Who_Was_the_Real_Cleopatra

Who was the real Cleopatra' Most of the information about Cleopatra perceived her as an evil, scheming women as it was written by her enemies in Rome. Anything written by her supporters was probably destroyed after she died. Plutarch, a Greek historian, provided some of the most important information about Cleopatra although he lived 100 years after her and had to rely on these accounts written by her enemies. Cleopatra was born about 70BC into the royal family that ruled Egypt nearly 300 years ago; Egypt at this time was a very rich nation but was badly ruled. Rome was extremely powerful during this time and had the real control in that area. Her father Ptolemy XII became King of Egypt in 80 BC but by 58BC the people of Egypt were fed up with him and drove him out of the country. He was replaced as ruler by his daughter Berenice who did everything she could to stop her father returning to Egypt. Three years later Roman armies helped Ptolemy XII return to power and he had Berenice and her husband killed. The Romans supported him as they knew Egypt was a rich and important nation and wanted to have some control over the country. He was king for another four years before dying in 51 BC. The thrown was now left to Cleopatra and the elder of her two brothers, Ptolemy XIII they ruled Egypt together. There was a large age difference between them, Cleopatra being about nineteen while Ptolemy XII about nine or ten years old. The two hated each other and quickly worked to gather their own supporters. After three years of ruling together Ptolemy XIII and his supporters finally managed to drive Cleopatra out of Egypt. Cleopatra fled eastward to Syria were she gathered together an army of her own supporters, planning fight her way back to regain power over Egypt once again. Before she could do this though, Julius Caesar, one of the most powerful people in Rome, arrived in Alexandria, the capital of Egypt. Julius Caesar had sailed to Egypt to fight his enemy, Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, which he later discovered on arrival was already murdered. Another fight had broken out between the supporters of Cleopatra and the ones of Ptolemy XIII, Caesar tried to get the two sides to make peace. Ptolemy XIII refused to give in; he agreed to meet Caesar but refused to let his sister return to the country. Cleopatra thought of a plan to outsmart her brother and sailed in secret across towards Egypt; a servant then rolled her up in a blanket and brought her to the royal palace where Caesar was staying. There in front of Caesar the blanket was unrolled and out tumbled Cleopatra at the great leader’s feet. From their first meeting the two fell in love, Julius was fascinated by her power and ambition as well as her great intelligence and learning. He hoped to bring peace to Egypt but Ptolemy’s soldiers attacked where he was living with Cleopatra. These attacks lasted for around six months before Caesar’s army defeated Ptolemy XIII’s army near the banks of the River of Nile. Ptolemy tried to escape on a small boat which later capsized leaving him to drown. Cleopatra was now the only ruler of Egypt and was crowned queen again with her youngest brother Ptolemy XIV as her new co-ruler. Many Romans believed that Egypt should be made part of the Roman Empire but Caesar agreed to allow Egypt to remain as an independent nation. Caesar was now the most powerful man in the western world and believed he and Cleopatra could rule a huge empire, stretching from the northern Europe to the Middle East. Caesar stayed in Egypt for nearly a year before going back to Rome in 47BC as his generals felt that he was neglecting his duties in the Roman territories. Cleopatra joined Caesar in Rome taking their baby son Ptolemy Caesar, also known as Caesarion, and her younger brother and co-ruler Ptolemy XIV. Cleopatra and her family lived happily in Rome for two years but many politicians were becoming very nervous about Caesar’s ambitions. When he demanded he be made king of Rome they put an end to him, as he entered the senate building one morning he was stabbed to death by a group of politicians. When Cleopatra heard the news of Caesar’s murder she feared for her own life and returned to Egypt with her family and her supporters. Soon after Cleopatra returned to Egypt the young Ptolemy XIV died, many believed Cleopatra herself had her younger brother murdered as she wanted her son to be made king with her to increase her power in Egypt. At the age of three years old Caesarion was crowned king. Power in Rome was now shared between three people, Mark Antony, Octavian and Marcus Lepidus. They divided control over the Roman Empire each having their own section, Octavian the west, Antony the east and Lepidus the territories in Africa. Antony left Rome to take command of his territories in the east, stopping in Turkey. From there he sent a message to Cleopatra ordering her to meet him, he needed the support of Egypt to keep control of Rome’s eastern territories. He also wanted to become Rome’s only ruler and hoped Cleopatra would provide him with money to help with this. Cleopatra saw this as a chance to return to the powerful position in the Roman world. When the two meet up Mark Antony was dazzled by the queen and immediately fell in love with her, returning to Egypt with her. Mark Antony returned to Rome in 40BC where he married Octavian’s sister Octavia, although in 37BC he returned to Cleopatra to live in Egypt. Cleopatra and Antony had three children; the first two were twins Alexander Helios and Cleopatra Selene, and the third a boy Ptolemy Philadelphus. Cleopatra’s had always wanted to restore the Egyptian Empire and this was finally happening with the help of Antony. In 34BC there was a ceremony where he gave Cleopatra large parts of the eastern territories of the Roman Empire. This shocked the people of Rome as he was acting like a king giving away parts of the Roman Empire; Octavian saw this as his chance to destroy Antony. He has already removed Marcus Lepidus and now spread stories that Antony had been bewitched by Cleopatra. Both leaders watched each other very carefully, they knew there was no room for two leaders of Rome and eventually they would have to go to war on each other. In 32BC Octavian declared war on Cleopatra as he could not directly attack Antony due to the fact that he was an important Roman. He knew that Antony would protect Cleopatra. Antony got together a huge army and sailed with an enormous fleet and thousands of soldiers to the west coast of Greece but was trapped by Octavian’s navy for many months in the harbour. When Antony’s ships were finally able to sail out of the harbour and fight Octavian’s navy, 60 ships commanded by Cleopatra suddenly headed back to Egypt. Antony abandoned his sailors and soldiers who quickly surrendered to Octavian and sailed after Cleopatra. Octavian chased Antony and Cleopatra to Alexandria. Surrounded with few supporters left, Antony heard that his beloved Cleopatra had killed herself, he felt he had now lost everything and fell on his sword and stabbed himself. This news was wrong as Cleopatra was still alive; the dying Antony was brought to her where he died in her arms. Octavian’s soldiers captured Cleopatra and rather than become a prisoner she killed herself too. Some people believe she was bitten by a poisonous snake smuggled to her by a faithful servant while others believe she drank poison. Cleopatra was about 39 years old when she died and was buried in the same tomb as Antony. Her dreams of a great Egyptian empire died with her as Egypt was captured by Octavian’s army and became a part of the Roman Empire. Cleopatra may have not been able to stop Egypt from becoming part of the Roman Empire but her name has been lived on down the centuries. She is known for her great intelligence, romance and bravery. She was the only Ptolemy ruler who is respected as much as Alexander the Great himself. She lived in a time where women had little influence and there were few women leaders, she used all her skills to try and make Egypt remain an independent nation. She was a very powerful woman and even managed to frighten the strong leaders of the Roman Empire. Resource list: *The Life and World of Cleopatra – by Struan Reid. *Personalities from the Past – by Jennifer Lawless, Kate Cameron, Thomas Catalanotto, Dianne Hennessy, Gary Kenworth, Bill Leadbetter, Alanna Nobbs, Kathryn Welch.