Cleopatra

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Cleopatra
Ptolemy XV Caesarion[note 2]
Co-rulers
See list
Royal titulary
Nomen
  • Qlwpdrt
  • Cleopatra
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epithet to nomen:
  • Qlwpdrt nṯrt mr(t) jts
  • Cleopatra netjeret mer(et) ites
  • The goddess Cleopatra who is beloved of her father
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Horus name
  • Wr(.t)-nb(.t)-nfrw-3ḫ(t)-sḥ
  • Wer(et)-neb(et)-neferu-achet-seh
  • The great Lady of perfection, excellent in counsel
G5
wr
r		 nbnfrnfrnfrH2
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  • Wr.t-twt-n-jt=s
  • Weret-tut-en-it-es
  • The great one, sacred image of her father
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Born
Cleopatra V Tryphaena)[note 4]
Bust of Cleopatra VII, Altes Museum, Berlin
Part of a series on
Cleopatra VII

Cleopatra VII Philopator (

the age that had lasted since the reign of Alexander (336–323 BC).[note 7] Although her first language was Koine Greek, she was the only Ptolemaic ruler to learn and use the Egyptian language.[note 8]

In 58 BC, Cleopatra presumably accompanied her father,

Ptolemy XV
.

In the

final war of the Roman Republic. Octavian engaged in a war of propaganda, forced Antony's allies in the Roman Senate to flee Rome in 32 BC, and declared war on Cleopatra. After defeating Antony and Cleopatra's naval fleet at the 31 BC Battle of Actium, Octavian's forces invaded Egypt in 30 BC and defeated Antony, leading to Antony's suicide. When Cleopatra learned that Octavian planned to bring her to his Roman triumphal procession, she killed herself by poisoning, contrary to the popular belief that she was bitten by an asp
.

Cleopatra's legacy survives in ancient and modern

pop culture icon of Egyptomania since the Victorian era, and in modern times, Cleopatra has appeared in the applied and fine arts, burlesque
satire, Hollywood films, and brand images for commercial products.

Etymology

The Latinized form

Seleucid princess), the name entered the Ptolemaic dynasty.[9][10] Cleopatra's adopted title Theā́ Philopátōra (Θεᾱ́ Φιλοπάτωρα) means "goddess who loves her father".[11][12][note 9]

Biography

Background

Main article: Early life of Cleopatra
Hellenistic portrait of Ptolemy XII Auletes, the father of Cleopatra, located in the Louvre, Paris[13]

Ptolemaic

Hellenistic Greek monarchs, refusing to learn the native Egyptian language.[17][18][19][note 8] In contrast, Cleopatra could speak multiple languages by adulthood and was the first Ptolemaic ruler to learn the Egyptian language.[20][21][19][note 11] Plutarch implies that she also spoke Ethiopian, the language of the "Troglodytes", Hebrew (or Aramaic), Arabic, the Syrian language (perhaps Syriac), Median, and Parthian, and she could apparently also speak Latin, although her Roman contemporaries would have preferred to speak with her in her native Koine Greek.[21][19][22][note 12] Aside from Greek, Egyptian, and Latin, these languages reflected Cleopatra's desire to restore North African and West Asian territories that once belonged to the Ptolemaic Kingdom.[23]

Roman interventionism in Egypt predated the

Ptolemy IX Lathyros died in late 81 BC, he was succeeded by his daughter Berenice III.[27][28] However, with opposition building at the royal court against the idea of a sole reigning female monarch, Berenice III accepted joint rule and marriage with her cousin and stepson Ptolemy XI Alexander II, an arrangement made by the Roman dictator Sulla.[27][28] Ptolemy XI had his wife killed shortly after their marriage in 80 BC, but was lynched soon thereafter in the resulting riot over the assassination.[27][29][30] Ptolemy XI, and perhaps his uncle Ptolemy IX or father Ptolemy X Alexander I, willed the Ptolemaic Kingdom to Rome as collateral for loans, so that the Romans had legal grounds to take over Egypt, their client state, after the assassination of Ptolemy XI.[27][31][32] The Romans chose instead to divide the Ptolemaic realm among the illegitimate sons of Ptolemy IX, bestowing Cyprus on Ptolemy of Cyprus and Egypt on Ptolemy XII Auletes.[27][29]

Early childhood

Main article: Early life of Cleopatra

Cleopatra VII was born in early 69 BC to the ruling

Ptolemy XIV,[38][39][40] were born in the absence of his wife.[43][44] Cleopatra's childhood tutor was Philostratos, from whom she learned the Greek arts of oration and philosophy.[45] During her youth Cleopatra presumably studied at the Musaeum, including the Library of Alexandria.[46][47]

