Cleopatra Research Paper

“Who was Cleopatra? Who is Cleopatra? Portrayed as both goddess and monster in her own lifetime, through the ages she has become both saint and sinner, heroine and victim, femme fatale and star-crossed lover, politician and voluptuary, black and white. A protean figure, Cleopatra defies categorization.”1 So began Prudence J. Jones introduction in her edited text, Cleopatra: A Sourcebook. Jones claims Cleopatra was a chameleon in the skin of an Egyptian Pharaoh. As such she molded herself to fit what would best procure her the much needed tactics to strengthen and maximize the power she inherited. As the world changed, so did their perception of Cleopatra; and, in turn every generation construed her differently: from evil seductress, ill-fated star-crossed lover to renewed empowering feminist icon. The Cleopatra painted in this paper will decidedly be more reserved, acutely un-promiscuous, sharp-witted, resilient, and less beautiful than her literary and culturally shambolic counterpart; the Cleopatra history wished to hide.

The purpose of this paper is to look at the history of Cleopatra VII, as well as how and why she wanted to be portrayed in a certain manner with respect to visual art. As the last noble of the Ptolemaic Dynasty, her images communicate her political abilities, her religious feeling, her caring duties and determination in preserving royal lineage, and her direct connection to ancient Egyptian gods. In addition, having relationships with two of the most powerful men in ancient Roman history, Julius Caesar, and Mark Antony. Cleopatra was also able to improve her skills as a powerful pharaoh and set her status as pharaoh.

Her initial ascension to the throne began with the death of her father, Ptolemy XII Auletes in 51 B.C.; afterwards, eighteen-year-old Cleopatra, along with her brother Ptolemy XIII Theos, who was ten at the time, were made co-rulers of Egypt (Ritner). The co-regency didn’t last long however, due to Cleopatra's efforts to retain dominance over Theos (Clauss). This behavior showcased her ambitious tendencies towards the throne. Therefore, in 49 B.C. Theos' advisors seized control, resulting in Cleopatra's expulsion ("Cleopatra"). However, Cleopatra was not one to accept defeat without

Cleopatra, the queen of Egypt, was one of the most famous female rulers. Cleopatra inspired some of Shakespeare’s plays. She was also the last true pharaoh of Egypt. Cleopatra was born princess to egypt in 69 B.C. Cleopatra VII's father was Ptolemy XII and it is believed that her mother was Cleopatra V Tryphaena. 8 years after her birth her mother game birth to a boy.

Rome was going through a period of civil war. Pompey the Great and Julius Caesar were fighting each other for control of Rome. After Pompey was murdered, Cleopatra decided it was important to make friends with Caesar for her safety and that of her country. Tensions were high in Egypt’s main city, Alexandria. She had a servant secretly bring her into Caesar’s home while hidden in a cloth bag. Cleopatra supported Caesar during fighting between the Egyptian supporters of Ptolemy the Thirteenth and the Roman military. And upon his victory, Caesar gave control of Egypt back to Cleopatra. The queen would soon give birth to Caesar’s child, a boy named Caesarion. Cleopatra knew this child would deepen ties between Rome and

Cleopatra made a plan to get back at her brother, Ptolemy XIII. Promises were made to Egypt by Cleopatra VII to return. Even though Cleopatra was forced out, she knew she would return to Egyptian power. Shortly after leaving Alexandria, Cleopatra sends herself to Julius Caesar in a rolled up in a rug. While visiting Caesar, in Rome, Cleopatra begged Caesar help raise an army and get revenge on Ptolemy XIII (“Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator”).

Julius Caesar and Cleopatras relationship evolved from a conflict surrounding the murder of a man named Pompey, Caesars son in law. This anger towards Pompey's death my have stemmed from two reasons; Caesar intended to show Pompey mercy as he was seen to weep openly over him and arranged a proper burial for him or he was dis-satisfied with Pompey's murder as it took place under the rule of a foreigner. No matter the truth, Caesars feelings towards Ptolemy XIII hardened. Caesar intended to execute Ptolemy, a man Cleopatra was affiliated with. He arrived with a small force and set out for the palace where he forcefully demanded that Ptolemy and Cleopatra were to dismiss their armies. Cleopatra managed to organise a secret meeting with Caesar

We know the most important industries of Egypt’s economy, and the sacred triad of deities that Greeks and Egyptians joined together to worship. We know which urban centers were most important, and we know of the terrible murders that caused this queen’s rise to the throne. We also know about the precarious political and economic plight of her country at the time. The more closely we examine this picture, the more we return to the questions that have been left unanswered, the questions that tantalize us with their ambiguity, making Cleopatra the charismatic, yet enigmatic, figure she is today.

Cleopatra lived in Caesar's villa near Rome for almost two years. He showered Cleopatra with gifts and everything she wanted. It was rumored that Caesar was intending to pass a law allowing him to marry Cleopatra and make their son his heir. It was also rumored that Caesar, who had accepted a lifetime dictatorship and sat on a golden throne in the Senate, intended to become the king of Rome. On March 15, 44 BC a crowd of conspirators surrounded Caesar at a Senate meeting and stabbed him to death. Cleopatra knew that she was also in danger so she quickly left Rome with her protectors. Before or immediately after their return to Egypt, Ptolemy XIV died. It is rumored that Cleopatra had him. Cleopatra then made Caesarion,her son, co-regent.

