Cleopatra (13 page)

Historical note

Cleopatra VII was born in 69
BC
and she died in 30
BC
, but little is known about her early years.

What information has survived through the centuries often is contradictory and confusing, as is the repetitive use of royal names and the variety of spellings. As a result, researchers often come to different conclusions. For example, what did Cleopatra look like? Some think that Egyptian blood may have given her dark hair and brown eyes; others suggest her Macedonian ancestry made her light-skinned, possibly with blonde hair and green eyes. There is also the question of Cleopatra's age when she met Marc Antony. Some experts say she was a young princess; others insist she was already queen and in her late twenties.

With respect to other historical figures and events portrayed in this story, every attempt has been made to be as accurate as possible.

It has been said that Alexandria's great library was destroyed in 48
BC
during a civil war, after Julius Caesar had conquered the city. To protect the harbour from Egyptian soldiers and to keep them from seizing all the warships anchored there, Caesar set torches to the fleet. Unfortunately, the roaring flames spread from the docks to the warehouses to the library. It is unknown how many scrolls and manuscripts were lost in this fire.

But we do have the later writings of Plutarch, one of the great biographers of antiquity. He was born in Greece about
AD
46 and travelled to Rome and Alexandria, possibly hearing first- or secondhand from those who had known Cleopatra. He wrote:

 

Their acquaintance was with her when a girl, young and ignorant of the world.

…Her actual beauty, it is said, was not in itself so remarkable that none could be compared with her, or that no one could see her without being struck by it, but the contact of her presence, if you lived with her, was irresistible…

It was a pleasure merely to hear the sound of her voice, with which, like an instrument of many strings, she could pass from one language to another; so that there were few of the barbarian nations that she answered by an interpreter; to most of them she spoke herself, as to the Ethiopians, Troglodytes, Hebrews, Arabians, Syrians, Medes, Parthians, and many others, whose language she had learnt; which was all the more surprising, because most of the kings [who were] her predecessors scarcely gave themselves the trouble to acquire the Egyptian tongue, and several of them quite abandoned the Macedonian.

 

Plutarch's comments reveal that Cleopatra was literate and interested in people. It is quite plausible that she herself, rather than a scribe, may have recorded her thoughts and observations.

During Cleopatra's lifetime, writers used clay tablets as well as leather parchment and papyrus to record information. These papers could be glued together side by side to form one long piece, some times up to thirty feet wide, which would then be rolled onto a scroll simultaneously from both ends. Archaeologists have discovered manuscripts such as these that had been stored in clay jars centuries before.

Perhaps the most celebrated discovery was in 1947, when a young Bedouin shepherd wandered into a cave near the Dead Sea in Jordan. There, he found broken jars with leather scrolls written in Aramaic and Hebrew, Biblical manuscripts dating from more than one thousand years earlier than any previously found. These documents and others from nearby caves are thought to have been a hidden library used sometime between 100
BC
and
AD
100 by a Jewish sect.

Scholars agree that more stories from the ancient world have yet to be found. Is it possible that a diary truly written by Cleopatra lies hidden in a cave somewhere?

A few interesting events that preceded and followed the life of Cleopatra are worth noting:

•   
The kingdom of ancient Egypt began before recorded history, approximately five thousand years ago, along the fertile Nile River. It lasted longer than any other civilization in the world, ruled by kings who were also thought to be living gods. Because these rulers believed their lives would continue after death they built pyramids for their tombs, to preserve the body and their earthly treasures for all eternity. Considered to be the oldest man-made monuments on earth, these pyramids were engineered and constructed so superbly that dozens are still standing. Perhaps one of the most remarkable of these is the Great Pyramid, built by Pharaoh Khufu during the 2600s
BC
, near what is now the city of Cairo. As the largest tomb ever built, its base covers over 50,000 square metres, and it is almost 140 metres tall.

•   
In 332
BC
Alexander the Great conquered Egypt, adding it to his vast empire. After his death, one of his generals, Ptolemy I, established himself as King of Egypt, which began the Ptolemaic dynasty of rulers. This ended when Cleopatra died in 30
BC
, and the country was taken over by the Roman Empire.

•   
Four hundred years before Cleopatra was born, Spartan soldiers were using sulphur, pitch, and charcoal as “chemical warfare”. Approximately two hundred years later, the Great Wall of China was completed during the Ch'in Dynasty. At the time of Cleopatra's death in 30
BC
the magnificent Pantheon was being built in Rome and would not be finished for another 150 years. Much of the city of Rome was destroyed by fire in
AD
64. Emperor Nero blamed Christians for starting the fires and ordered scores of them to be killed, some say by having them thrown into an arena with lions.