Reign and exile of Ptolemy XII

Main article: Early life of Cleopatra
Further information: First Triumvirate
Most likely a posthumously painted portrait of Cleopatra with red hair and her distinct facial features, wearing a royal diadem and pearl-studded hairpins, from Roman Herculaneum, Italy, 1st century AD[48][49][note 16]

In 65 BC the

Roman banker Gaius Rabirius Postumus.[55][56][57]

In 58 BC the Romans

Praeneste, Italy.[58][59][62][note 19] Ptolemy XII spent nearly a year there on the outskirts of Rome, ostensibly accompanied by his daughter Cleopatra, then about 11.[58][62][note 20] Berenice IV sent an embassy to Rome to advocate for her rule and oppose the reinstatement of her father Ptolemy XII, but Ptolemy had assassins kill the leaders of the embassy, an incident that was covered up by his powerful Roman supporters.[63][56][64][note 21] When the Roman Senate denied Ptolemy XII the offer of an armed escort and provisions for a return to Egypt, he decided to leave Rome in late 57 BC and reside at the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus.[65][66][67]

The Roman financiers of Ptolemy XII remained determined to restore him to power.

Pelousion, and for rescuing the body of Archelaos, the husband of Berenice IV, after he was killed in battle, ensuring him a proper royal burial.[72][73] Cleopatra, then 14 years of age, would have traveled with the Roman expedition into Egypt; years later, Antony would profess that he had fallen in love with her at this time.[72][74]

Ptolemaic Egypt
(yellow) in 40 BC

Gabinius was put on trial in Rome for abusing his authority, for which he was acquitted, but his second trial for accepting bribes led to his exile, from which he was recalled seven years later in 48 BC by Caesar.[75][76] Crassus replaced him as governor of Syria and extended his provincial command to Egypt, but he was killed by the Parthians at the Battle of Carrhae in 53 BC.[75][77] Ptolemy XII had Berenice IV and her wealthy supporters executed, seizing their properties.[78][79][80] He allowed Gabinius's largely Germanic and Gallic Roman garrison, the Gabiniani, to harass people in the streets of Alexandria and installed his longtime Roman financier Rabirius as his chief financial officer.[78][81][82][note 22] Within a year Rabirius was placed under protective custody and sent back to Rome after his life was endangered for draining Egypt of its resources.[83][84][80][note 23] Despite these problems, Ptolemy XII created a will designating Cleopatra and Ptolemy XIII as his joint heirs, oversaw major construction projects such as the Temple of Edfu and a temple at Dendera, and stabilized the economy.[85][84][86][note 24] On 31 May 52 BC, Cleopatra was made a regent of Ptolemy XII, as indicated by an inscription in the Temple of Hathor at Dendera.[87][88][89][note 25] Rabirius was unable to collect the entirety of Ptolemy XII's debt by the time of the latter's death, and so it was passed on to his successors Cleopatra and Ptolemy XIII.[83][76]

Accession to the throne

Main articles: Early life of Cleopatra and Reign of Cleopatra
Ptolemaic period, and located in the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology
, London
Relief of Cleopatra and her son Caesarion at the Temple of Dendera

Ptolemy XII died sometime before 22 March 51 BC, when Cleopatra, in her first act as queen, began her voyage to

drachmas.[94]

In 50 BC

Caesar's Civil War, failed to prevent Caesar from landing a naval fleet in Greece, which ultimately allowed Caesar to reach Egypt in pursuit of Pompey.[97]

By 29 August 51 BC, official documents started listing Cleopatra as the sole ruler, evidence that she had rejected her brother Ptolemy XIII as a co-ruler.

Ptolemy II and his sister Arsinoe II.[99][100][101] A long-held royal Egyptian practice, it was loathed by contemporary Greeks.[99][100][101][note 27] By the reign of Cleopatra, however, it was considered a normal arrangement for Ptolemaic rulers.[99][100][101]

Despite Cleopatra's rejection of him, Ptolemy XIII still retained powerful allies, notably the eunuch

regnal date in 49 BC.[5][105][106][note 28]

Assassination of Pompey

Main article: Reign of Cleopatra
A Roman portrait of Pompey made during the reign of Augustus (27 BC – 14 AD), a copy of an original from 70 to 60 BC, and located in the Venice National Archaeological Museum
, Italy

