At his death, Ptolemy XII Auletes of the Macedonian dynasty in Egypt left his throne to his two eldest children, Cleopatra and Ptolemy Dionysus, who, according to Egyptian custom, married and should have governed together. However, Cleopatra, seventh of the name, didn't like to share. The young king's guardian knew this and had her expelled from Alexandria. In the meantime, Julius Caesar had come to Egypt in pursuit of his arch-rival, Pompey, not realizing that his enemy had already been killed by Ptolemy's men for having allied himself with Cleopatra in the struggle over the Egyptian throne.

This proof of Ptolemy's friendship did not satisfy Caesar. He decided to settle the question of the Egyptian succession and set himself up as an arbiter. Cleopatra, seeking to plead her cause personally with Caesar, discreetly slipped into his palace (hidden in a carpet, tradition has it) and was brought to him as a gift. She emerged from the package and presented herself before Caesar. She was about twenty years old and already accomplished in the art of seduction.

Despite coins and bas-reliefs, it is difficult to tell what Cleopatra really looked like; in all likelihood she was less beautiful than is generally thought. Yet her cultivation and her gift with words, testified to by Plutarch, were considerable, and she spoke almost all the languages of the Mediterranean basis. Caesar was captivated. He rallied to the cause of his new mistress, declaring that she would sit on the throne at her brother's side.

Ptolemy objected; he besieged Caesar. But the Romans succeeded in getting the upper hand. Ptolemy fled and was drowned in the Nile. Cleopatra married her youngest brother, Ptolemy XIV, and was crowned queen of Egypt.

Caesar returned home without Cleopatra but he brought her to Rome later with the boy Caesarion, who, she announced, was Caesar's son. Cleopatra was highly unpopular there, and when Caesar was assassinated she returned to Egypt.

Octavian - Caesar's great-nephew and official heir - and Mark Antony divided the empire between them, Octavian taking the West and Antony the East, including Egypt. Cleopatra set out to seduce this newcomer. She joined Antony at Tarsus, where he was preparing a campaign against the Parthians, and appeared before him like Venus, on a gilded barge with purple sails. She invited him on board and feasted him. Antony quickly succumbed to her charms. He forgot about the Parthians and followed her to Egypt, where a life of feasts and orgies awaited them. Cleopatra had three children by Antony.

Back in Rome, meanwhile, Antony's wife, Fulvia, quarreled with Octavian, and Antony had to return to Italy. Fulvia's death put an end to a disagreement that could have resulted in civil war. The two men reconciled, sealing their pact with Antony's marriage to Octavia, Octavian's sister.

Antony lived with her for three years in Athens while Cleopatra, jealous, schemed to win him back. The opportunity arose when Antony undertook a new campaign against the Parthians. Cleopatra joined him in Syria, diverted him from war, took him back to Egypt with her, and married him.

Antony plunged back into the delights of life with Cleopatra, exchanged his toga for Oriental clothing. They reigned over the great eastern empire and distributed provinces to Cleopatra's children. Fury in Rome reached its height when Antony included these in his will, since they were Roman provinces.

Octavian declared war on Cleopatra. She took advantage of the situation to make Antony formally repudiate Octavia. Then she pushed him into a naval battle, even though his strength lay in his land forces. Antony's ships attacked the Roman fleet. The battle was fully engaged, with no clear advantage yet to either side, when Cleopatra - for reasons never discovered - suddenly turned and left, followed by her sixty galleys. When he saw the queen leave, Antony abandoned his ships and had himself transported to her flagship. Plutarch says that Antony stayed near the helm for three days, head in hands, without saying a word. Back in Alexandria the two lovers tried to forget the tragic incident in feasting.

Octavian prepared himself to attack Egypt. Cleopatra prepared herself to die. She had a huge mausoleum built, in which she hid with all her treasure as soon as Octavian arrived. She ordered that Antony be told she was dead; grief-stricken, he immediately stabbed himself. Cleopatra asked that the dying Antony be brought to her, and he expired in her arms. But if Cleopatra thought to soften Octavian's heart with this touching tableau, she was wrong. He remained immovable as marble. Refusing to appear at his triumphal entry into Rome, the queen decided to kill herself.

After pouring final libations on Antony's tomb, Cleopatra bathed, dressed in her royal garnments, and ate a last meal. She then had a basket of figs brought to her in which was hidden an asp, a snake whose bite does not distort the features. The Egyptian religion declared that death by snakebite would secure immortality. With this, she achieved her dying wish, to not be forgotten. The next day they found her unblemished body in her bed of gold. Octavian, the future Caesar Augustus, commanded that she be royally buried beside Antony.

 

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