Cleopatra: The Queen of Ancient Egypt

Few civilizations and cultures have unleashed interest throughout history as well as Ancient Egypt.Within that time and that place, few queens have covered as many pages as the Queen of Egypt par excellence, Cleopatra.

It was a woman with a great sense of state, who used not only her beauty, but also her intelligence to try to save a kingdom that had long been mortally wounded. Cleopatra: The Queen of Ancient Egypt , intends to publicize the figure of this impressive woman, advanced in her time and often little known.

Today we want to talk in depth about who Cleopatra really was.You will have seen a lot about her in movies, series or other pieces of culture.But very few really know how this woman was.

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Who was Cleopatra

The first thing to know about Cleopatra is who she was.As headline we can say that She was the youngest queen in Egypt. She acceded to the throne at age 18, already having a culture and education broader than that of most people of her generation.

His name was Cleopatra Dilopator Nea Thea, although it is known as Cleopatra VII."Cleopatra" means "glory of her father", which already makes it clear that it was the right eye of his father, Ptolemy XII.

Born in Alexandria in January of the year 69 BC she was the last queen of Ancient Egypt and also, therefore, of the Ptolemaic or Lagida dynasty to which she belonged.A dynasty founded by Ptolemy I Soter, who was general of Alexander the Great himself.

Cleopatra VII was the third daughter, after Berenice IV and Cleopatra VI, who disappeared during the reign of Berenice IV.She received her name in honor to his great-grandmother, who was the first Cleopatra.This great-grandmother had Persian and Bactrian blood, not purely Egyptian, and she would never have imagined how far her great-granddaughter would reach whom she never got to know.

He was born in a convulsive moment for Egypt.On the one hand the influence of Rome on Egypt and on the other hand the different revolts that ended with the expulsion of his father , Ptolemy XII, in the year 58 BC This was a king very little loved by the people, the other way around than his daughter.This little acceptance was due to his unconcern that he felt for the serious problems that the State suffered, showing much more interest in the fun and parties.

Ptolemy remained on the throne thanks to the support of Rome, whom he kept deceived with promises of future tributes that never came, while lending them significant sums of money , for part of wealthy Romans, was generating a great debt in the coffers of the kingdom.

It should be borne in mind that this expulsion occurred when our Cleopatra was still only 11 years old.This fact and all the revolution that was lived in those years in Egypt marked his life from a very young age.That is why his education and cultural base were very important for him to triumph on the throne a few years later.

Biography of Cleopatra

With the lifting of the anus 58 BC Ptolemy asks Rome for military help, but the king is expelled, assuming the regency his wife Cleopatra VI. Obviously she followed the same reign style as her husband, so she never had the support of the people either.

This reign was short, since she died a year later to reach the throne.Then it was Berenice IV, elder sister of Cleopatra VII, who came to rule Egypt.He was supported by the Alexandrians, they wanted an agreement to soften Berenice's relations with his father, and this with the flat people.

King Ptolemy had already advanced and had agreed with Rome his return to the throne. There was achieved with the promise of paying important tributes that would last over time.Thanks to this help from Rome and his armies Ptolemy managed to recover his throne and defeat his daughter.The punishment for this was the execution, which he carried out in the year 55 BC

So he continued his reign until his death in the year 51 BC, at which time the throne is shared, on the one hand his daughter Cleopatra VII and on the other his son Ptolemy XIII. Both were to marry due to the requirements of the testament of Ptolemy, at least if they wanted to reign jointly in Egypt.

These types of acts that today are considered incest were something that Egyptian law allowed in those times.We must look with the prism of the time and society at that time and not with current lenses.

Due to the young age of the new kings 17 and 12, Pomp was appointed as guardian eyo, the regent of Rome and main creditor of the late Ptolemy XII.

Cleopatra was much smarter than his brother, so he always managed to leave him out of the decision making.All the brothers had been educated in the same way, prepared to reign, without distinctions and in the purest Greek style, as was customary among the Ptolemy dynasty.However, not everyone had the same abilities, and that is something that It became clear quickly.

Cleopatra learned to speak the Egyptian, Greek, Hebrew, Syrian, Aramaic and Latin languages.She was a woman, as we have already said, very intelligent and ambitious.She also learned literature, music, politics, mathematics, medicine and astronomy.Cleopatra's manners were refined adorned by a beautiful and velvety sweet and suggestive voice. All this was preparing her to be one of the most educated and intelligent queens of Egypt. In addition, her undoubted beauty and attractiveness became an idealized woman for all.

But the situation that lived in Egypt began to be very serious, between 50 and 49 BC A time of bad harvests brought despair to the people. In addition, no one in the village understands the policy of Cleopatra, who continues to reign at the hands of the oppressive Rome.The inhabitants of Egypt see here that they are not only doing badly economically, but their queen does not support them and defends them before an external government that does not care for them.

