of Cyprus was also handed over to her for execution. [294][290][286] Cleopatra, aboard her flagship, the Antonias, commanded 60 ships at the mouth of the Ambracian Gulf, at the rear of the fleet, in what was likely a move by Antony's officers to marginalize her during the battle. [154][155][156], Caesar's term as consul had expired at the end of 48 BC. [321][323] When she met with Octavian, Cleopatra told him bluntly, "I will not be led in a triumph" (Ancient Greek: , romanized:ou thriambusomai), according to Livy, a rare recording of her exact words. [326][329] Octavian was said to have been angered by this outcome but had Cleopatra buried in royal fashion next to Antony in her tomb. [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. [245], In 36 BC, Cleopatra accompanied Antony to the Euphrates in his journey toward invading the Parthian Empire. [245] She was now followed by Octavia and Livia, whose statues were most likely erected in the Forum of Caesar to rival that of Cleopatra's, erected by Caesar. For instance, The observation that the left cheek of the, For further information about the painting in the House of Giuseppe II (Joseph II) at Pompeii and the possible identification of Cleopatra as one of the figures, see, For further information on Cleopatra's Macedonian Greek lineage, see, For further information and validation of the foundation of Hellenistic Egypt by Alexander the Great and Cleopatra's ancestry stretching back to Ptolemy I Soter, see, For the Sogdian ancestry of Apama, wife of Seleucus I Nicator, see, For further information on the identity of Cleopatra's mother, see, The family tree and short discussions of the individuals can be found in, Reign of Cleopatra Egypt under the monarchy of Cleopatra, Cleopatra Testing Poisons on Condemned Prisoners, Death of Cleopatra Depictions in art and literature, a life-sized Roman-style statue of Cleopatra, the white skin of her face and neck set against a stark black background, "Radio 4 Programmes A History of the World in 100 Objects, Empire Builders (300 BC 1 AD), Rosetta Stone", the other sculpted head from Cherchel featuring a veil, "Cleopatra Couldn't Spell (And Neither Can We! [265][266][267] Cleopatra Selene II was bestowed with Crete and Cyrene. [314][315] Octavian advanced quickly to Alexandria, but Antony returned and won a small victory over Octavian's tired troops outside the city's hippodrome. [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. [291][290], Cleopatra and Antony had the support of various allied kings, but Cleopatra had already been in conflict with Herod, and an earthquake in Judea provided him with an excuse to be absent from the campaign. [293] While some in Antony's camp suggested abandoning the naval conflict to retreat inland, Cleopatra urged for a naval confrontation, to keep Octavian's fleet away from Egypt. 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. [472] In his unfinished 1825 short story The Egyptian Nights, Alexander Pushkin popularized the claims of the 4th-century Roman historian Aurelius Victor, previously largely ignored, that Cleopatra had prostituted herself to men who paid for sex with their lives. [233] Since the authority of Antony and Octavian as triumvirs had expired on 1January 37 BC, Octavia arranged for a meeting at Tarentum, where the triumvirate was officially extended to 33 BC. [288], Antony and Cleopatra had a larger fleet than Octavian, but the crews of Antony and Cleopatra's navy were not all well-trained, some of them perhaps from merchant vessels, whereas Octavian had a fully professional force. 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) allowed his rival daughter Berenice IV to claim his throne. [138][135][140][note 35] After Caesar managed to execute Potheinos, Arsinoe IV joined forces with Achillas and was declared queen, but soon afterward had her tutor Ganymedes kill Achillas and take his position as commander of her army. [278] Ahenobarbus, wary of having Octavian's propaganda confirmed to the public, attempted to persuade Antony to have Cleopatra excluded from the campaign against Octavian. [211] Her rival Herod was occupied with civil war in Judea that required heavy Roman military assistance, but received none from Cleopatra. [477] In addition to her portrayal as a "vampire" queen, Bara's Cleopatra also incorporated tropes familiar from 19th-century Orientalist painting, such as despotic behavior, mixed with dangerous and overt female sexuality. Roman writers and Cleopatra. [307][305] Cleopatra had no other option but to stay in Egypt and negotiate with Octavian. [57][507], Left: A Roman head of either Cleopatra or her daughter, Cleopatra's kingdom and role as a monarch. [506][35] The confused accounts in ancient primary sources have also led scholars to number Ptolemy XII's wife as either Cleopatra V or Cleopatra VI; the latter may have actually been a daughter of Ptolemy XII, and some use her as an indication that Cleopatra V had died in 69 BC rather than reappearing as a co-ruler with Berenice IV in 58 BC (during Ptolemy XII's exile in Rome). [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. [45] During her youth Cleopatra presumably studied at the Musaeum, including the Library of Alexandria. [107][109] Losing the fight against her brother, Cleopatra