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... r fathers pro-Roman policies. Upon returning home, Cleopatra learned that there was a plot among the three guardians of her brother. They plotted to get rid of Cleopatra to gain control of the throne for Ptolemy as well as for them. Although kings and queens were supposed to rule jointly, the queens always took second place to the king.
If the king was much younger than the queen and not capable of making decisions, it was supposed to be up to the guardians of the king to represent him, sharing power with the queen until the boy king became of age. Cleopatra clearly ignored this rule. She made decisions of the state on her own. Ptolemy's guardian, mainly Pothinus, wanted her out of the way. Cleopatra was forced to flee Alexandria and her brother was proclaimed sole ruler of Egypt. How Cleopatra managed to escape still remains a mystery.
All we know is that she ended up in Syria with only a small hand of loyal followers. Using her knowledge of Hebrew and Arabic to communicate, and her charm to persuade, Cleopatra managed to gather an army to fight against her brother. She was confident that she would fulfill her ambition to build up Egypt's power to its former glory. The scheming that went on in Alexandria's palace was matched in Rome by an equally ruthless struggle for power. The First Triumvirate, the joint rule of three power hungry men, Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus, had collapsed in 53 B.
C. It collapsed when Crassus was killed in battle when he was attacking the Parthians in the Middle East. Now a struggle between Caesar and Pompey developed. As Caesar advanced on Rome, Pompey retreated and headed for northern Greece, hoping for support from the eastern provinces he had conquered. He prepared to make a stand against his former colleague. Caesar was soon ready to pursue his old ally, now his bitter foe.
Caesars army demolished Pompey's forces in the bloodiest battle ever fought among Romans. Pompey managed to escape, fleeing across the Mediterranean Sea to Alexandria. He expected a warm reception there because he had help King Ptolemy regain his throne. Pompey thought of himself as a friend and ally of Egypt. He did not know that Cleopatra had been forced to flee Alexandria and that a war between brother and sister was imminent. When Ptolemy's guardians heard of Pompey's approach, they decided it would be wiser to make peace with the new great military hero of the hour, Julius Caesar.
They planned to kill Pompey the loser. When Pompey ship anchored in the harbor and he stepped foot on land he was stabbed in the back and decapitated. Caesar arrived in Alexandria four days later. He was outraged when they presented him with Pompey's severed head. In fact, it was said that he wept at the sight.
It was one thing to kill an enemy in honorable battle, but to have him treacherously murdered by scheming Alexandrian's infuriated Caesar. Caesar made himself at home in Alexandria. While he was there he heard of the war brewing between brother and sister. He remembered his promise to Cleopatra's father to carry out the kings will: Cleopatra and her brother were to rule jointly.
He also remembered that he had not been fully repaid the money that was loaned to Cleopatra's father and he demanded payment now. He also summoned Cleopatra and her brother back to Alexandria. The guardians were furious but they behaved. Caesar would stop this war between siblings and he would be the arbiter to reestablish their joint rule. The queen Cleopatra was eager for this chance to meet with the great Caesar and present her case. But the harbor was still blocked by her brothers army.
Cleopatra came up with a scheme. She had herself smuggled in Caesars apartment by concealing herself in a rug. The merchant carrying this rug was admitted to Caesars apartment. The merchant carefully laid this bundle on the floor and opened it. Cleopatra emerged as if in a fairytale. History leaves much of the rest of the evening largely to the imagination.
But it is said that Caesar and Cleopatra became lovers that night. Eagle Bradford stated in Cleopatra, Cleopatra, if not until now had been physically innocent, was certainly no political virgin. Her whole life had been passed in the intricacies of that incredible intricate court, and she was a typical Ptolemy in her desire for power. Bradford also stated that, She knew that only from this Roman, this man old enough to be her father, could she obtain it. What she loved in Caesar was the fact that he was the most powerful man in the world. She was determined to be the Queen of Egypt.
p 70 Cleopatra was also impressed by Caesars intelligence and his self-confidence. He was not a typical boorish Roman barbarian, but a cultivated man of the world. He could even talk with her in Greek. Caesar reconciled the royal family. He announced that Cleopatra and Ptolemy were king and queen again. Caesar returned the Island of Cyprus back to Egypt.
He had Pothinus, Ptolemy's guardian, arrested and put to death for treason. Ptolemy, while trying to flee Egypt, drowned. Caesar exiled Arsinoe. She later, tried to seize the throne again, only to be killed as with Ptolemy XIV.
