Cited: "Cleopatra." Royalty.Nu. 14 Mar. 2008 <http://www.royalty.nu/Africa/Egypt/Cleopatra.html>.
Cited: "Cleopatra." Royalty.Nu. 14 Mar. 2008 <http://www.royalty.nu/Africa/Egypt/Cleopatra.html>.
Such great looks and talent came along the idea of Caesar being a “womanizer and a sodomite” (Garland ) as Suetonius describes the reaction of the public to Caesar as being “every woman’s man and every man’s woman” linking to the concept of him being strongly admired by many Roman people at his time. He encountered many relationships at his time including Cleopatra who wasn’t even from the same country at him. His charm had an affect everywhere he…
Cleopatra VII was born in 69 B.C. in Alexandria. Cleopatra’s father Ptolemy XII (12) died and in his will he left the kingdom in the hands of Cleopatra and her younger brother Ptolemy XIII (13). Cleopatra was only eighteen when she took her joint claim to the throne. She had to wed her brother and co-rule due to Egyptian law, which called for any female ruler to have a consort who was either a brother or a son. Ptolemy XIII was only twelve years of age at the time and Cleopatra took full advantage of the age difference between her and her sibling and the situation they had been thrown into. Cleopatra dropped Ptolemy’s name from all administrative documents ignoring her brother's role of co-regent for three years. Cleopatra ruled alone until one of her brothers advisors Pothinus began plotting against her. In 48 B.C. they removed Cleopatra from her power and she was forced into exile in Syria along with her younger sister Arsinoe IV (4). Cleopatra would not give up her place on the throne easily and she began forming an army. Cleopatra made plans to meet Julius Caesar in her own…
Who was Cleopatra? She was the last of the Egyptian pharaohs and. was also the last of the Hellenistic queens of Egypt. Due to a lack of Egyptian documents or historical items, all our knowledge about her comes from roman history which is why we get such a negative slant on her character. In roman society at this time, woman had no role in public or political life .they found the idea of a queen abhorrent and had little respect for her citizens because of this. Rome also had little respect for a country ruled by a monarchy as it once was a monarchy itself but after a bitter civil struggle it collapsed .it is thought that this was one of the main reasons for Caesars assassination. Feelings ran strong that Caesar was beginning to see himself as a king and it wasn’t tolerated by his citizens. As a result of this hatred very strong negative imagery was written about Cleopatra .she was believed to be a temptress. A woman who luxuriated in physical pleasure. Her citizens were called a rabble…
Her brother/husband got jealous of Cleopatra power and wanted the throne to himself so he got a army of men and forced her to leave, exiling her to nearby Syria…
Cleopatra has been viewed through the centuries as a cunning seductress. In Cleopatra: A Life, Pulitzer Prize-winning Stacy Schiff gives back Cleopatra her reality: She was extremely intelligent, well educated, a powerful leader and a gifted strategist. Schiff provides an unraveling of fact and fiction regarding the highly mythologized Cleopatra. Schiff discusses many elements of her life, including Cleopatra and her rise to and fall from power, as a leader, her relationships with Caesar and Antony, her role as a mother and her affiliation with the goddess Isis. (tied into Motherhood).…
* She was a very beautiful woman who possessed a great strength of character. Men were afraid of her but also were seduced by her. Here was a woman who wasn’t afraid of using her sexuality to achieve what she wanted. Egypt under her reign was seen by Rome to be a…
What sort of woman was Queen Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator? The Romans described her as a temptress who beguiled men left and right and who was well known for her legendary beauty. They despised her because of her relationship with Julius Caesar and Marc Antony; two of some of the most powerful and distinguished men of Rome at that time. She was widely viewed as an evil seductress who enslaved the hearts of Caesar and Antony and led Antony to betray Rome and side with her against Emperor Octavian. However, Rome’s sexualized and somewhat bastardized version of this powerful Queen who stood at the forefront of history is not completely true, but typical for the era she lived in. People who personally knew her described her as not being that beautiful,…
Cleopatra’s changes over time are best shown in the 1917 and 1963 films and in the modern day television showings of Cleopatra. This is right from the first time Cleopatra is shown in films right through to the current times, thus giving a broader time to be able to evaluate how her reputation has changed due to Hollywood’s interpretation of the current affairs. The aspects that change the most are the political, social, ethnic and finally the sexual portrayals of Cleopatra.…
