One of the most well know women to have ever lived, Cleopatra’s life was even more fascinating than the legend that has grown around her.

At 18 she was the Queen of Egypt and over the next two decades she seduced and controlled two of the most powerful Roman leaders in order to retain her power.

Egypt, over which Cleopatra was to rule, was conquered by Alexander the Great in 332 BCE. Upon his death nine years later, one of Alexander’s generals, Ptolemy, became the ruler of Egypt. He established a dynasty that lasted for 275 years. In 81 BCE, The twelfth Ptolemaic ruler, Auletes came to the throne.

Auletes had six children by two wives. With his first wife, he had three daughters, Cleopatra VI, Berenice and Cleopatra VII. Not long after Cleopatra VII’s birth, her mother died. Auletes then remarried and went in to have two sons and a daughter.

Cleopatra VII and her siblings grew up in a palace complex along the shores of the Alexandria river in the capital city of Alexandria. They were attended to by hundreds of servants and had the best tutors in the land. As a result, Cleopatra received an outstanding education, becoming proficient in math, literature, art, music, medicine and foreign languages.

As she grew into womanhood, Cleopatra came to understand that her family was full of schemers and backstabbers. She learned of the sordid dynastic history which had involved murder and intrigue. She also learned that there were no dynastic line of succession laws in Egypt. Her father was, therefore, free to choose who from among his children he wanted to be the next ruler.

In 65 BCE, the three most powerful generals in the Roman Empire, Julius Caesar, Pompey and Crassus, set up a triumvirate of rulership. Under these three, Rome became more militarily powerful. Back in Egypt, Auletes recognized that it was only a matter of time before his country was invaded. He decided to forestall this eventuality by making a deal with the Romans. In 59 BCE, he offered the Triumvirate a huge bribe. The money was gladly accepted and the triumvirate agreed not to invade Egypt - at least not for the time being.

The problem for Auletes was that he didn’t have the money to pay the bribe and had to borrow it from a Roman money lender. To pay it back he had to raise taxes on his people. This led to much misery and widespread starvation.

In 57 BCE, the Romans invaded the Egyptian island of Cyprus. The island was ruled by Aulete’s brother but the Ptolemy did nothing to save him and he was forced to commit suicide. At this the people of Alexandria rebelled against Auletes, who fled to Rome where he was declared a friend and ally.

Back in Alexandria, Aulete’s daughter, Berenice, took the opportunity to proclaim herself as Egypt’s new ruler. She gained the support of many soldiers and diplomats. Then, from Rome Auletes offered another bribe to the Romans in exchange for marching against his daughter.

Leading the Roman army that marched south to defeat Berenice was a 25-year old officer named Mark Antony. The Romans quickly routed the Egyptians and took Berenice captive. When he heard of this, Auletes ordered that she be killed.

Auletes returned to Alexandria to re-establish his rule. He died in 51 BCE. He had decided that he would be succeeded by two of his children: Cleopatra VII would rule the country with her half brother, Ptolemy XIII. At 18, Cleopatra was a few years older, and much more worldly wise, than Ptolemy. However, her brother had three scheming advisers who worked from the start to remove Cleopatra from the throne so that Ptolemy could be the sole ruler of Egypt.

In March of 51 BCE, Cleopatra traveled up the Nile to the city of Thebes, where she participated in a ceremony to the god Amon-Re. The public reaction she received was far from encouraging, with the people having suffered under the Ptolemaic rule and her brother’s advisors spreading propaganda about her.

By 48 BCE, Cleopatra was fearful that the men behind her brother would have her killed so she fled to Alexandria and built up a small army there.

Meanwhile, back in Rome, the triumvirate was broken and Julius Caesar established himself as the supreme leader. His former co-ruler, Pompey, raised an army and sailed with it to Egypt. There he looked to young Ptolemy to help him defeat Caesar. However, Ptolemy’s advisors considered that Caesar would be the victor in the coming Roman civil war. They plotted to murder Pompey when he arrived in Egypt, thinking that this would win Caesar’s favor. Soon they won Ptolemy over to this scheme.

Credits:
Illustration - Jonathan Benbow bongwedesign.com
Script - Steve Theunissen
Voice Actor - James Fowler
Video Editor - Eleanor Aristorenas