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CHAPTER 12
POWER-MAD OR MADLY
IN LOVE?
CLEOPATRA,QUEEN OF EGYPT
Dtolemy XII was pharaoh of Egypt, the wealthiest coun-
try in the Mediterranean world. Ptolemyloved to
party—he was called "The Flute Player" because he
was so fond of music. But Ptolemy was not just a
playful fellow.He was also a troublesome one, so
troublesomethat his own people wanted him out.
Theybooted him from power in 58 BCEand put his
eldest daughter, Berenice, on the throne instead.
Ptolemy fought back. He traveled to Romeand
bribed the general Pompey to support him against
Berenice.Pompey took troops to Egypt, defeated
Berenice'ssupporters, and returned the playboy
king to his throne. In gratitude, Ptolemy named
Pompeyas legal guardian to his eldest son. Ptolemy
then gave orders for Berenice to be beheaded.
Who was this man who ordered his own
daughter's death?
Ptolemy XII was actually a Greek. His long-ago ances-
tor, the first Ptolemy, had served as a general under Alexanderthe Great, who, in 331 BCE,had conquereda
huge empire—including Egypt. When Alexander died, his
three top generals divided the empire among themselves.
The one who chose Egypt made himself its king and called
himself Ptolemy I. By the time Ptolemy XII came to the
throne, his family had ruled Egypt for almost 250 years. But
theystill spoke Greek and considered themselves^ part of the
Greek world.
Although Ptolemy had executed^ his eldest^ daughter, there (^) was another whom he especially loved—a^ bright,
lively girl named Cleopatra VIl. The king seems to have
found her the most interesting of all his children.^ He
@ PLUTARCH
Cleopatra may not have been drop- dead gorgeous, but her personality must have (^) sizzled—she was loved by two of Rome's most powerful men: Julius Caesar and Mark Antony.
80 THE ANCIENT ROMAN WORLD POWER-MADOR MADLYIN LOVE? 81
@ (^) Plutarch, Life of Antony, 110 CE
Consors= "partner" or "neighbor" "Consort" can simply mean "companion,"but it is often used as the name of a rulers husband or wife. Great Britain's Queen Victoria was married to Prince Albert. He was a prince and the royal consort, but never a king.
proclaimed her a goddess when she was about four
years old.
Cleopatra went to the palace school with the other royal princes and princesses. She became fluent in nine languages
and was the first member of her family^ who could speak
Egyptian. Cleopatra had^ tremendous^ appeal.^ Even the
Greek biographer Plutarch, who disapproved of her
behavior,describes her in glowing terms: "The charm of
her presence was irresistible, but there was an attraction in her person and conversation, together with a force of char-
acter, which showed in her every word and action.
Everyone who met her fell under her spell." When Ptolemy died in 51 BCE,he left his kingdom to the 18-year-old Cleopatra. Even though she was old enough to rule, according to Egyptian law, she couldn't rule alone.
Ptolemy'swill set up joint rule by Cleopatra and her 12-
year-old brother, Ptolemy XIII.
According to Egyptian tradition, pharaohs married
their siblings or children to keep power within the royal
family.Cleopatrahad to marry a brother or a son, and
this consort would be her official husband. It would be
a marriage of politics, not love. Cleopatra had no sons
when she came to the throne, so her first co-ruler was
Ptolemy Xlll. Cleopatra and Ptolemy ruled together for several years,
but Cleopatra wasn't very good at sharing. She left her
brothers name out of official documents—on purpose—
and had her own picture and name stamped on Egyptian
coins. This didn't go over very well with Ptolemy. Nor did it please the court officials of Alexandria, the capital city. Alexandrias officials decided that Ptolemy would be
easier to control than Cleopatra.So they plotted to over-
throw the strong-willed queen. Knowing that her life was in danger, Cleopatra escaped to Syria, where she raised an army to help her regain power.
In 48 BCE,while Cleopatra was away, Pompey came
back to Egypt, this time fleeing from Julius Caesar. Since Pompey (^) was Ptolemy'slegal guardian, the general thought that he could count on the young king of Egypt to protect
him. Instead, Ptolemy allowed his advisors to murder and behead the Roman general. Caesar arrived in Alexandria four days later with 3, foot soldiers and 800 cavalrymen. After having Pompey's murderers executed, Caesar took over the royal palace and immediately began^ giving orders. This news reached Cleopatra in Syria, and she realized that control of Egypt hung in the balance. If power was changing hands, she did
not intend to miss out. She smuggledherselfback into
Alexandria, passing through enemy lines rolled up in a car- pet. She was^ delivered—in^ the^ carpet—to^ Caesar.Imagine
his surprise when the carpet was unrolled,^ and there,
before him, was the beautiful young queen of Egypt! Caesar had summoned both Ptolemyand Cleopatra^ to appear before him. The next morning, when Ptolemy arrived at the palace, he discovered that Cleopatra had gotten there first. It soon became clear to 15-year-oldPtolemy^ that Caesar and Cleopatra had formed a close alliance. They had, in fact, become lovers. Ptolemy could easily^ see that Caesar^ would support Cleopatrag claim to the throne, not his. Shouting that he had been betrayed, Ptolemy stormed out into the streets of Alexandria and started to organize a mob against his sister.
Ptolemy gathered an army of 20,000men. His troops
surrounded Caesar, but the great Roman^ overcamethem
with his own troops and executed their general.^ The boy- king drowned in the Nile River while trying to escape. Ptolemy's death left Cleopatra alone on the throne, but only for a little while. She had to marry another brother in order to pacify the priests and government officials of
Alexandria. This brother, her second consort, was also
named Ptolemy—Ptolemy XIV.