At the Battle of Philippi, Augustus, along with Mark Antony and Marcus Lepidus, defeated Brutus and Cassius, who were responsible for the assassination of Julias Caesar. Brutus and Cassius were forced to commit suicide. Augustus and Lepidus fought Sextus Pompeius, the son of Julias Caesar’s rival, Pompey Magnus, between 38 and 36 B.C. They defeated Sextus Pompieus. After the victory, Lepidus wanted to Augustus to leave Sicily. Augustus even offered money to Lepidus’s troops, but his troops denied it. Later his alliance with Lepidus ended. At the same time, his alliance with Mark Antony began to decline. Before Antony allied with queen Cleopatra of Egypt and had relations with her, he was married to Augustus’s sister, Octavia. Augustus thought that Antony miss-used Octavia. Augustus attacked Cleopatra and Antony before they could strike Rome. He defeated the troops of both Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium in 31 B.C. The Battle at Actium destroyed much of the Egyptian fleet. After the loss, Anthony and Cleopatra were forced to commit suicide. Augustus executed Anthony’s eldest son to avoid possible threats to…
From the beginning of her life, Cleopatra VII was in a position of authority as the daughter of the rulers of Egypt. However, disputes over who had the right to rule caused conflict between her and her brother. After wooing the Roman general Julius Caesar, a political and strategic genius with many victories in battle, she was able to regain control of the throne. After his death, Cleopatra eventually met Marc Antony, commander of the eastern Roman army, which would later result in another powerful alliance and marriage. After her marriage to Antony, Cleopatra was given control of a large amount of territory.…
Octavian waited for a year before he claimed Egypt as a Roman province. He arrived in Alexandria and easily defeated Mark Antony outside the city, near present day Camp César. Ocatvian entered Alexandria in 30 BC. Cleopatra was captured and taken to him, and the Roman Emperor had no interest in any relation, reconciliation, or even negotiation with the Egyptian Queen. Realizing that her end is close, she decided to put an end to her life. It is not known for sure how she killed herself, but many believe she used an asp as her death instrument.…
Cleopatra, formally known as Cleopatra VII Philopator, was a prominent figure in both Roman and Egyptian history with substantial effects in both societies. In Rome specifically, she played a large part in ending the republic entirely, giving way to Rome’s political rebirth into an empire. Without her influence and involvement with two political leaders, the events after Caesar’s death undoubtedly would have resulted with a far different outcome. Even before Caesar’s death, Cleopatra was in the Roman scene. Cleopatra was the daughter of Ptolemy XII and the sister of Ptolemy XIII who was actually involved in conflict with Roman General Pompey as well as Cleopatra herself.…
In Stacy Schiff’s award winning biography, Cleopatra: A Life, she penetrates the life of Queen Cleopatra and breaks down her origin, major events, and all the other accomplishments of the young queen. This would be a very pleasing book for readers who really want to know more about Queen Cleopatra or are just learning of her. The author provided a great deal of detail to the life of Cleopatra when it came to the queen’s origin and uprising to power. Schiff went into great depth with the structure of her novel in how she exclaimed how Cleopatra rose to the throne at age eighteen and the many ways she sustained her power in the kingdom as well as making allies. The author’s tone and interpretation of Cleopatra really make this book that much better in my opinion. But I could not really decipher the author’s thesis but to the best of my ability I see it as the author is trying to get her readers to envision Cleopatra in a whole new light as the powerful queen that Schiff sees.…
During the spring of 51 BC Auletes died and declared Cleopatra (now 18yrs) would wed her brother Ptolemy XIII (now 10yrs) and rule together. Cleopatra wanted to plan a way to eliminate her brother from power. The first two years of Cleopatra’s reigning, the Nile did not flood and Alexandra civilisation was deteriorating from the famine. This rooted a rebellion amongst society holding Cleopatra responsible and also she had her brother trying to eradicate her. She then left for Syria and compiled an army to return to Egypt and restore her position on the throne. Cleopatra realised that with the help of Caesar (Roman support) she would more likely repossess her position. Both Caesar and Cleopatra were intent to use the other. Caesar desired the repayment of Auletes’s debt and Cleopatra was insistent on regaining the throne. They later became lovers and spent the winter surrounded by forces in Alexandria. The following Spring Roman reinforcement arrived and Ptolemy XII had tried to skip town but drowned in the Nile. Cleopatra got married to her brother Ptolemy XIV and regained her…
Soon after the siblings' ascension to the throne, Ptolemy's advisers acted against Cleopatra, who was forced to flee Egypt for Syria in 49 B.C. She raised an army of mercenaries and returned the following year to face her brother's forces at Pelusium, on Egypt's eastern border. Meanwhile, after allowing the Roman general Pompey to be murdered, Ptolemy XIII welcomed the arrival of Pompey's rival, Julius Caesar, to Alexandria. In order to help her cause, Cleopatra sought Caesar's support, reportedly smuggling herself into the royal palace to plead her case with…