Cleopatra

After the death of Alexander the Great — whose dates the record gives as 356–323 BCE — Egypt passed to his Macedonian general Ptolemy I Soter¹. Ptolemy became ruler of Egypt and founder of the dynasty that took his name². Britannica dates his reign in Egypt to 323–285 BCE². The house he founded reigned longer than any other dynasty established on the soil of the Alexandrian empire, and only succumbed to the Romans in 30 BCE².

The dynasty's intellectual engine was Alexandria, described in the modern literature as a vibrant cosmopolitan city and a major centre of Greek culture³. The foundation of the renowned Museion, with its famous scholarship holders, and of the Royal Library as the main repository of books and rolls belongs to this same world³. The ruling house remained Macedonian in origin even as it governed Egypt: Cleopatra VII, its last ruler, was ethnically Greek and culturally Egyptian, and she presented herself as an Egyptian queen¹.

The late Ptolemaic decline shows in her father's reign. Ptolemy XII Auletes earned his nickname — the Flute-Player — from his musicianship, while his illegitimate birth and drunkenness inspired ridicule⁴. Ever-larger bribes forced him to borrow money from Roman bankers, and his children Cleopatra VII and Ptolemy XIII inherited crippling debts⁴. In his will he left his kingdom to his oldest surviving children: the 18-year-old Cleopatra and the 10-year-old Ptolemy XIII⁴.

On her descent the record is precise and hedged at once. Cleopatra was the daughter of Ptolemy XII Auletes and, most likely, of his wife and sister Cleopatra V Tryphaeana⁵. Britannica adds that she probably had little, if any, Egyptian blood⁵, and that Plutarch wrote she alone of her house took the trouble to learn Egyptian⁵. She was, in short, ethnically Greek and culturally Egyptian — and she presented herself as an Egyptian queen¹.

When Ptolemy XII died in 51 BCE, the throne passed to his young son Ptolemy XIII and his daughter Cleopatra VII⁵. Ptolemy XIII's reign had begun as co-ruler with his sister, the famous Cleopatra VII, following the wishes of their father, Ptolemy XII Auletes⁶. Cleopatra was about eighteen and at first the dominant ruler; the first decree in which her brother's name took precedence, Britannica's timeline notes, is dated to October 50 BCE⁵.

Faction then turned on her. In 48 BCE her chief advisor Pothinus, with Theodotus of Chios and the general Achillas, overthrew her and placed Ptolemy XIII on the throne alone¹. Cleopatra fled to Syria and raised an army, only to be defeated near Pelusium; Pompey was murdered at the Egyptian court, and Julius Caesar arrived in Egypt¹. After defeating Pompey at Pelusium, Caesar wintered at Alexandria, where he first met Cleopatra⁷.

The meeting that saved her was engineered in secret. Plutarch's Life of Caesar preserves the famous entry: Cleopatra took only Apollodorus the Sicilian from among her friends, crossed in a little skiff, and landed at the palace after dark, since daylight would have given her away⁸. She had herself carried indoors to Caesar rolled up inside a bed-sack, which Apollodorus tied with a cord⁸. Plutarch says it was by this device that Caesar was first captivated, for she showed herself a bold coquette⁸. Succumbing to the charm of her company, he reconciled her to her brother on the basis of a joint share in the royal power⁸.

Caesar and Cleopatra became lovers and spent the winter besieged in Alexandria⁵. Roman reinforcements arrived the following spring, and Ptolemy XIII fled and drowned in the Nile⁵. The settlement restored Cleopatra; her half-sister Arsinoe, who had been paraded in Caesar's four-day triumph at Rome, was later allegedly executed at Cleopatra's request, to prevent any future attempts on her throne⁹.

In the same season the queenship was settled again. In June 47 BCE Cleopatra gave birth to Ptolemy Caesar, called Caesarion⁵. Whether Caesar was the father of Caesarion, as his name implies, cannot now be known⁵. Her brother Ptolemy XIV ruled with her until he died in 44 BCE, soon after her return from Rome, when she began to rule with her infant son, Ptolemy XV Caesar⁵.

What the sources emphasize is a bargain as much as a romance. Cleopatra realized that she needed Roman support — specifically Caesar's support — if she was to regain her throne, and Caesar wanted repayment of the debts run up by her father Ptolemy XII as he struggled to keep his throne⁵. Britannica's summary is blunt: each side, it concludes, was determined to use the other⁵.

