Cleopatra (klēəpă`trə, –pā`–, –pä`–), 69 B.C.–30 B.C., queen of Egypt, one of the great romantic heroines of all time. Her name was widely used in the Ptolemaic family; there were many earlier Cleopatras. The daughter of Ptolemy XI, she was married at the age of 17 (as was the family custom) to her younger brother Ptolemy XII Ptolemy XII, 61?–47 B.C., king of ancient Egypt (51–47 B.C.), of the Macedonian dynasty; son of Ptolemy XI. On the death of his father he was under the guardianship of Pompey.
..... Click the link for more information. . The force and character of the royal pair was, however, concentrated in the alluring (though apparently not beautiful) and ambitious queen. She led a revolt against her brother, and, obtaining the aid of Julius Caesar, she won the kingdom, although it remained a vassal of Rome. Her young brother-husband was accidentally drowned in the Nile. She then married her still younger brother Ptolemy XIII Ptolemy XIII, d. 44 B.C., king of ancient Egypt (47–44 B.C.), the last of the Macedonian dynasty, but for his sister, Cleopatra . He was a child when his brother Ptolemy XII drowned. Julius Caesar married him to Cleopatra in 47 B.C.
..... Click the link for more information. , but she was the mistress of Caesar and followed him to Rome; there she bore a son, Caesarion (later Ptolemy XIV Ptolemy XIV (Ptolemy Caesarion), 47–30 B.C., son of Cleopatra and (almost certainly) Julius Caesar. He became joint ruler with his mother, but played no role in the great and tragic events that brought Egypt and Cleopatra to their doom.
..... Click the link for more information. ), who was said to be his. Returning to Egypt after the murder of Caesar and the battle of Philippi Philippi (fĭlĭp`ī), ancient city, E Macedonia. Inhabited by Thracians and then Thasians, it was renamed (probably 356 B.C.
..... Click the link for more information. , she was visited (42 B.C.) by Marc Antony Antony or Marc Antony, Lat. Marcus Antonius, c.83 B.C.–30 B.C., Roman politican and soldier. He was of a distinguished family; his mother was a relative of Julius Caesar .
..... Click the link for more information. , who had come to demand an account of her actions. He fell hopelessly in love with her, and Cleopatra, conscious of her royalty and even her claims to divinity as the pharaoh's daughter, seems to have hoped to use Antony to reestablish the real power of the Egyptian throne. They were married in 36 B.C. Most of the Romans feared and hated Cleopatra, and Octavian (later Augustus Augustus (ôgŭs`təs, əgŭs`–), 63 B.C.–A.D.
..... Click the link for more information. ) undertook to destroy the two lovers. Antony and Cleopatra were defeated off Actium in 31 B.C., and, returning to Alexandria, they tried to defend themselves in Egypt. When they failed, Antony committed suicide by falling on his sword. Cleopatra, faced by the cold and unmoved Octavian, also killed herself. Her schemes failed, but her ambition, capability, and remarkable charm have left a great impression on history. Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra, based on Plutarch, describes the tragic end of the queen's career, and Dryden's All for Love: or, The World Well Lost is a reworking of Shakespeare. Caesar and Cleopatra, the comedy by G. B. Shaw, deals with the early years of her story.
(born 69—died Aug. 30, 30 BC, Alexandria) Egyptian queen (of Macedonian descent), last ruler of the Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt. Daughter of Ptolemy XII (b. 112?—d. 51 BC), she ruled with her two brother-husbands, Ptolemy XIII (r. 51–47) and Ptolemy XIV (r. 47–44), both of whom she had killed, and with her son, Ptolemy XV, or Caesarion (r. 44–30). She claimed the latter was fathered by Julius Caesar, who had become her lover after entering Egypt in 48 BC in pursuit of Pompey. She was with Caesar in Rome when he was assassinated (44), after which she returned to Egypt to install her son on the throne. She lured Mark Antony, Caesar's heir apparent, into marriage (36), inviting the wrath of Octavian (later Augustus), whose sister Antony had earlier wed. She schemed against and antagonized Antony's friend Herod the Great, thereby losing his support. At a magnificent celebration in Alexandria after Antony's Parthian campaign (36–34), he bestowed Roman lands on his foreign wife and family. Octavian declared war on Cleopatra and Antony and defeated their joint forces at the Battle of Actium (31). Antony committed suicide and, after a failed attempt to beguile Octavian, so, too, did Cleopatra, possibly by means of an asp.