Cleopatra soon became pregnant with Caesarion, Caesars son. She thought, according to Laura Forman, author of Cleopatra's Palace, that their son might have a claim to be master not only of Egypt but of Rome as well. p 102 Cleopatra thought that now with Caesar by her side and the birth of their son she would not have to worry anymore that Rome might annex Egypt as a province. Only days after Cleopatra gave birth to their son, Caesar left her to go back to Rome.
He sent for her two months later. Not long after Cleopatra arrived in Rome Caesar was killed in a conspiracy. Cleopatra was devastated. She had lost her lover, father of her son, and her much needed protector. Cleopatra went back to Egypt. She ruled alone for the next three years, a time of peace with no uprisings in her country.
She was also known as the New Isis and was revered almost as a savior by her subjects. She was thought of as the widow of her divine husband Caesar, and Caesarion was recognized as their divine offspring. Cleopatra was still determined, at all cost, to keep Egypt's independence and try to regain its lost overseas possessions. But she knew she needed another strong military man to take Julius Caesars place, a new consort to stand by her incase Rome once more try to grab her kingdom.
Cleopatra listened eagerly to any news from Rome brought by sailors or merchants. She even sent scouts there to gather information. Confusing reports from Rome about events and alliances were changing daily. This added to Cleopatra's worries.
Who would be in charge now that Caesar was gone? What Roman should she try to deal with, next? Could she count on Caesars devoted friend Mark Antony to help? Did Caesars decree that she was queen of Egypt, ally and friend of Rome, still hold? Her great hope, that little Caesarion would be recognized as Caesars son and heir as well as future and King of Egypt, had already been challenged.
Caesars will made no mention of Caesarion, much to Cleopatra's dismay, named his great-nephew, nineteen-year-old Octavius, as his adopted son and heir. This infuriated Cleopatra. She naturally felt that her son had prior claim to Caesars name and divinity, since he was the only known surviving child of his blood. Mark Antony was equally put out by Octavius.
Antony felt that he, Caesars old military companion and favored friend, should take Caesars place. When Cleopatra realized that another civil war between Romans was imminent, she started to build a fleet to prepare for the coming struggle. She knew she would be pressured by both sides to give aid in money, ships, and grain. However, she decided to take her time in deciding which side to support.
Egypt's and her own future depended on her choosing the winner. This was a dilemma for Cleopatra. She knew and liked Mark Antony but mistrusted Octavius, whom she did not know. Mark Antony requested that Cleopatra meet him in Tarsus.
p. 70 He had planed to seduce her when she arrived. Mark Antony knew that only with Cleopatra at his side with her wealth of Egypt at his command could he be certain of eliminating Octavian in the struggle for the world. Mark Antony's plan to seduce Cleopatra backfired. When she arrived in Tarsus, her beauty, and her style of life captivated Mark Antony.
He fell in love with Cleopatra. Cleopatra found him attractive and full of fun, if not as interesting intellectually as Caesar. Their relationship at first was based on their need for each other in the political world. They also came to depend on each other more and more, maybe not as passionately as Shakespeare suggested in his play. Cleopatra may have had the upper hand in their relationship, but despite some disagreements, she remained faithful to Antony just as she had Caesar.
She was never promiscuous, as her enemies suggested. Such behavior was beneath her queenly dignity. If she had ever had any other lovers, her enemies surely would have found out and made the most of it. Ptolemy queens might have been murderous, but they were not adulterous. Cleopatra and Mark Antony, eventually, had three children together. Cleopatra managed to allure Antony into giving back to her most of the lands once owned by her dynasty.
She was also granted protection from Rome even though the Romans hated her. All of this would come to an end soon. Tension was brewing between Octavian and Mark Antony for control over the Mediterranean. They both wanted to be the next Alexander the Great. In the end Octavian would prevail. After being crushed by Octavian's army Mark Antony fled to be with Cleopatra, who had already fled the battle.
Mark Antony, after hearing a rumor that Cleopatra committed suicide, killed himself. Cleopatra killed herself also, because she knew that Octavian would degrade her and drag her through the streets of Rome. She made one request that she be buried with Mark Antony. Octavian granted her request. All of Cleopatra's children were eventually killed and Cleopatra's life long dream of preserving Egypt was gone. Cleopatra had done well for her country and achieved a special status for it.
It was Cleopatra's political as well as administrative ability that inspired many people as a nationalistic heroine, saving her country from Roman rule and keeping it independent. Though Cleopatra image both in art and in drama has gone through transformations in the last two thousand years, her role as the evil seductress has rarely changed; she both threatens and allures. She died trying to live up to her life long dream of preserving Egypt.
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