In the summer of 49 BC, Cleopatra and

flee to Greece.[107][108] In perhaps their last joint decree, both Cleopatra and Ptolemy XIII agreed to Gnaeus Pompeius's request and sent his father 60 ships and 500 troops, including the Gabiniani, a move that helped erase some of the debt owed to Rome.[107][109] Losing the fight against her brother, Cleopatra was then forced to flee Alexandria and withdraw to the region of Thebes.[110][111][112] By the spring of 48 BC Cleopatra had traveled to Roman Syria with her younger sister, Arsinoe IV, to gather an invasion force that would head to Egypt.[113][106][114] She returned with an army, but her advance to Alexandria was blocked by her brother's forces, including some Gabiniani mobilized to fight against her, so she camped outside Pelousion in the eastern Nile Delta.[115][106][116]

In Greece, Caesar and Pompey's forces engaged each other at the decisive

embalmed, sent to Caesar, who arrived in Alexandria by early October and took up residence at the royal palace.[123][124][125][note 31] Caesar expressed grief and outrage over the killing of Pompey and called on both Ptolemy XIII and Cleopatra to disband their forces and reconcile with each other.[123][126][125][note 32]

Relationship with Julius Caesar

Main article: Reign of Cleopatra
Further information: Military campaigns of Julius Caesar, Siege of Alexandria (47 BC), Battle of the Nile (47 BC), and Caesareum of Alexandria

Ptolemy XIII arrived at Alexandria at the head of his army, in clear defiance of Caesar's demand that he disband and leave his army before his arrival.[127][128] Cleopatra initially sent emissaries to Caesar, but upon allegedly hearing that Caesar was inclined to having affairs with royal women, she came to Alexandria to see him personally.[127][129][128] Historian Cassius Dio records that she did so without informing her brother, dressed in an attractive manner, and charmed Caesar with her wit.[127][130][131] Plutarch provides an entirely different and perhaps mythical account that alleges she was bound inside a bed sack to be smuggled into the palace to meet Caesar.[127][132][133][note 33]

The Tusculum portrait, a contemporary Roman sculpture of Julius Caesar located in the Archaeological Museum of Turin
, Italy

When Ptolemy XIII realized that his sister was in the palace consorting directly with Caesar, he attempted to rouse the populace of Alexandria into a riot, but he was arrested by Caesar, who used his oratorical skills to calm the frenzied crowd.[134][135][136] Caesar then brought Cleopatra and Ptolemy XIII before the assembly of Alexandria, where Caesar revealed the written will of Ptolemy XII—previously possessed by Pompey—naming Cleopatra and Ptolemy XIII as his joint heirs.[137][135][129][note 34] Caesar then attempted to arrange for the other two siblings, Arsinoe IV and Ptolemy XIV, to rule together over Cyprus, thus removing potential rival claimants to the Egyptian throne while also appeasing the Ptolemaic subjects still bitter over the loss of Cyprus to the Romans in 58 BC.[138][135][139][note 34]

Judging that this agreement favored Cleopatra over Ptolemy XIII and that the latter's army of 20,000, including the Gabiniani, could most likely defeat Caesar's army of 4,000 unsupported troops, Potheinos decided to have Achillas lead their forces to Alexandria to attack both Caesar and Cleopatra.[138][135][140][note 35] After Caesar managed to execute Potheinos, Arsinoe IV joined forces with Achillas and was declared queen, but soon afterward had her tutor Ganymedes kill Achillas and take his position as commander of her army.[141][142][143][note 36] Ganymedes then tricked Caesar into requesting the presence of the erstwhile captive Ptolemy XIII as a negotiator, only to have him join the army of Arsinoe IV.[141][144][145] The resulting siege of the palace, with Caesar and Cleopatra trapped together inside, lasted into the following year of 47 BC.[146][126][147][note 37]

Sometime between January and March of 47 BC, Caesar's reinforcements arrived, including those led by

Mithridates of Pergamon and Antipater the Idumaean.[141][126][148][note 38] Ptolemy XIII and Arsinoe IV withdrew their forces to the Nile, where Caesar attacked them. Ptolemy XIII tried to flee by boat, but it capsized, and he drowned.[149][126][150][note 39] Ganymedes may have been killed in the battle. Theodotus was found years later in Asia, by Marcus Junius Brutus, and executed. Arsinoe IV was forcefully paraded in Caesar's triumph in Rome before being exiled to the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus.[151][152][153] Cleopatra was conspicuously absent from these events and resided in the palace, most likely because she had been pregnant with Caesar's child since September 48 BC.[154][155][156]

Caesar's term as consul had expired at the end of 48 BC.[151] However, Antony, an officer of his, helped to secure Caesar's appointment as dictator lasting for a year, until October 47 BC, providing Caesar with the legal authority to settle the dynastic dispute in Egypt.[151] Wary of repeating the mistake of Cleopatra's sister Berenice IV in having a female monarch as sole ruler, Caesar appointed Cleopatra's 12-year-old brother, Ptolemy XIV, as joint ruler with the 22-year-old Cleopatra in a nominal sibling marriage, but Cleopatra continued living privately with Caesar.[157][126][148][note 40] The exact date at which Cyprus was returned to her control is not known, although she had a governor there by 42 BC.[158][148]