In 46 BCE, after his triumph, Caesar brought Cleopatra, their son and her entire entourage to Rome, openly acknowledging Caesarion as his son — though not his heir — and Cleopatra as his consort¹. The visit left traces in the record: residence in Caesar's villa beyond the Tiber, and a golden statue of herself that she may have seen dedicated in the temple of Venus Genetrix⁵. Elite opinion was not friendly; in a letter of 45 BCE Cicero wrote that he detested the Queen and that the recollection of her insolence in Caesar's trans-Tiberine villa was painful to him¹.

On the two questions posterity asks most, the record is firm and cautious in turn. Julius Caesar did not marry Cleopatra, though the couple had a romantic relationship⁷. Caesarion's paternity is the cautious part: whether Caesar was his father, as his name implies, cannot now be known⁵.

After Caesar's assassination, Mark Antony controlled Rome's eastern territories, and in 41 BCE he sent for Cleopatra so that she might explain her role in the aftermath⁵. She set out for Tarsus in Asia Minor loaded with gifts, having delayed her departure to heighten his expectation⁵. Plutarch stages the arrival on the Cydnus as theatre: a barge with gilded stern and purple sails, rowers urging it on with silver oars to the sound of the flute blended with pipes and lutes, and incense drifting along the river-banks¹⁰. She came styled as the new Isis⁵, and the rumour spread that Venus had come to revel with Bacchus for the good of Asia¹⁰.

Plutarch is explicit that her power was not chiefly visual. Her beauty, as he reports it told, was in itself not altogether incomparable, nor of the kind to strike those who saw her¹⁰. What proved irresistible was her conversation: her presence, combined with the persuasiveness of her discourse, had something stimulating about it¹⁰.

The languages were the working instrument of that charm. Plutarch says her tongue, like an instrument of many strings, could turn to whatever language she pleased, so that in interviews with foreign peoples she very seldom had need of an interpreter¹⁰. He lists the peoples who came to her unassisted — Ethiopians, Troglodytes, Hebrews, Arabians, Syrians, Medes and Parthians¹⁰. She knew the speech of many other peoples too, he adds, while the kings of Egypt before her had not even made an effort to learn the native language, and some had given up their Macedonian dialect¹⁰. Britannica's summary agrees in substance: she alone of her house took the trouble to learn Egyptian⁵.

Alexandria, 40 BCE: Antony returned with her, and the pair formed their society of the Inimitable Livers⁹ — which some historians have read as an excuse for debauchery, though it was more likely a group dedicated to the cult of Dionysus⁹. That year Cleopatra bore the twins Alexander Helios and Cleopatra Selene⁵. The settlement at Brundisium pulled Antony back to Italy: Fulvia having died, he married Octavian's sister, Octavia⁵, yet WHE records that he considered Cleopatra his wife even before legally marrying her¹¹. Three years later, at Antioch, the plans for his Parthian campaign were laid, Cleopatra conceived her third child by him — the future Ptolemy Philadelphus — and parts of Rome's eastern possessions came under her control⁹.

In 34 BCE came the ceremony posterity calls the Donations of Alexandria. Cleopatra was hailed as queen of kings, and Caesarion as king of kings⁵. Alexander Helios was awarded Armenia and the territory beyond the Euphrates, his infant brother Ptolemy the lands to the west of it, and their sister, Cleopatra Selene, was to be ruler of Cyrene⁵. Watching from Rome, Octavian read the intent plainly: Antony meant his extended family to rule the civilized world⁵.

Octavian answered with disclosure and rumour. He seized Antony's will — or what he claimed to be Antony's will — from the temple of the Vestal Virgins, where it had been entrusted, and revealed to the Roman people that Antony had bestowed Roman possessions on a foreign woman and intended to be buried beside her in Egypt⁵. Many historians have argued that the will was actually a forgery¹². Octavian's propaganda portrayed Cleopatra as an evil seductress of two of Rome's greatest generals, and gave the people to understand that Antony would surrender Rome to her and move the seat of Roman power to Alexandria¹².

