Cleopatra:

The legendary beauty and queen

In our From Abroad and centre pages today, we feature the 19-year-old Pharaoh king, Tutankhamun of Egypt. Similarly, Cleopatra was a queen who ruled Egypt and belonged to the same Pharaoh dynasty.

She is one of the few historical figures who remains popular in modern culture. She has retained her popularity due to the many tales of her legendary beauty and strength of will.

Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator is believed to have been born around January in 69 BC and died around August 12, 30 BC. She was a co-ruler of Egypt with her father (Ptolemy XII Auletes) and later with her brothers and husbands.

She later became the supreme ruler of Egypt, as pharaoh (even though she still bore the ancient Egyptian title pharaoh, her society's language was Greek and its culture was Hellenistic), and made herself more stable as a result of an alliance with Julius Caesar.

She was the last Pharaoh of ancient Egypt and her reign marks the end of the Hellenistic Era and the beginning of the Roman Era in the eastern Mediterranean.

Cleopatra was the daughter of Cleopatra V of Egypt and Ptolemy XII Auletes of Macedonia. Her mother was also a co-ruler of Egypt with another daughter, Berenice IV, and Ptolemy XII Auletes. She was thought to be a direct descendant of Alexander the Great's general, Ptolemy I Soter of Macedon.

A Greek by language and culture, Cleopatra is reputed to have been the first member of her family in their 300-year reign in Egypt to have learned the Egyptian language. The reign of Ptolemy XII (Cleopatra's father) was one of the most difficult periods in Egypt, and when he travelled to Rome with Cleopatra, the Crown of Egypt was seized. He regained it, but in 58BC, Cleopatra's older sister, Berenice IV grabbed power from him.

Ptolemy managed to overturn his daughter in 55BC and had her killed. Cleopatra's other older sister Tryphaena took over shortly afterwards. She was killed as well, which left Cleopatra with her younger brother, Ptolemy XIII, joint heirs to the throne.

Ptolemy XII died in March 51BC, making the 17-year-old Cleopatra and her 12-year-old brother joint monarchs. The first three years of their reign were difficult, due to economic problems, famine, water shortages, political conflicts and rivalry between the joint monarchs.

In August 51 BC, relations between them completely broke down and Cleopatra dropped Ptolemy's name from official documents and his face from coins. Some of the powerful people from the court, who were against this, removed Cleopatra from power and made Ptolemy sole ruler around 48BC.

Unsuccessful at trying to organise a rebellion, Cleopatra was forced to flee Egypt with her only surviving sister, Arsino.

Around this time, Julias Caesar of Rome became involved in the affairs of Egypt. He seized the Egyptian capital and imposed himself as arbiter between Ptolemy and Cleopatra.

The latter managed to charm Caesar by, the story goes, presenting herself to the emperor, wrapped in a Persian carpet. He is said to have fallen in love with her and abandoned his plans to annex Egypt, instead backing Cleopatra's claim to the throne.

After a short civil war, Ptolemy XIII was drowned in the Nile and Cleopatra restored to the throne, with another younger brother Ptolemy XIV as new co-ruler. Cleopatra and Caesar had many children among which was Ptolemy Caesar (nicknamed Caesarion or "little Caesar").

The mother and son visited Rome between 47BC and 44BC and were probably present when Caesar was assassinated on March 15, 44 BC. Then she returned to Egypt. With the death of her brother due to ill-health, Cleopatra made Caesarion her co-regent and successor.

Around 42 BC, Cleopatra succeeded in charming Mark Antony, who seized power in Rome following Caesar's death. In 37BC, Antony visited Alexandria and renewed his relationship with Cleopatra, and made her country his home.

He married Cleopatra according to Egyptian rites and had several children. After Antony conquered many other lands, Cleopatra took the title of Queen of Kings.

Antony's behaviour was considered outrageous by the Romans, who promptly decided to wage war against Egypt. In 31 BC, Antony's forces faced the Romans in the seas, with Cleopatra being present with her own fleet. As the Romans marched into Egypt, Antony's armies deserted him.

These developments led to Antony committing suicide, and a few days later, on August 12, Cleopatra also died of snakebite.

 Ancient legend says that she had two asps (small poisonous snakes) hidden in a fruit basket who could bite her any time; so that she would never know when she would die.

Caesarion was declared Pharaoh by the Egyptians, but with the Roman victory, he was captured and executed. The three children of Cleopatra and Antony were spared and taken back to Rome where they were taken care of. Thus ended not just the Hellenistic line of Egyptian Pharaohs, but the line of all Egyptian Pharaohs.

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Cleopatra in literature and art

Cleopatra's story has fascinated many writers and artists through the centuries. Apart from her political influence, her appeal also lay in her great beauty. Her life story ha been depicted through a multitude of literary creations, dramas, films, operas, ballets and paintings.

Among the more famous of these works are Antony and Cleopatra (1609) by William Shakespeare, All for Love (1678) by John Dryden, Caesar and Cleopatra (1901) by George Bernard Shaw, The Death of Cleopatra by Ahmed Shawqi and Cleopatra by Samuel Daniel.