Cleopatra and Caesar (1866), a painting by Jean-Léon Gérôme

Caesar is alleged to have joined Cleopatra for a cruise of the Nile and sightseeing of

Ptolemy IV, which during his reign measured 90 metres (300 ft) in length and 24 metres (80 ft) in height and was complete with dining rooms, state rooms, holy shrines, and promenades along its two decks, resembling a floating villa.[161][162] Caesar could have had an interest in the Nile cruise owing to his fascination with geography; he was well-read in the works of Eratosthenes and Pytheas, and perhaps wanted to discover the source of the river, but turned back before reaching Ethiopia.[163][164]

Caesar departed from Egypt around April 47 BC, allegedly to confront Pharnaces II of Pontus, the son of Mithridates VI of Pontus, who was stirring up trouble for Rome in Anatolia.[165] It is possible that Caesar, married to the prominent Roman woman Calpurnia, also wanted to avoid being seen together with Cleopatra when she bore him their son.[165][159] He left three legions in Egypt, later increased to four, under the command of the freedman Rufio, to secure Cleopatra's tenuous position, but also perhaps to keep her activities in check.[165][166][167]

Caesarion, Cleopatra's alleged child with Caesar, was born 23 June 47 BC and was originally named "Pharaoh Caesar", as preserved on a stele at the Serapeum of Saqqara.[168][126][169][note 41] Perhaps owing to his still childless marriage with Calpurnia, Caesar remained publicly silent about Caesarion (but perhaps accepted his parentage in private).[170][note 42] Cleopatra, on the other hand, made repeated official declarations about Caesarion's parentage, naming Caesar as the father.[170][171][172]

Egyptian portrait of a Ptolemaic queen, possibly Cleopatra, c. 51–30 BC, located in the Brooklyn Museum[173]

Cleopatra and her nominal joint ruler Ptolemy XIV visited Rome sometime in late 46 BC, presumably without Caesarion, and were given lodging in Caesar's villa within the

Roman religion.[179]

Cleopatra's presence in Rome most likely had an effect on the events at the

Octavian as the primary heir, and Octavian arrived in Italy around the same time Cleopatra decided to depart for Egypt.[188][189][191] A few months later, Cleopatra had Ptolemy XIV killed by poisoning, elevating her son Caesarion as her co-ruler.[192][193][172][note 44]

Cleopatra in the Liberators' civil war

Main article: Reign of Cleopatra
Further information: Liberators' civil war
Cleopatra's Gate in Tarsos (now Tarsus, Mersin, Turkey), the site where she met Mark Antony in 41 BC[194]

Octavian, Antony, and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus formed the Second Triumvirate in 43 BC, in which they were each elected for five-year terms to restore order in the Republic and bring Caesar's assassins to justice.[195][196] Cleopatra received messages from both Gaius Cassius Longinus, one of Caesar's assassins, and Publius Cornelius Dolabella, proconsul of Syria and Caesarian loyalist, requesting military aid.[195] She decided to write Cassius an excuse that her kingdom faced too many internal problems, while sending the four legions left by Caesar in Egypt to Dolabella.[195][197] However, these troops were captured by Cassius in Palestine.[195][197] While Serapion, Cleopatra's governor of Cyprus, defected to Cassius and provided him with ships, Cleopatra took her own fleet to Greece to personally assist Octavian and Antony, but her ships were heavily damaged in a Mediterranean storm and she arrived too late to aid in the fighting.[195][198] By the autumn of 42 BC, Antony had defeated the forces of Caesar's assassins at the Battle of Philippi in Greece, leading to the suicide of Cassius and Brutus.[195][199]

By the end of 42 BC, Octavian had gained control over much of

Tarsos in Anatolia and summoned Cleopatra there in several letters, which she rebuffed until Antony's envoy Quintus Dellius convinced her to come.[201][202] The meeting would allow Cleopatra to clear up the misconception that she had supported Cassius during the civil war and address territorial exchanges in the Levant, but Antony also undoubtedly desired to form a personal, romantic relationship with the queen.[203][202] Cleopatra sailed up the Kydnos River to Tarsos in Thalamegos, hosting Antony and his officers for two nights of lavish banquets on board the ship.[204][205][note 45] Cleopatra managed to clear her name as a supposed supporter of Cassius, arguing she had really attempted to help Dolabella in Syria, and convinced Antony to have her exiled sister, Arsinoe IV, executed at Ephesus.[206][207] Cleopatra's former rebellious governor of Cyprus was also handed over to her for execution.[206][208]

Relationship with Mark Antony

Main article: Reign of Cleopatra
triumvir Mark Antony, late 1st century AD, Vatican Museums

Cleopatra invited Antony to come to Egypt before departing from Tarsos, which led Antony to visit Alexandria by November 41 BC.