The legal end came in 32 BCE. Octavian had the Roman Senate deprive Antony of his powers and declare war against Cleopatra, calling her a whore and a drunken Oriental⁹. Cassius Dio is precise about the target: the Romans voted for war against Cleopatra, but made no such declaration against Antony, wishing to put on him the additional reproach that he had voluntarily taken up war on the side of the Egyptian woman¹⁵. Plutarch records the same decision: a vote was passed to wage war against Cleopatra, and to take away from Antony the authority which he had surrendered to a woman¹⁰.

By 31 BCE the decision had been forced to sea. The naval Battle of Actium, fought on 2 September, faced Octavian with the combined forces of Antony and Cleopatra and ended as a disaster for the Egyptians⁵. Plutarch's verdict is that Antony was far superior on land, yet wished the decision to rest with his navy, to please Cleopatra¹⁰, while Cleopatra prevailed with her opinion that the war should be decided by the ships — already contemplating flight and disposing her own forces where they could most easily get away¹⁰. The modern summaries give the combined force as 230 vessels and 50,000 sailors, defeated by Octavian's navy under Marcus Agrippa⁹.

In the battle's train came the end-game rituals. When he saw her ship sailing off, Plutarch writes, Antony forgot everything else and hastened after the woman who had already ruined him, in a five-oared galley¹⁰. In Alexandria the pair dissolved their famous society of Inimitable Livers and founded another, the Partners in Death, whose friends enrolled as those who would die together¹⁰. Cleopatra, meanwhile, assembled all sorts of deadly poisons and tested their painlessness on prisoners under sentence of death¹⁰. When the quick poisons proved painful and the milder ones slow, she made trial of venomous animals, watching with her own eyes as they were set one upon another, and found that the bite of the asp alone brought a sleepy torpor and sinking, with no spasm or groan¹⁰.

Antony's end came on 1 August 30 BCE, after a false report of Cleopatra's death¹⁰. Fearing his anger after his army went over to Octavian, she had taken refuge in her tomb, let fall the drop-doors, and sent messengers to tell him she was dead¹⁰. Antony believed the message and fell on his sword; he had himself carried to her tomb and was drawn up to her through a window by ropes, with the aid of the two women she had admitted with her¹⁰. He died in her arms, advising her to consult her own safety if she could do it without disgrace, and to put most confidence in Octavian's man Proculeius¹⁰.

Octavian's instructions were to take her alive, above all things: he was fearful about the treasures in her funeral pyre, and thought it would add greatly to the glory of his triumph if she were led in the procession¹⁰. Her last request, sent in a sealed tablet, was that he would bury her with Antony¹⁰.

Plutarch's account of the last day begins with a man from the country carrying a basket; asked what he was bringing, he opened it, took away the leaves, and showed the guards that the dish inside was full of figs, and they marvelled at their size, felt no mistrust, and bade him take them in¹⁰. After her meal, Cleopatra sent the tablet to Caesar and shut herself in with her two faithful women; when the doors were forced, she was found lying dead upon a golden couch, arrayed in royal state, Iras dying at her feet and Charmion, already tottering and heavy-headed, trying to arrange the diadem which encircled the queen's brow¹⁰. Charmion's last words — that it was indeed most fine, and befitting the descendant of so many kings — are the final speech Plutarch gives her¹⁰.

On the instrument of death, the record contradicts itself — and says so. It was said that the asp was brought with the figs and leaves and lay hidden beneath them, so that the reptile might fasten upon her without her being aware of it; others say it was kept shut up in a water jar and, irritated with a golden distaff, sprang and fastened itself upon her arm¹⁰. Plutarch states the limit of knowledge outright: the truth of the matter no one knows — and he reports the additional variant that she carried poison in a hollow comb hidden in her hair¹⁰. Some say two slight and indistinct punctures were seen on her arm, and Caesar seems to have believed the snake, for his triumph carried an image of Cleopatra with the asp clinging to her¹⁰. Cassius Dio agrees the manner is unknowable: no one knows clearly in what way she perished, for the only marks on her body were slight pricks on the arm¹⁶; his own version has the asp brought in a water-jar, or perhaps hidden in some flowers¹⁶.

The modern assessments do not resolve the conflict. Britannica notes that a popular belief in antiquity held that she and her servants had killed themselves by means of an asp — a symbol of divine royalty — but that the snake is scientifically unlikely to produce enough venom to kill three adults; a number of classical writers reported poison, and some modern scholars have hypothesized that she did not die by suicide but was surreptitiously poisoned by Octavian or his associates⁵. A toxicology review calls the snake theory itself problematic, given the variety of snake species that could have been used³, and reconstructs the logic of a queen convinced that ingested poisons meant slow pain, choosing instead a quick and pain-free end by venom³.