Most historians agree that Caesar planned to place
Cleopatra on the throne of Egypt. But scholars^ disagree
about why. Was he in love with her? Or did he just believe that he could control her... that she would be a useful puppet-queen for Rome? No one knows. When Caesar returned to Rome in 46 BCE,Cleopatra fol- lowed him. Even though he already had a wife, the dictator
kept Cleopatra and their infant son, Caesarion,in another
THE GODDESS ISIS
Cleopatra often presented herself as the goddess Isis, the Egyptian goddessof fertility and harvest. On ceremonial occasions, she often wore black robes, imitating the traditional image of the goddess.
84 THE ANCIENT ROMAN WORLD^ POWER-MAD OR MADLY IN LOVE? 85
Cleopatra and her servants escape in a small boat, leaving her lover, Mark Antony, tofight on alone against the more powerful Romans in the fierce Battle of Actium.
grew scarce for Antony's army. His forces suffered a fatal blow when Octavian crushed them in the Battle of Actium, a city on the western coast of Greece. Cleopatra, seeing the
disasterfrom a distance,ordered her ships to return to
Egypt. Antony saw her purple sails in retreat and ordered his sailors to follow.But Antony's ground forces continued to fight. They couldn't believe at first that their beloved leader had abandoned them. When they realized it was true, they simply laid down their weapons and surrendered. The final battle between Antony and Octavian began
near Alexandriaon the first of August, 30 BCE.Antony
ordered his fleet to attack, and his men obediently rowed
toward the enemy ships. Then, instead of attacking, they saluted the enemyS leader: Octavian. Antony's cavalry
deserted as well. Only the foot soldiers remained loyal to their general, but they were easily defeated. Antony was infuriated that Cleopatrahad orderedher troops to abandon the battle and return to Egypt.^ Plutarch writes that the defeated general "retreated into Alexandria, crying out in his rage that Cleopatrahad betrayedhim to the very men he had fought for her sake."^ Cleopatra,fear- ing her lover's anger, hid in a huge, two-story^ tomb and sent a servant to tell Antony that she was dead. When Antony heard the news, he was devastated.He said he had no reason to live. The war was lost and Cleopatra^ was dead. So he stabbed himself, by falling on his own sword. He was dying, but not yet dead,^ when Cleopatrassecond^ mes- senger arrived, inviting Antony to come to her hiding place. The queen was alive after all. She had changed her mind and wanted to see Antony. But it was almost too late. Antony commanded his slaves to lift him up. Plutarch says that they carried Antony to the tomb, but
even then, Cleopatra would not allow the doors to be opened, but she showed herself at a window and let down cords and ropes to the ground. The slaves^ fas- tened Antony to these and the queen pulled him up.. Cleopatra ... laid him upon a bed ...^ and smearedher face with his blood. She called him her lord and hus- band and commander.
Antonydied in the arms of the queen. With Antony dead and Cleopatra defeated,^ Octavian
was the undisputed ruler of the known world.^ Cleopatra
tried to make him fall in love with her. He could have been her third great Roman—but he wasn't interested.Instead, Octavian planned to take Cleopatra, the last Ptolemaic^ ruler of Egypt, to Rome as his slave. Rather than be humiliated, Cleopatrachose death.^
She
tried to kill herself, but Octavians guards caught and stopped her. However, in the end she succeeded with a trick.
The queen humbly asked the conqueror^ to allow^
her to
mourn Antony's death and to give his body a proper farewell. Octavian agreed.
@ Plutarch, (^) Life of Antony, 110 CE
Plutarch, Life of Antony, 110 CE
86 THE ANCIENT^ ROMAN WORLD
DEATH BY ASP
An asp is a small,
Egyptian cobra. Because
she had tested various poisons on condemned
prisoners, Cleopatra knew
that its poison worked quickly and didn't cause too much pain.
@ Plutarch, Life of Antony,
110 CE
Cleopatraordereda bath to be made ready
(^) and when
she had bathed, she put on her royal robes and ate a fancy meal. Soon an Egyptian^
peasant arrived with a basketof
figs. The guard inspected it but didn't see the asp, a poison- ous snake, hidden beneath the fruit. Cleopatra sent awayall of her servantsexcept^ two women whom she especially trusted and loved. These servants locked the doors of the tomb, obeying the queen's command. Cleopatra had planned to let the asp come upon her when she wasn't look- ing. But according to one story by Plutarch, as soon as she saw the snake, she grabbed it and pressed it onto her bare arm, inviting a fatal bite. When Octavian'smessengers broke into the tomb,^ they found Cleopatra and one of her handmaidens^
already dead.
The other servant was^ dying—like^ her mistress, poisoned by the asp. Octavianwas angry to have lost his prize,but he admired the queen's courage and determination. Plutarch writes that Octavian commanded that she be "buried with royal splendor and magnificence, and her body laid beside Antony's." He then gave orders for Caesarions execution. For Octavian, the great Julius Caesar could have only one^ heir—himself. What gave Cleopatra such power? She wasn't the most beautiful woman the world has ever known, but she must have been fascinating. Poets and historians, both Greek and Roman, described her as a goddess. Her fame continues. Countlessplays, operas, and movies have been produced about her. William Shakespeare's play Antony and Cleopatra is still performed today all over the world. Cleopatras dra- matic death has been the subject of dozens of paintings. Yet no one knows what she really felt about her Roman lovers. Did she truly care about Caesar or was he just a tool of her ambition?Did she fall in love with the handsomeMark Antony or did she use him in a desperate attempt to save the throne of Egypt? These mysteries surround the Cleopatra of history.We may never know the answers.
