INTRODUCTION

HER STORY

QUOTES

Capital punishment in Alexandria was sometimes inflicted by the bite of a cobra, since this was considered the most painless and humane method of execution.  But the anti-Cleopatran tradition at Rome developed a legend that the queen, before choosing to die in this way, had tested out various ways of dying upon criminals in the Alexandrian market-place, callously scrutinizing their death-agonies.

Many of Alexandria's greatest monuments and architectural masterpieces, including the palace and Pharos lighthouse, were believed to have been her work.

Alone of Alexander the Great's successors she became a legend, like Alexander himself.

One of the many stories about Cleopatra's extravagance relates to pearls. It was said that she took a specimen of unequalled size and value from one of her ear-rings and dissolved it in vinegar, which she then proceeded to drink so as to show how little the waste of such a valuable object mattered to her.

Though queen of Egypt, Cleopatra possessed not a drop of Egyptian blood in her veins.  The last ruler of the dynasty of the Ptolemies, she was of wholly Greek upbringing, and to a very considerable extent of Greek race.

Since the time of her ancestor Ptolemy II there had been many brother-sister marriages in the royal house, and Cleopatra, for all her outstanding intellectual and physical endowments, was the product of generations of incest. Certain elements in her character may have been due to this persistent in-breeding, notably her total absence of moral sense, and a tendency to murder her brothers and sisters which may have been partly an inherited family habit.

There is not one single surviving portrait-bust that can be confidently believed to represent her.

She was a brilliant linguist and the first of her Greek-speaking dynasty who learned Egyptian.

She was reputed to be the author of treatises on agriculture, make-up and alchemy.

Her love affairs were carefully calculated to further her plans to restore the empire to its former greatness and she was a ruthless foe to all who stood in her way.

Like many Hellenistic queens, she was passionate but not promiscuous. As far as we know, she had no other lovers than Caesar and Antony.

Cleopatra's life has formed the basis for many literary works, the most notable of which are the plays 'Antony and Cleopatra' by Shakespeare, 'All for Love' by the English dramatist John Dryden, and 'Caesar and Cleopatra' by the British playwright George Bernard Shaw.

During her stay in Rome she started calling herself the New Isis and was the subject of much gossip. She lived in luxury and had a statue made of gold placed by Caesar, in the temple of Venus Genetrix.

Cleopatra and Antony spent the winter of 41 to 40 in Alexandria. According to some sources, she could get out of him whatever she wanted, including the assassination of her sister, Arsinoe.

Her twins by Antony were called Alexander Helios, which meant the sun, and Cleopatra Selene, which meant the moon.

After Cleopatra's death Caesarion was strangled and her other children were raised by Antony's wife, Octavia.