Scope: Although Cleopatra is probably the most famous woman in the world, she remains something of an enigma—we don’t even know who her mother was. Part of the problem is that history is written by the victors—and Cleopatra lost. We will reconstruct her history from ancient records and present three different stages of Cleopatra’s career: (1) before Caesar, (2) with Caesar, and (3) with Antony.
Outline
I. Cleopatra, even before she met Caesar, exhibited signs of greatness.
A. She was very bright and active from an early age. She was taken with her father to see the Apis bull, and when she was queen she attended the installation of the new Buchis bull at Hermonthis.
B. She realized that her future was with Rome—and intended to use the Roman army.
C. She was the first Ptolemy to speak Egyptian.
D. There are no real portraits of her, just coins showing a long nose. (So much for her being a beauty!) According to Plutarch, she was said to have reddish hair.
E. Pothinus, one of the ruling Egyptian triumvirate, turned the people against her. They rebelled against her, and she fled to Syria, where she raised an army.
F. Pothinus murdered Pompey, who had fled to Egypt from Rome. When Caesar, also in Egypt, learned of the execution, he was appalled.
G. Cleopatra decided to come back from exile. Her return to Egypt was dramatic.
1. She returned to Alexandria secretly wrapped in a rug.
2. There, she sought to convince the visiting Caesar that she, not her brother, should rule the country. Caesar had never seen a Hellenistic (liberated) woman like Cleopatra, because Roman women were uneducated.
3. During the Alexandrine Wars, she had Caesar execute Pothinus. Then her brother, Ptolemy XIII, drowned trying to escape, which eliminated her competition for the throne.
4. She then married her next youngest brother, Ptolemy XIV, who disappears soon after.
II. Cleopatra’s time with Caesar is now legendary.
A. She took Caesar on a Nile cruise on the “Thalamegos” (“the big boat”) to impress him—they saw the Pyramids, Thebes, and all kinds of mummies. (Not like Rome at all!) She became pregnant, and Caesar was treated as her consort—a god.
B. Cleopatra gave birth to a boy, Caesarion, and built a mammisi (birth house) at Hermonthis. She was regarded as a goddess; her son, as a god.
C. Caesar brought Cleopatra and Caesarion to Rome.
1. His wife, Calpurnia, and all of Rome were outraged, but they had never seen anything like Cleopatra and her entourage.
2. Caesar established her in his country villa, giving her legitimacy and suggesting Caesarion as his heir.
3. He held an Egyptian triumph that featured a “cameleopard” (giraffe) and Cleopatra’s sister, Arsinoe, paraded in chains.
4. In Rome, Caesar also erected a statue of Cleopatra as Isis, suggesting her divinity.
5. Obsessed with dreams of grandeur, Caesar was assassinated, leaving Cleopatra in a difficult situation.
6. With the death of Caesar, Cleopatra became like Isis, the grieving widow with the divine infant (Horus) to protect. She depicted herself and Caesarion on the wall at Dendera temple as gods.
III. The last phase of Cleopatra’s life was with Antony.
A. Octavian, the heir of Caesar, sent Antony with a shipment of grain to Egypt.
B. At the famous banquet with Antony, Cleopatra gave the guests furniture and gold dinnerware as party favors and drank the pearl from her earring! It was a legendary performance. Antony, impressed, agreed to kill Arsinoe.
C. Antony and Cleopatra in Alexandria formed a small club, the “Inimitable Livers.” Cleopatra partied with the lusty Antony and became pregnant with twins: Alexander Helios (“the sun”) and Cleopatra Selene (“the moon”).
D. Meanwhile, Antony returned to Rome, where he married Octavia (Octavian’s sister), and Cleopatra was abandoned for three years.
E. Cleopatra agreed to meet Antony in Syria, and a kind of pre-nuptial agreement was worked out:
1. Antony agreed to marry Cleopatra.
2. In return for financing his war, Cleopatra would get Sinai, Judea, Cyprus, and Arabia.
3. Caesarion would be pharaoh, not Antony or his son.
F. Ptolemy Philadelphus (Cleopatra’s third child by Antony) was born. (And wasn’t named after Antony.)
G. Antony’s wars went poorly, and Cleopatra brought relief to the troops. Octavia, Antony’s wife, tried to help also but was sent back to Rome.
H. The Armenian Triumph was a great spectacle held in Alexandria to celebrate a minor victory.
1. On a silver platform, Cleopatra, dressed as Isis, was declared queen of the territories that Antony had promised her. Caesarion was made coregent and King of Kings.
2. Alexander Helios was given Armenia and Pontia; Cleopatra Selene got Libya; and little Ptolemy received Phoenicia and northern Syria.
I. Rome feared Cleopatra because Antony was giving Egypt what should have been Rome’s. (Antony’s will said that he should be buried at Alexandria.)
J. Octavian declared war on Cleopatra, leading to a tragic turn of events.
1. At the battle of Actium, Cleopatra’s fleet was blockaded and suffered a major defeat.
2. She sailed to Egypt with her treasury.
3. Antony sulked at the “Timoneum.”
4. In the end, Octavian marched on Alexandria, and Cleopatra refused to give Antony to him, beginning to test poisons for her suicide.
5. Intending to kill herself, Cleopatra sent word to Antony of her death. He ran himself on his sword and was brought to her, dying in her arms.
6. Cleopatra, captured by Octavian, was permitted to bury Antony.
7. She died in the company of Iras and Charmian (her handmaidens) from the bite of the asp. But Octavian had been cheated of parading her as a captive. Thus does the last great ruler of Egypt come to an end.
Essential Reading:
Lucy Hughes-Hallett, Cleopatra.
Supplementary Reading:
Robert Bianchi, Cleopatra’s Egypt.
Questions to Consider:
1. How did Cleopatra differ from her family?
2. Was Cleopatra really a femme fatale?