Behind the affairs stands a working monarch. Cleopatra is probably best known for her love affair with Mark Antony and her earlier affair with Julius Caesar, but she was a powerful queen before her interaction with either, and a much stronger monarch than any of the later rulers of the Ptolemaic dynasty¹. Her habit of making decisions and acting on them without the counsel of her court upset some high-ranking officials¹. Her grip showed in deeds: when Roman mercenary lieutenants employed by the Ptolemaic crown murdered the sons of the Roman governor of Syria, she immediately arrested them and turned them over to the aggrieved father for punishment¹. Her royal household kept 300 Celts as elite bodyguards¹.

Presentation was part of the job: she styled herself as the new Isis for political reasons⁵. The title distinguished her from the earlier Ptolemaic queen Cleopatra III, who had also claimed to be the living embodiment of the goddess Isis⁵. Language was another working tool; Britannica records that she was the only member of her dynasty to learn Egyptian, and that she addressed many peoples without an interpreter⁵.

Alexandria's scholarly world was her inheritance. A modern review of the dynasty's medical history credits her with a treatise in Greek called the Cosmetics — a professional manual discussing remedies, potions and ointments, perhaps the work that Pliny cites as the Cleopatra gynaeciarum libri³. The Museion with its famous scholarship holders, and the Royal Library as the main repository of books and rolls, stood at the centre of learning in her city³. Plutarch's account of her systematic poison trials belongs to this practical, testing side of the queen¹⁰.

The financial weight is on the record. Cleopatra contributed 20,000 talents from Egypt to fund Antony's war preparations¹². Her terms ran to territory: for backing his postponed Parthian campaign she asked for the return of much of Egypt's former eastern empire, including large portions of Syria and Lebanon and the rich balsam groves of Jericho⁵. The exchange was symmetrical in Britannica's account of the partnership: she needed Antony to revive the old boundaries of her kingdom, and he needed Egypt as a source of supplies and funds¹³.

The accusations of the war years, as a history of Actium observes, have echoed through the world ever since, and have sometimes been taken naively for facts¹². Four of them deserve an audit against the evidence gathered above.

Rome's settlement opened with spectacle. In Octavian's triumph an effigy of the dead Cleopatra upon a couch was carried by, so that she, together with the other captives and with her children Alexander Helios and Cleopatra Selene, formed part of the spectacle and a trophy in the procession¹⁶. Egypt was annexed as a Roman province in 30 BCE, ending the Ptolemaic kingdom¹. Octavian enhanced his reputation by personally taking charge of Egypt and its grain supply to feed the Romans¹². To appeal to Cleopatra's former subjects he accepted the rites, honours and title of a Ptolemaic pharaoh, though he had no interest in any of these¹².

Her family's fate followed the settlement's logic. Caesarion, technically sole ruler of the Ptolemaic kingdom, was executed by Octavian in late August 30 BCE¹⁹; Plutarch records it plainly — he was put to death by Caesar after the death of Cleopatra¹⁰. Antony had left seven children by his three wives; the eldest, Antyllus, was the only one put to death, and the rest were taken up by Octavia and reared with her own children¹⁰. Cleopatra Selene, the daughter of Cleopatra, was given by Octavia in marriage to Juba, the most accomplished of kings¹⁰. The statues told their own story of the settlement: Antony's were torn down, but Cleopatra's were left standing because her friend Archibius gave Caesar two thousand talents¹⁰.

The Roman image hardened early and lasted long. The ancient writers uniformly praise her intelligence and charm over her physical attributes, although tradition has remembered her as a great beauty¹. Stacy Schiff's reading, preserved in the modern literature, is that the personal inevitably wins over the political in her afterlife: she is remembered for seducing two of the greatest men of her age, while what she accomplished in sustaining a vast, rich empire in its troubled twilight fades from memory¹.

The end remains contested ground. Britannica records the modern hypothesis that she did not die by suicide but was secretly poisoned by Octavian or his associates⁵. The toxicology review finds the snake theory problematic because the species cannot be identified³. The burial itself is recorded as they had wished: they were buried together, and with them, Britannica notes, was buried the Roman Republic⁵.