Publius Ventidius Bassus, drive the Parthians out of Anatolia and Syria.[211][213][214][note 46]

Cleopatra carefully chose Antony as her partner for producing further heirs, as he was deemed to be the most powerful Roman figure following Caesar's demise.[215] With his powers as a triumvir, Antony also had the broad authority to restore former Ptolemaic lands, which were currently in Roman hands, to Cleopatra.[216][217] While it is clear that both Cilicia and Cyprus were under Cleopatra's control by 19 November 38 BC, the transfer probably occurred earlier in the winter of 41–40 BC, during her time spent with Antony.[216]

By the spring of 40 BC, Antony left Egypt due to troubles in Syria, where his governor Lucius Decidius Saxa was killed and his army taken by Quintus Labienus, a former officer under Cassius who now served the Parthian Empire.[218] Cleopatra provided Antony with 200 ships for his campaign and as payment for her newly acquired territories.[218] She would not see Antony again until 37 BC, but she maintained correspondence, and evidence suggests she kept a spy in his camp.[218] By the end of 40 BC, Cleopatra had given birth to twins, a boy named Alexander Helios and a girl named Cleopatra Selene II, both of whom Antony acknowledged as his children.[219][220] Helios (the Sun) and Selene (the Moon) were symbolic of a new era of societal rejuvenation,[221] as well as an indication that Cleopatra hoped Antony would repeat the exploits of Alexander the Great by conquering the Parthians.[211]

The Meeting of Antony and Cleopatra (1885), by Lawrence Alma-Tadema

Mark Antony's Parthian campaign in the east was disrupted by the events of the

Brundisium in Italy in September 40 BC.[224][211] Although the agreement struck at Brundisium solidified Antony's control of the Roman Republic's territories east of the Ionian Sea, it also stipulated that he concede Italia, Hispania, and Gaul, and marry Octavian's sister Octavia the Younger, a potential rival for Cleopatra.[225][226]

In December 40 BC Cleopatra received Herod in Alexandria as an unexpected guest and refugee who fled a turbulent situation in

Herodian kingdom.[228]

Mauretania,[232] located in the Archaeological Museum of Cherchell
, Algeria

Relations between Antony and Cleopatra perhaps soured when he not only married Octavia, but also sired her two children, Antonia the Elder in 39 BC and Antonia Minor in 36 BC, and moved his headquarters to Athens.[233] However, Cleopatra's position in Egypt was secure.[211] Her rival Herod was occupied with civil war in Judea that required heavy Roman military assistance, but received none from Cleopatra.[233] Since the authority of Antony and Octavian as triumvirs had expired on 1 January 37 BC, Octavia arranged for a meeting at Tarentum, where the triumvirate was officially extended to 33 BC.[234] With two legions granted by Octavian and a thousand soldiers lent by Octavia, Antony traveled to Antioch, where he made preparations for war against the Parthians.[235]

Antony summoned Cleopatra to Antioch to discuss pressing issues, such as Herod's kingdom and financial support for his Parthian campaign.[235][236] Cleopatra brought her now three-year-old twins to Antioch, where Antony saw them for the first time and where they probably first received their surnames Helios and Selene as part of Antony and Cleopatra's ambitious plans for the future.[237][238] In order to stabilize the east, Antony not only enlarged Cleopatra's domain,[236] he also established new ruling dynasties and client rulers who would be loyal to him, yet would ultimately outlast him.[239][217][note 48]

In this arrangement Cleopatra gained significant former Ptolemaic territories in the Levant, including nearly all of

Roman Crete.[244][236] Although still administered by Roman officials, these territories nevertheless enriched her kingdom and led her to declare the inauguration of a new era by double-dating her coinage in 36 BC.[245][246]

Octavian (right), issued in 41 BC to celebrate the establishment of the Second Triumvirate by Octavian, Antony and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus
in 43 BC

Antony's enlargement of the Ptolemaic realm by relinquishing directly controlled Roman territory was exploited by his rival Octavian, who tapped into the public sentiment in Rome against the empowerment of a foreign queen at the expense of their Republic.

