Cleopatra

Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator (Koine Greek: Κλεοπάτρα Θεά Φιλοπάτωρ, lit. 'Cleopatra father-loving goddess'; 70/69 BC – 10 or 12 August 30 BC) was Queen of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt from 51 to 30 BC. She was the last active Hellenistic pharaoh. She belonged to the Ptolemaic dynasty and was a descendant of its founder, Ptolemy I Soter. He was a Macedonian Greek general and companion of Alexander the Great. Cleopatra's first language was Koine Greek. She is the only Ptolemaic ruler known to have learned the Egyptian language, along with several others. After her death, Egypt became a province of the Roman Empire. This marked the end of the Hellenistic period, which had started with the death of Alexander in 323 BC.

Cleopatra was born in Alexandria. She was the daughter of Ptolemy XII Auletes, who named her his heir before he died in 51 BC. She began her reign together with her brother Ptolemy XIII. However, they fell out, and this led to a civil war. The Roman leader Pompey fled to Egypt after he lost the 48 BC Battle of Pharsalus against his rival Julius Caesar, the Roman dictator, in Caesar's civil war. Caesar then tried to bring the two siblings together. But Ptolemy XIII's forces besieged Cleopatra and Caesar at the palace. Ptolemy XIII died in the Battle of the Nile. Caesar made Cleopatra and her brother Ptolemy XIV joint rulers. Cleopatra and Caesar had a son, Caesarion. After Caesar was killed, Cleopatra made Caesarion her co-ruler as Ptolemy XV.

During the Liberators' civil war of 43–42 BC, Cleopatra supported the Roman Second Triumvirate. This group was made up of Caesar's heir Octavian, Mark Antony, and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus. After they met at Tarsos in 41 BC, Cleopatra formed a close relationship with Antony, and they had three children. Antony came to depend more and more on Cleopatra for money and military help during his invasions of the Parthian Empire and the Kingdom of Armenia. The Donations of Alexandria named their children as rulers over various lands under Antony's authority. Octavian portrayed this event as a betrayal of Rome and declared war on Cleopatra. In the 31 BC Battle of Actium, Octavian defeated Antony and Cleopatra's navy. Then, in 30 BC, Octavian's forces invaded Egypt and defeated Antony.

Cleopatra's story lives on in ancient and modern works of art. Roman historiography and Latin poetry gave a mostly critical view of the queen, and this view continued through later Medieval and Renaissance literature. In the visual arts, ancient images of her include Roman busts, paintings, sculptures, cameo carvings and glass, Ptolemaic and Roman coinage, and reliefs. In Renaissance and Baroque art, she was the subject of many works, including operas, paintings, poems, sculptures, and stage plays. Since the Victorian era, she has become a pop culture icon of Egyptomania. In modern times, she has appeared in decorative and fine arts, burlesque comedy, Hollywood films, and advertising for commercial products.

Etymology

The name Cleopatra comes from the Ancient Greek word Kleopátra, which means 'glory of her father'. It is made from two Greek words: kléos ('glory') and patḗr ('father'). The male form would have been Kleópatros or Pátroklos. Cleopatra was also the name of Alexander the Great's sister, Cleopatra of Macedonia. It was also the name of the wife of Meleager in Greek mythology.

The name came into the Ptolemaic dynasty through a marriage. Ptolemy V Epiphanes married Cleopatra I Syra, who was a Seleucid princess. Cleopatra's adopted title Theā́ Philopátōra means 'goddess who loves her father'.

Background

The Ptolemaic pharaohs were crowned by the Egyptian high priest of Ptah at Memphis. However, they lived in the busy city of Alexandria, which was mostly Greek and was founded by Alexander the Great. They spoke Greek and ruled Egypt as Hellenistic Greek kings. They did not bother to learn the native Egyptian language.

Cleopatra was different. As an adult, she could speak many languages. She was the first Ptolemaic ruler known to have learned Egyptian. Plutarch suggests she also spoke Ethiopian, the language of the "Troglodytes", Hebrew (or Aramaic), Arabic, the "Syrian language" (perhaps Syriac), Median, and Parthian. She could also speak Latin, although her Roman visitors would have preferred to speak with her in her own Koine Greek. Her skill with these languages, along with Greek and Egyptian, showed that she wanted to win back North African and West Asian lands that once belonged to the Ptolemaic Kingdom.

Rome became involved in Egypt before the reign of Cleopatra. When her grandfather Ptolemy IX Lathyros died in late 81 BC, his daughter Berenice III became ruler. Many people at the royal court did not want a single woman to rule, so the Roman dictator Sulla arranged for Berenice III to marry Ptolemy XI Alexander II. He was the son of her late husband, Ptolemy X Alexander I, from an earlier marriage. In 80 BC, Ptolemy XI had his wife killed shortly after they married. Soon after, he was killed in a riot.