•   
As a young girl Cleopatra may have holidayed in Pompeii and Herculaneum, but one hundred years after her death these lovely seaside towns had been buried under the boiling lava of Mount Vesuvius. At least 16, 000 people died when this volcano erupted in August of
AD
79.

•   
After Cleopatra's suicide, Octavian appointed himself Egypt's new pharaoh and, as Rome's first emperor, he renamed himself Caesar Augustus. Some thirty years later he became linked with the birth of Jesus Christ as recorded in the Bible. “In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world”.

•   
Although Cleopatra died young, at the age of thirty-nine, she is remembered as one of the most influential women in history because of her alliances with Julius Caesar and Marc Antony. Her death marked the beginning of Roman rule in Egypt, which was to last another several hundred years.

The Ptolemy family tree

Alexander the Great (356
BC
–323
BC
), King of Macedonia, Greece, was a brilliant military leader. He conquered many lands, including Egypt, where he established himself as king and founded the capital city of Alexandria. After Alexander died, one of his generals, Ptolemy I Soter, also a Macedonian Greek, became ruler of Egypt in 305
BC
And so began the dynasty of the Ptolemies from which Cleopatra VII descended. The family tree follows the growth of the Ptolemy dynasty, beginning with the twelfth King Ptolemy, Neos Dionysos Auletes, Cleopatra's father.

The same names are used throughout generations, and dates of births and deaths are not always available. The crown symbol indicates those who ruled over Egypt. Double lines represent marriages or partnerships; single lines indicate parentage.

 

P
TOLEMY
XII N
EOS
D
IONYSOS
c. 100?–51
BC
: Called Auletes, or the Flute Player, Ptolemy XII ruled Egypt from 80
BC
until his death in 51
BC

C
LEOPATRA
T
RYPHAENA
V ?–69?
BC
: Wife of Ptolemy XII

 

Children of Ptolemy XII and Cleopatra V

C
LEOPATRA
T
RYPHAENA
VI 79?–57
BC
: Eldest daughter of Ptolemy XII. In her father's absence, Tryphaena seized the throne and ruled Egypt from 58
BC
to 57
BC
, when she was killed by her father's supporters.

B
ERENICE
IV 77?–55
BC
: The second daughter of Ptolemy XII, Berenice took control of Egypt after Tryphaena VI's death and ruled from 57
BC
to 55
BC
, when her father ordered her execution.

C
LEOPATRA
P
HILOPATOR
VII 69–30
BC
: Third daughter of Ptolemy XII, in 51
BC
, Cleopatra Philopator VII became Queen of Egypt at age eighteen. She committed suicide after a twenty-one-year rule.

A
RSINOË
68–45
BC
: Youngest daughter of Ptolemy XII. After Cleopatra became queen, she had Arsinoë imprisoned and sent to Rome, where she was paraded through the streets in chains. Cleopatra secured her throne by having Arsinoë murdered.

P
TOLEMY
XIII 61–47
BC
: First son of Ptolemy XII. Following Ptolemaic dynastic law, Cleopatra and Ptolemy XIII married and were joint rulers. As a young teenager, he ordered the execution of Pompey the Great. Months later, during a battle against Caesar, he drowned in the Nile from the weight of his golden breastplate.

P
TOLEMY
XIV 59–44
BC
: Youngest son of Ptolemy XII. Cleopatra married him upon the death of their brother (above). He died suddenly, which freed Cleopatra to rule jointly with her three-year-old son by Caesar, Pt olemy XV Caesar, called Caesarion (“Little Caesar”).

 

Cleopatra's loves

J
ULIUS
G
AIUS
C
AESAR
102–44
BC
: Roman statesman and general considered one of the greatest men in history. He ruled Rome from 49
BC
to 44
BC
When he and Cleopatra first met, she was twenty-one years old; he was in his early fifties. Their son was born nine months later, by some records on June 23, 47
BC

M
ARC
A
NTONY
82–30
BC
: Born in Alexandria, Egypt, to a noble family, he was a soldier and friend of Julius Caesar, serving under him in Gaul. Together with Octavian and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, Antony formed the Second Triumvirate. He had three children by Cleopatra and several by other wives.