Hunger, bureaucracy and the formation of outlaw groups that assaulted and robbed triggered the rest.Arsinoe Cleopatra's younger sister and Cleopatra Ptolemy XIII's husband managed to expel, with the help of some generals, Cleopatra from Egypt. So she managed to confine her in Syria around 48 BC, where Cleopatra would try form an army to be able to return.

Cleopatra and Julio Cesar

At this moment in history you have to look around Egypt.Roma at this time was in full division of powers. That was evident in the At the battle of Farsalia where Pompey and Cesar bat themselves and in the face of Pompey's inexperience, Cesar's tactical ability prevailed.

Before the good relationship that Pompey had with Queen Cleopatra, he decided to go to Egypt to recover forces at the home of a clear ally.The surprise would come when, as soon as he arrived in Egypt, Ptolemy XIII seized him and made him execute , clearly taking part of Cesar's side.

But Cleopatra knew how to wait, believing Ptolemy that Pompey's death was going to win the sympathy of Rome, he was wrong.

Cesar was a good and magnanimous military man with his enemies and even more so with Pompey who had been his son-in-law, husband of his daughter Julia.Cesar arrives in Alexandria in search of Pompey, surely with the intention of losing him, he found that he had been executed.I cry bitterly clinging to his head. This fact meant a bad start in the relationship between Ptolemy and Cesar.

After checking Cesar the terrible confrontation existing and derived from the will between Cleopatra and her brother, decides to end this problem, so he quotes both brothers to listen to the complaints and arguments of both.Ptolemy quickly went to Alexandria to meet Cesar, while Cleopatra sent trusted emissaries in order to guess the interests and intentions of the Roman General.

Avoiding her brother's spies, finally Cleopatra agreed to the meeting, at night and wrapped in a carpet infiltrated the private quarters of Cesar. Using his intelligence and why not, his powers to seduce, he made his demands come.

But Ptolemy, seeing the tricks of Cleopatra, I revolt their supporters giving rise to a war with two sides s clearly differentiated: Cesar and Cleopatra VII on the one hand and Ptolemy XIII and Arsinoe IV on the other , who believed himself in total dynastic right of regency.

The clear winners were Cesar and Cleopatra and to celebrate it they started a historic walk along the Nile.They toured it on a boat full of gold, jewels, flowers and all kinds of ornaments and silks.Soon the couple would receive a new member, Ptolemy Cesar better known as Cesarion and that filled the couple with happiness.

The end of Cleopatra

After some time of an idyllic romance, Cesar had to return to Rome and from there, he claimed the presence of Cleopatra and her son .

With Ptolemy dead, Cleopatra's new husband went to be your younger brother of 3 years old, Ptolemy XIV.This courry for another indication of the testament of the father of both, under the law of succession of Egypt at that time.

With Ptolemy XIV and Cesarion Cleopatra appeared in Rome where she was presented as a lavish, beautiful and powerful queen.

Soon the Roman patricians saw the influence Cleopatra exerted on Cesar and began to see her as a dangerous enemy for the Republic: They did not want a queen who belonged to a vassal state, so when a statue was erected in honor of Cleopatra-Venus, the Roman people exploded .

Cesar could no longer rule the empire under the influence of Cleopatra and in year 4 4 BC , within the Roman Senate, Cesar was killed, forcing Cleopatra to flee with his son back to Egypt and thus ending his aspirations and ambitions.

After Cleopatra's return to Egypt, everything began to get confusing and difficult in her life. She was afraid that her brother and current husband would try to end her and steal the kingdom, so she Advancement and poison.During his reign Marco Antonio, a Roman military who sought revenge for the death of Caesar, asked for help and finally they both fell in love.

In this time of comings and goings between the two there were many struggles for him land of Rome and Egypt, while love was gaining strength.When Marco Antonio saw that he had lost all the battles he was deceived with the supposed death of Cleopatra, which led him to suicide.

Cleopatra, on the other hand, seeing that a harsh and uncertain future awaited her took the same determination. Before d and committing suicide asked to be buried with his beloved, and so it was.

Curiosities of Cleopatra

The life of Cleopatra, like that of any noble or person of the Royal family at that time and place is typical of a soap opera.Within its comings and goings and everything that had to live there are certain curiosities that surely you do not know:

• Let's start with one related to the end of its history, and today nobody knows where they are buried Cleopatra and Marco Antonio.
• More than 200 plays have been written about his life.
• Despite being famous for its beauty many historians claim that this was not such, but that is remembered for its excellent education and its broad cultural base.
• It's not even clear what race he was from.
• He killed himself with a poisoned cobra.
• He claimed to be the reincarnation of the Goddess Isis.
• The legends tell us that during his second romance he founded a drunken club.This was where parties and orgies were celebrated with some frequency.

• For 30 years the first movie about her, Cleopatra of 1963 was the most expensive in history.
• I have an influence on the Roman calendar and accounting systems.

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Cleopatra: Image Gallery