Ptolemy XI, and perhaps Ptolemy IX or Ptolemy X, had promised the Ptolemaic Kingdom to Rome as a guarantee for loans. This gave Rome a legal reason to take over Egypt, which was their client state, after Ptolemy XI died. Instead, the Romans divided the Ptolemaic lands among the sons of Ptolemy IX who were not legitimate. They gave Egypt to Ptolemy XII Auletes and Cyprus to Ptolemy of Cyprus.

Biography

Main article: Early life of Cleopatra

Main article: Reign of Cleopatra

Further information: First Triumvirate

Further information: Military campaigns of Julius Caesar, Siege of Alexandria (47 BC), Battle of the Nile (47 BC), and Caesareum of Alexandria

Main article: Donations of Alexandria

Main article: Battle of Actium

Cleopatra VII was born in early 69 BC to the ruling Ptolemaic pharaoh Ptolemy XII. Her tutor, Philostratos, taught her the Greek arts of speaking well and philosophy. She likely studied at the Musaeum, which included the Library of Alexandria. Her father was forced to leave Egypt. In 55 BC, a Roman army led by Gabinius brought him back. Cleopatra, then 14, probably traveled with that army. In 51 BC she became queen and ruled with her younger brother, Ptolemy XIII. Later, she pushed him out as co-ruler. When Julius Caesar arrived in Alexandria, he supported Cleopatra's claim to the throne, and the two became close.

Cleopatra's son, Caesarion, was born in 47 BC. She said Caesar was his father. After Caesar died, she worked with Mark Antony, a powerful Roman leader. They had twins together in 40 BC. In 34 BC, Antony gave some lands that Rome had controlled to Cleopatra and her children. This event is known as the Donations of Alexandria. Many people in Rome were upset by it. In 31 BC, Octavian's navy fought Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium. Octavian won. In 30 BC he took control of Egypt, which ended the Ptolemaic Kingdom.

Cleopatra's kingdom and role as a monarch

Main article: Reign of Cleopatra § Egypt under the monarchy of Cleopatra

Further information: Ptolemaic coinage and Ancient Greek coinage

Like earlier Macedonian rulers, Cleopatra ruled Egypt and other lands, such as Cyprus, as an absolute monarch. She was the only lawmaker in her kingdom and its main religious leader. She led religious ceremonies for the gods of both the Egyptian and Greek religions. She also oversaw the building of temples to Egyptian and Greek gods, and a synagogue for the Jews in Egypt. She built the Caesareum of Alexandria, which was dedicated to the worship of Julius Caesar, her ally and partner.

Cleopatra took an active part in running her kingdom. When a drought caused hunger at the start of her reign, she ordered royal granaries to give food to hungry people. One study suggested that volcanic eruptions caused the poor climate and helped lead to Cleopatra's downfall, though others doubted this idea. Her government tried to manage the economy closely. It used price controls, tariffs, and state monopolies on certain goods. It also set fixed exchange rates for foreign money and made strict laws that kept peasant farmers in their villages during planting and harvest. Money troubles led Cleopatra to debase her coins. Her coins were made of silver and bronze, but unlike some earlier Ptolemaic rulers, she did not make gold coins.

Legacy

Further information: Roman historiography, Greek historiography, Latin literature, and Latin poetry

Further information: List of cultural depictions of Cleopatra

After her death, her three children, Cleopatra Selene II, Alexander Helios, and Ptolemy Philadelphus, were sent to Rome. Octavia the Younger looked after them. Cleopatra Selene II later married Juba II. The emperor Augustus made them the rulers of Mauretania. Their capital was renamed Caesarea Mauretaniae. Their son, Ptolemy of Mauretania, was the last known king of the Ptolemaic dynasty. The Roman emperor Caligula had him killed in 40 AD. Queen Zenobia of the Palmyrene Empire later said she was related to Cleopatra.

Many ancient works of Roman historiography mention Cleopatra, but many of them tell only a little about her. The most complete surviving account of her life is the Life of Antonius by Plutarch. Later writers also wrote about her, including William Shakespeare in Antony and Cleopatra and Geoffrey Chaucer. Her image appeared in many artworks. Films such as Cleopatra (1963), starring Elizabeth Taylor, helped make her well known in popular culture.

Ancestry

See also: Ethnicity of Cleopatra

Cleopatra belonged to the Macedonian Greek dynasty of the Ptolemies. Their family came from northern Greece. Through her father, she was related to two companions of Alexander the Great. One was Ptolemy I Soter, who founded the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt. The other was Seleucus I Nicator, who founded the Seleucid Empire. Her mother's identity is not certain, but she was probably the daughter of Cleopatra V Tryphaena, who was the sister and wife of Ptolemy XII. Among the Ptolemies, Cleopatra I Syra is the only one known for sure to have brought some non-Greek ancestry into the family. Most experts believe the Ptolemies did not marry native Egyptians. Many historians think Cleopatra had no Egyptian ancestry at all and saw herself as Greek.

Some historians note that Cleopatra's Greek heritage mattered most to her. Roman writers who spoke against her did not say she was an illegitimate child. The ancient historian Strabo did make that claim about some of Ptolemy XII's children. The Ptolemies often married within their own family, and Cleopatra's family tree shows this clearly.