Cleopatra
..... Click the link for more information. . The force and character of the royal pair was, however, concentrated in the alluring (though apparently not beautiful) and ambitious queen. She led a revolt against her brother, and, obtaining the aid of Julius Caesar, she won the kingdom, although it remained a vassal of Rome. Her young brother-husband was accidentally drowned in the Nile. She then married her still younger brother Ptolemy XIII Ptolemy XIII, d. 44 B.C., king of ancient Egypt (47–44 B.C.), the last of the Macedonian dynasty, but for his sister, Cleopatra . He was a child when his brother Ptolemy XII drowned. Julius Caesar married him to Cleopatra in 47 B.C.
..... Click the link for more information. , but she was the mistress of Caesar and followed him to Rome; there she bore a son, Caesarion (later Ptolemy XIV Ptolemy XIV (Ptolemy Caesarion), 47–30 B.C., son of Cleopatra and (almost certainly) Julius Caesar. He became joint ruler with his mother, but played no role in the great and tragic events that brought Egypt and Cleopatra to their doom.
..... Click the link for more information. ), who was said to be his. Returning to Egypt after the murder of Caesar and the battle of Philippi Philippi (fĭlĭp`ī), ancient city, E Macedonia. Inhabited by Thracians and then Thasians, it was renamed (probably 356 B.C.
..... Click the link for more information. , she was visited (42 B.C.) by Marc Antony Antony or Marc Antony, Lat. Marcus Antonius, c.83 B.C.–30 B.C., Roman politican and soldier. He was of a distinguished family; his mother was a relative of Julius Caesar .
..... Click the link for more information. , who had come to demand an account of her actions. He fell hopelessly in love with her, and Cleopatra, conscious of her royalty and even her claims to divinity as the pharaoh's daughter, seems to have hoped to use Antony to reestablish the real power of the Egyptian throne. They were married in 36 B.C. Most of the Romans feared and hated Cleopatra, and Octavian (later Augustus Augustus (ôgŭs`təs, əgŭs`–), 63 B.C.–A.D.
..... Click the link for more information. ) undertook to destroy the two lovers. Antony and Cleopatra were defeated off Actium in 31 B.C., and, returning to Alexandria, they tried to defend themselves in Egypt. When they failed, Antony committed suicide by falling on his sword. Cleopatra, faced by the cold and unmoved Octavian, also killed herself. Her schemes failed, but her ambition, capability, and remarkable charm have left a great impression on history. Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra, based on Plutarch, describes the tragic end of the queen's career, and Dryden's All for Love: or, The World Well Lost is a reworking of Shakespeare. Caesar and Cleopatra, the comedy by G. B. Shaw, deals with the early years of her story.
Bibliography
See biographies by J. Lindsay (1971) and M. Grant (1973); J. Samson, Nefertiti and Cleopatra: Queen-Monarchs of Ancient Egypt (1987).
Cleopatra
in full Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator)
Cleopatra, detail of a bas relief, c. 69–30 BC; in the Temple of Hathor, Dandarah, …
(credit: Courtesy of the Oriental Institute, the University of Chicago)
Cleopatra
?69--30 bc, queen of Egypt (51--30), renowned for her beauty: the mistress of Julius Caesar and later of Mark Antony. She killed herself with an asp to avoid capture by Octavian (Augustus)
Cleopatra
beautiful queen of Egypt; wins Marc Antony’s heart. [Br. Lit.: Antony and Cleopatra]
See : Beauty, Feminine
Cleopatra
seductive queen of Egypt; beloved by Marc Antony. [Br. Lit.: Antony and Cleopatra]
See : Beauty, Sensual
Cleopatra
manipulates Antony through her “infinite variety.” [Br. Lit.: Antony and Cleopatra]
See : Cunning
Cleopatra
(69–30 B.C.) Egyptian queen, used sex for power. [Egyptian Hist.: Wallechinsky, 323]
See : Lust
Cleopatra
(69–30 B.C.) alluring and romantic queen of Egypt. [Egypt. Hist.: NCE, 577]
See : Passion, Sensual
Cleopatra
kills herself rather than being led through Rome in defeat. [Br. Lit.: Shakespeare Antony and Cleopatra]
See : Suicide
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