Cornelia Africana, daughter of Scipio Africanus, had been the first living Roman woman to have a statue dedicated to her.[245] She was now followed by Octavia and Livia, whose statues were most likely erected in the Forum of Caesar to rival that of Cleopatra's, erected by Caesar.[245]

In 36 BC, Cleopatra accompanied Antony to the Euphrates in his journey toward invading the Parthian Empire.[248] She then returned to Egypt, perhaps due to her advanced state of pregnancy.[249] By the summer of 36 BC, she had given birth to Ptolemy Philadelphus, her second son with Antony.[249][236]

Antony's Parthian campaign in 36 BC turned into a complete debacle for a number of reasons, in particular the betrayal of Artavasdes II of Armenia, who defected to the Parthian side.[250][217][251] After losing some 30,000 men, more than Crassus at Carrhae (an indignity he had hoped to avenge), Antony finally arrived at Leukokome near Berytus (modern Beirut, Lebanon) in December, engaged in heavy drinking before Cleopatra arrived to provide funds and clothing for his battered troops.[250][252] Antony desired to avoid the risks involved in returning to Rome, and so he traveled with Cleopatra back to Alexandria to see his newborn son.[250]

Donations of Alexandria

Main articles: Donations of Alexandria and Reign of Cleopatra
obverse, which bears the inscription reading "ANTONIVS ARMENIA DEVICTA", alluding to his Armenian campaign. The reverse features Cleopatra, with the inscription "CLEOPATR[AE] REGINAE REGVM FILIORVM REGVM". The mention of her children on the reverse refers to the Donations of Alexandria.[253][254]

As Antony prepared for another Parthian expedition in 35 BC, this time aimed at their ally

Sextus Pompeius and even Lepidus, the third member of the triumvirate, who was placed under house arrest after revolting against Octavian in Sicily.[257][217][252]

Dellius was sent as Antony's envoy to Artavasdes II in 34 BC to negotiate a potential

marriage alliance that would wed the Armenian king's daughter to Alexander Helios, the son of Antony and Cleopatra.[258][259] When this was declined, Antony marched his army into Armenia, defeated their forces and captured the king and Armenian royal family.[258][260] Antony then held a military parade in Alexandria as an imitation of a Roman triumph, dressed as Dionysus and riding into the city on a chariot to present the royal prisoners to Cleopatra, who was seated on a golden throne above a silver dais.[258][261] News of this event was heavily criticized in Rome as a perversion of time-honored Roman rites and rituals to be enjoyed instead by an Egyptian queen.[258]

A papyrus document dated February 33 BC granting tax exemptions to a person in Egypt and containing the signature of Cleopatra written by an official, but with "γινέσθωι" (ginésthōi; lit. "make it happen"[262][263] or "so be it"[264]) added in Greek, likely by the queen's own hand[262][263][264]

In an event held at the

Queen of Kings with her son Caesarion, King of Kings, while Alexander Helios was declared king of Armenia, Media, and Parthia, and two-year-old Ptolemy Philadelphos was declared king of Syria and Cilicia.[265][266][267] Cleopatra Selene II was bestowed with Crete and Cyrene.[268][269] Antony and Cleopatra may have been wed during this ceremony.[268][267][note 50] Antony sent a report to Rome requesting ratification of these territorial claims, now known as the Donations of Alexandria. Octavian wanted to publicize it for propaganda purposes, but the two consuls, both supporters of Antony, had it censored from public view.[270][269]

In late 34 BC, Antony and Octavian engaged in a heated war of propaganda that would last for years.

witchcraft and sorcery and was as dangerous as Homer's Helen of Troy in destroying civilization.[274] Pliny the Elder claims in his Natural History that Cleopatra once dissolved a pearl worth tens of millions of sesterces in vinegar just to win a dinner-party bet.[275][276] The accusation that Antony had stolen books from the Library of Pergamum to restock the Library of Alexandria later turned out to be an admitted fabrication by Gaius Calvisius Sabinus.[277]

A

romanized: ginésthōi);[note 53] this is likely the autograph of the queen, as it was Ptolemaic practice to countersign documents to avoid forgery.[278][263]

Battle of Actium

Main articles: Battle of Actium and Reign of Cleopatra
A reconstructed statue of Augustus
as a younger Octavian, dated c. 30 BC

In a speech to the Roman Senate on the first day of his consulship on 1 January 33 BC, Octavian accused Antony of attempting to subvert Roman freedoms and territorial integrity as a slave to his Oriental queen.[279] Before Antony and Octavian's joint imperium expired on 31 December 33 BC, Antony declared Caesarion as the true heir of Caesar in an attempt to undermine Octavian.[279] In 32 BC, the Antonian loyalists Gaius Sosius and Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus became consuls. The former gave a fiery speech condemning Octavian, now a private citizen without public office, and introduced pieces of legislation against him.[278][280] During the next senatorial session, Octavian entered the Senate house with armed guards and levied his own accusations against the consuls.[278][281] Intimidated by this act, the consuls and over 200 senators still in support of Antony fled Rome the next day to join the side of Antony.[278][281][282]