was then forced to flee Alexandria and withdraw to the region of Thebes. [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. [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. [334][333][335][note 55] No venomous snake was found with her body, but she did have tiny puncture wounds on her arm that could have been caused by a needle. [151] Wary of repeating the mistake of Cleopatra's sister Berenice IV in having a female monarch as sole ruler, Caesar appointed Cleopatra's 12-year-old brother, Ptolemy XIV, as joint ruler with the 22-year-old Cleopatra in a nominal sibling marriage, but Cleopatra continued living privately with Caesar. [484], Cleopatra belonged to the Macedonian Greek dynasty of the Ptolemies,[8][487][488][note 76] their European origins tracing back to northern Greece. [347] She was the chief religious authority in her realm, presiding over religious ceremonies dedicated to the deities of both the Egyptian and Greek polytheistic faiths. [428] Discovered near a sanctuary of Isis in Rome and dated to the 1st century BC, it is either Roman or Hellenistic-Egyptian in origin. [370][371] Ptolemy of Mauretania was the last known monarch of the Ptolemaic dynasty, although Queen Zenobia, of the short-lived Palmyrene Empire during the Crisis of the Third Century, would claim descent from Cleopatra. Cleopatra I of Egypt was the first of seven Egyptian queens named Cleopatra ranging from 193 until 30 BC, with the death of Antony's wife, Cleopatra VII. [23], Roman interventionism in Egypt predated the reign of Cleopatra. [397][16][398][note 63], Cleopatra was depicted in various ancient works of art, in the Egyptian as well as Hellenistic-Greek and Roman styles. [35][504][505] Cleopatra V (or VI) was expelled from the court of Ptolemy XII in late 69 BC, a few months after the birth of Cleopatra, while Ptolemy XII's three younger children were all born during the absence of his wife. [332][333][305] Plutarch relates this tale, but then suggests an implement (, knstis, lit. [445] Dated to the mid-1st century BC, it is perhaps the earliest depiction of Cleopatra as both a goddess and ruling pharaoh of Egypt. [268][267][note 50] Antony sent a report to Rome requesting ratification of these territorial claims, now known as the Donations of Alexandria. was cleopatra going to be named jillian 2800 Mechelen. [278][280] During the next senatorial session, Octavian entered the Senate house with armed guards and levied his own accusations against the consuls. [294], On 2 September 31 BC the naval forces of Octavian, led by Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, met those of Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium. 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. [38][39][40][note 15] Cleopatra Tryphaena disappears from official records a few months after the birth of Cleopatra in 69 BC. [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. 1 So although she walked like an Egyptian* she was not technically, ethnically Egyptian. [314][296][305] According to Plutarch, he was still dying when brought to Cleopatra at her tomb, telling her he had died honorably and that she could trust Octavian's companion Gaius Proculeius over anyone else in his entourage. [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. [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. [281] With Antony's will made public, Octavian had his casus belli, and Rome declared war on Cleopatra,[285][286][287] not Antony. [141][144][145] The resulting siege of the palace, with Caesar and Cleopatra trapped together inside, lasted into the following year of 47 BC. [377][378][379] Plutarch lived a century after Cleopatra but relied on primary sources, such as Philotas of Amphissa, who had access to the Ptolemaic royal palace, Cleopatra's personal physician named Olympos, and Quintus Dellius, a close confidant of Mark Antony and Cleopatra. Sometimes, a mistress of the upper crust. [95] However, the Gabiniani tortured and murdered these two, perhaps with secret encouragement by rogue senior administrators in Cleopatra's court. [283][284] Cleopatra's insistence that she be involved in the battle for Greece led to the defections of prominent Romans, such as Ahenobarbus and Lucius Munatius Plancus. [243][229] To the west Cleopatra was handed Cyrene along the Libyan coast, as well as Itanos and Olous in Roman Crete. While Cleopatra is a striking and singular figure in history, she was the latest in a long line. [394] Although the common view of Cleopatra was one of a prolific seductress, she had only two known sexual partners, Caesar and Antony, the two most prominent Romans of the time period, who were most likely to ensure the survival of her dynasty. [note 8]. [165] It is possible that Caesar, married to the prominent Roman woman Calpurnia, also wanted to avoid being seen together with Cleopatra when she bore him their son. [283][281][269] Although a violation of sacred and legal rights, Octavian forcefully acquired the document from the Temple of Vesta, and it became a useful tool in the propaganda war against Antony and Cleopatra. [151][152][153] Cleopatra was conspicuously absent from these events and resided in the palace, most likely because she had been pregnant with Caesar's child since September 48 BC.