 

Cleopatra's children

P
TOLEMY
XV C
AESARION
47–30?
BC
: Oldest son of Cleopatra VII, Caesarion (“Little Caesar”) became co-ruler of Egypt with his mother after Ptolemy XIV died. His father was Julius Caesar.

A
LEXANDER
H
ELIOS
and C
LEOPATRA
S
ELENE
40–?
BC
: Twin son and daughter of Cleopatra and Marc Antony. They were named after the Greek gods of the sun and the moon. Cleopatra Selene later became Queen of Mauretania.

P
TOLEMY
P
HILADELPHUS
36–?
BC
: Youngest son of Cleopatra and Marc Antony

 

Other royals in the Ptolemy family

A
RCHELAUS
: Husband of Berenice IV

J
UBA
II c. 45
BC
–
AD
23?: King of Mauretania and husband of Cleopatra Selene

P
TOLEMY
OF
M
AURETANIA
c.24
BC
–
AD
40?: Firstborn of Cleopatra Selene and Juba II

D
RUSILLA
c. 22?
BC
–
AD
?: Daughter of Cleopatra Selene and Juba II

M
ARCUS
A
NTONIUS
F
ELIX
: Roman governor of Judea and husband of Drusilla

 

Historical characters and places not included in the family tree

A
LEXANDER
THE
G
REAT
[356–323
BC
]: King of Macedonia; military leader whose conquests help spread Greek culture throughout Egypt, India, and Asia Minor.

A
LEXANDRIA
: Seaport in northern Egypt at the west end of the Nile Delta, on the Mediterranean Sea. Founded by Alexander the Great.

A
RISTOPHANES
[448?–380?
BC
]: Greek writer of satiric comedies. His plays were performed in Roman and Greek theatres.

A
UGUSTUS
, G
AIUS
J
ULIUS
C
AESAR
O
CTAVIANUS
[63
BC
–
AD
14]: Legal heir to and great-nephew of Julius Caesar. First Roman emperor (27
BC
–
AD
14).

C
ATULLUS
, G
AIUS
V
ALERIUS
[c. 84
BC
–54
BC
]: Roman lyrical poet

C
ICERO
[106
BC
–43
BC
]: A lawyer and one of the greatest orators of all time. His eloquent speeches are considered to be the best of ancient Roman literature. After Caesar's death, Cicero briefly led the Senate, but he was assassinated the following year on orders from Marc Antony (see Epilogue).

C
RASSUS
, M
ARCUS
L
ICINIUS
[115?–53
BC
]: A noted general and Roman statesman, he formed the First Triumvirate with Pompey and Caesar in 60
BC
He crushed the revolt of Spartacus in 71
BC

G
ABINIUS
, A
ULUS
[?–48
BC
]: A prominent Roman who became governor of Syria. He backed Marc Antony's mission to reclaim the Egyptian throne for King Ptolemy XII.

H
ERCULANEUM
: A Roman seaside town on the Bay of Naples destroyed by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in
AD
79 along with its neighboring town, Pompeii. Herculaneum lay buried under volcanic ash for centuries until a welldigger discovered some ruins in 1709.

J
ULIA
[?–54
BC
]: Daughter of Julius Caesar; married Pompey the Great. The marriage helped make an alliance between these two men, but their friendship ended when Julia died a few years later.

O
CTAVIAN
: See A
UGUSTUS
.

O
LYMPUS
: Cleopatra's lifelong friend and personal physician

O
STIA
: Seaport on western coast of Italy, sixteen miles from Rome via the Tiber River

P
LUTARCH
[
AD
46?–120?]: Greek biographer and historian. He wrote about Caesar, Cleopatra, and Marc Antony.

P
OMPEII
: See Herculaneum.

P
OMPEY
THE
G
REAT
[106–48
BC
]: Powerful Roman statesman and general; part of the First Triumvirate with Caesar and Crassus. He was beheaded in Egypt (see Epilogue).

S
APPHO
[c. 612–580
BC
]: Greek lyric poet

S
OCRATES
[c. 469–99
BC
]: Greek philosopher and teacher

S
PARTACUS
[?–71
BC
]: A Thracian soldier captured by the Romans and sold into slavery. He became a famous gladiator. He escaped and started a slave revolt, hoping to return to his homeland, but was defeated by Crassus's army. Spartacus fought courageously until his death, but the Romans, as a warning to others, crucified thousands of his fellow slaves.