Antony and Cleopatra traveled together to Ephesus in 32 BC, where she provided him with 200 of the 800 naval ships he was able to acquire.[278] Ahenobarbus, wary of having Octavian's propaganda confirmed to the public, attempted to persuade Antony to have Cleopatra excluded from the campaign against Octavian.[283][284] Publius Canidius Crassus made the counterargument that Cleopatra was funding the war effort and was a competent monarch.[283][284] Cleopatra refused Antony's requests that she return to Egypt, judging that by blocking Octavian in Greece she could more easily defend Egypt.[283][284] Cleopatra's insistence that she be involved in the battle for Greece led to the defections of prominent Romans, such as Ahenobarbus and Lucius Munatius Plancus.[283][281]

During the spring of 32 BC Antony and Cleopatra traveled to Athens, where she persuaded Antony to send Octavia an official declaration of divorce.[283][281][267] This encouraged Plancus to advise Octavian that he should seize Antony's will, invested with the Vestal Virgins.[283][281][269] Although a violation of sacred and legal rights, Octavian forcefully acquired the document from the Temple of Vesta, and it became a useful tool in the propaganda war against Antony and Cleopatra.[283][269] Octavian highlighted parts of the will, such as Caesarion being named heir to Caesar, that the Donations of Alexandria were legal, that Antony should be buried alongside Cleopatra in Egypt instead of Rome, and that Alexandria would be made the new capital of the Roman Republic.[285][281][269] In a show of loyalty to Rome, Octavian decided to begin construction of his own mausoleum at the Campus Martius.[281] Octavian's legal standing was also improved by being elected consul in 31 BC.[281] With Antony's will made public, Octavian had his casus belli, and Rome declared war on Cleopatra,[285][286][287] not Antony.[note 54] The legal argument for war was based less on Cleopatra's territorial acquisitions, with former Roman territories ruled by her children with Antony, and more on the fact that she was providing military support to a private citizen now that Antony's triumviral authority had expired.[288]

Left: A silver tetradrachm of Cleopatra minted at Seleucia Pieria, Syria
Right: A silver tetradrachm of Cleopatra minted at Ascalon
, Israel

Antony and Cleopatra had a larger fleet than Octavian, but the crews of Antony and Cleopatra's navy were not all well-trained, some of them perhaps from merchant vessels, whereas Octavian had a fully professional force.

Patrai in Greece, and by the spring of 31 BC they had moved to Actium, on the southern side of the Ambracian Gulf.[291][290]

Cleopatra and Antony had the support of various allied kings, but Cleopatra had already been in conflict with Herod, and an earthquake in Judea provided him with an excuse to be absent from the campaign.

Deiotaros of Paphlagonia.[293] While some in Antony's camp suggested abandoning the naval conflict to retreat inland, Cleopatra urged for a naval confrontation, to keep Octavian's fleet away from Egypt.[294]

On 2 September 31 BC the naval forces of Octavian, led by

Tainaron.[295] Antony reportedly avoided Cleopatra during this three-day voyage, until her ladies in waiting at Tainaron urged him to speak with her.[298] The Battle of Actium raged on without Cleopatra and Antony until the morning of 3 September, and was followed by massive defections of officers, troops, and allied kings to Octavian's side.[298][296][299]

Downfall and death

Main article: Death of Cleopatra
Further information: Epaphroditus (freedman of Augustus) and Tomb of Antony and Cleopatra
Roman painting from the House of Giuseppe II in Pompeii, early 1st century AD, most likely depicting Cleopatra, wearing her royal diadem and consuming poison in an act of suicide, while her son Caesarion, also wearing a royal diadem, stands behind her[300][301]

While Octavian occupied Athens, Antony and Cleopatra landed at

Paraitonion in Egypt.[298][302] The couple then went their separate ways, Antony to Cyrene to raise more troops and Cleopatra to the harbor at Alexandria in an attempt to mislead the oppositional party and portray the activities in Greece as a victory.[298] She was afraid that news about the outcome of the battle of Actium would lead to a rebellion.[303] It is uncertain whether or not, at this time, she actually executed Artavasdes II and sent his head to his rival, Artavasdes I of Media Atropatene, in an attempt to strike an alliance with him.[304][305]

Pharos that he nicknamed the Timoneion, after the philosopher Timon of Athens, who was famous for his cynicism and misanthropy.[304] Herod, who had personally advised Antony after the Battle of Actium that he should betray Cleopatra, traveled to Rhodes to meet Octavian and resign his kingship out of loyalty to Antony.[306] Octavian was impressed by his speech and sense of loyalty, so he allowed him to maintain his position in Judea, further isolating Antony and Cleopatra.[306]