She was a descendant of the greek Ptolemy I who was a friend of Alexander the Great, who had conquered Egypt a few centuries before her time, and was a general in Alexander’s army (Hawass 2010:16). Upon the death of Alexander the Great Ptolemy I took control of Egypt and started the Ptolemaic dynasty (Hawass 2010:16). Cleopatra VII, was born in 69 B.C.; she was the second daughter and child of Ptolemy XII, who had five legitimate children in all (Roller 2010:3). During the first few years of Cleopatra VII’s life marked a fairly quiet time in the reign of her father; but during this time he gave an extensive amount of money to Roman leaders as a payment for their support of his leadership and help in controlling the Egyptian people (Roller 2010:18-21). Ptolemy XII began taking loans from a Roman banker to help support this habit, and imposed heavy taxes on his people which caused a revolt and strike of farmers. Despite all this influx of revenue Ptolemy continued to spend exorbitant amounts on both gifts for Roman leaders and for his own lavish tastes, feeding his debts to Rome (Roller and Roller 2010:21). Due to the unrest of the now starving people in Egypt of that time, and the fact that Ptolemy XII let his brother Ptolemy of Cyprus fall, watching silently as Cyprus became a Roman territory, there was an uprising in 58 B.C. (Roller 2010:22). So Ptolemy XII escaped Egypt and the revolt of his people by fleeing

Some characters in history have been mischaracterized or mythologized, but none have been as misconstrued as Cleopatra VII, the last queen of Egypt. In Roller’s 2010 publication, Cleopatra: A Biography, he discusses many aspects of Cleopatra’s life, but most importantly her power. This novel is the first to be based solely on primary materials from the Greco-Roman period while Cleopatra was alive. These sources include literature, Egyptian documents, and representations in art and coinage. The author’s stated purpose for writing this book is “to create a portrait of Cleopatra based solely on information from the ancient world” (x). Roller achieves his purpose by organizing his work chronologically beginning with Cleopatra’s lineage and ending with the downfall to her kingdom around 34 B.C. In order to grasp some of the information in this novel, the reader must first draw upon Egyptian and Greco-Roman art as well as Greek and Latin literature (Roller x). In addition to the primary sources used to write this book, Duane also did research at Harvard College Library, Ohio State University, and the Institut für Archäologie, Karl- Franzens Universität (Roller xi). While Roller successfully provides information about Cleopatra with his well narrated novel, he distracts the reader with a regular use of names and a countless mention of geographical places.

(“Cleopatra: The Woman…”) In 49 B.C., Cleopatra was forced to flee to Syria after Pothinus, Achillas, and Theodotus, who were Ptolemy XIII’s advisors, sought to overthrow her. They convinced the Egyptian people that Cleopatra was the cause of the famine that they were experiencing. (“Cleopatra.”)(“Cleopatra VII’s Childhood…”) She smuggled herself into the royal palace in a rug to plead her case with Julius Caesar. Cleopatra and Caesar became lovers. Ptolemy XIII discovered this and declared war on Caesar. Caesar overpowered Ptolemy XIII’s army and Ptolemy XIII drowned in the Nile River while trying to escape. (Cleopatra: The Woman…”)

As soon as Cleopatra won her throne back by over throwing her brother, her sister, Arsinoe ran to the people who kicked Cleopatra off of the throne and Cleopatra got mad that her sister was trying to remove her from the throne after her brother removed her once she requested for someone to go and find her sister and to kill her, so Cleopatra killed her only sister left. The oldest brother was Ptolemy XII and he was killed because while Cleopatra and Marc Anthony were in the war with him, he tried to escape and while escaping he drowned in the River Nile. Cleopatra’s youngest brother, Ptolemy XIV was poisoned by cleopatra. So at the end all of her siblings were killed and Cleopatra committed suicide by allowing an Asp to bite her because Marc Antony killed

Around 50 BC, the Ptolemies who were the Greek kings of Egypt, were no where near being as strong as the Romans and when Julius Caesar visited Egypt, the Pharaoh of Egypt, Cleopatra, used her charm to get him to help her fight a civil war against her husband/ brother, Ptolemy. After Caesar's death Cleo found herself in between the war with Mark Antony and Caesar's nephew, Augustus, war. Cleopatra and Antony were lovers and Cleo was a huge impact on Antony's decisions. Including in his decision for him to cower away from war with Augustus and return to Egypt where he killed

The community depend on everyone freedom to giving up the freedom we all have that we work hard for, for the community to have us work or follow the laws we have or life we want to keep for our self. There been a lot of people that spent mostly all their freedom to have and work for the community but, not everyone should have to this like children working in factories and becoming like slaves to people who don’t pay them a lot of money for how much they are put to work and ways they live. I say no that people have to give up on their freedom to help the community out, like most kids these days don’t have to work until they 16 to get a job, where every you live at. But mostly in other countries kids have to work so they can help their parents with rent or food to eat, which gives up a lot of kids freedom these days.