Cleopatra perhaps started to view Antony as a liability by the late summer of 31 BC, when she prepared to leave Egypt to her son Caesarion.[307] Cleopatra planned to relinquish her throne to him, take her fleet from the Mediterranean into the Red Sea, and then set sail to a foreign port, perhaps in India, where she could spend time recuperating.[307][305] However, these plans were ultimately abandoned when Malichus I, as advised by Octavian's governor of Syria, Quintus Didius, managed to burn Cleopatra's fleet in revenge for his losses in a war with Herod that Cleopatra had largely initiated.[307][305] Cleopatra had no other option but to stay in Egypt and negotiate with Octavian.[307] Although most likely later pro-Octavian propaganda, it was reported that at this time Cleopatra started testing the strengths of various poisons on prisoners and even her own servants.[308]

The Death of Cleopatra (1658), by Guido Cagnacci

Cleopatra had Caesarion enter into the ranks of the

Koptos dated 21 September 31 BC, demonstrated that Cleopatra was now grooming her son to become the sole ruler of Egypt.[309] In a show of solidarity, Antony also had Marcus Antonius Antyllus, his son with Fulvia, enter the ephebi at the same time.[307] Separate messages and envoys from Antony and Cleopatra were then sent to Octavian, still stationed at Rhodes, although Octavian seems to have replied only to Cleopatra.[308] Cleopatra requested that her children should inherit Egypt and that Antony should be allowed to live in exile in Egypt, offered Octavian money in the future, and immediately sent him lavish gifts.[308][305] Octavian sent his diplomat Thyrsos to Cleopatra after she threatened to burn herself and vast amounts of her treasure within a tomb already under construction.[310] Thyrsos advised her to kill Antony so that her life would be spared, but when Antony suspected foul intent, he had this diplomat flogged and sent back to Octavian without a deal.[311]

After lengthy negotiations that ultimately produced no results, Octavian set out to invade Egypt in the spring of 30 BC,[312] stopping at Ptolemais in Phoenicia, where his new ally Herod provided his army with fresh supplies.[313] Octavian moved south and swiftly took Pelousion, while Cornelius Gallus, marching eastward from Cyrene, defeated Antony's forces near Paraitonion.[314][315] Octavian advanced quickly to Alexandria, but Antony returned and won a small victory over Octavian's tired troops outside the city's hippodrome.[314][315] However, on 1 August 30 BC, Antony's naval fleet surrendered to Octavian, followed by Antony's cavalry.[314][296][316] Cleopatra hid herself in her tomb with her close attendants and sent a message to Antony that she had committed suicide.[314][317][318] In despair, Antony responded to this by stabbing himself in the stomach and taking his own life at age 53.[314][296][305] According to Plutarch, he was still dying when brought to Cleopatra at her tomb, telling her he had died honorably and that she could trust Octavian's companion Gaius Proculeius over anyone else in his entourage.[314][319][320] It was Proculeius, however, who infiltrated her tomb using a ladder and detained the queen, denying her the ability to burn herself with her treasures.[321][322] Cleopatra was then allowed to embalm and bury Antony within her tomb before she was escorted to the palace.[321][305]

The Death of Cleopatra (1796–1797), by Jean-Baptiste Regnault

Octavian entered Alexandria, occupied the palace, and seized Cleopatra's three youngest children.

asp or Egyptian cobra to bite and poison her.[332][333][305] Plutarch relates this tale, but then suggests an implement (κνῆστις, knêstis, lit. 'spine, cheese-grater') was used to introduce the toxin by scratching, while Dio says that she injected the poison with a needle (βελόνη, belónē), and Strabo argued for an ointment of some kind.[334][333][335][note 55] No venomous snake was found with her body, but she did have tiny puncture wounds on her arm that could have been caused by a needle.[332][335][331]

Cleopatra decided in her last moments to send Caesarion away to Upper Egypt, perhaps with plans to flee to

Egypt was established,[342][296][343][note 57] marking the end of the Hellenistic period.[344][345][note 7] In January of 27 BC Octavian was renamed Augustus ("the revered") and amassed constitutional powers that established him as the first Roman emperor, inaugurating the Principate era of the Roman Empire.[346]

Cleopatra's kingdom and role as a monarch

obverse is a portrait of Cleopatra wearing a diadem
, and on the reverse an inscription reading "ΒΑΣΙΛΙΣΣΗΣ ΚΛΕΟΠΑΤΡΑΣ" with an eagle standing on a thunderbolt.