CLEOPATRA
(Cleopatra VII, Alexandria, 69-30 a.) Last Queen of Egypt, belonging to the dynasty
of the Ptolemies Lágidas or. Daughter of Ptolemy XII, was married to her own
brother Ptolemy XIII, who inherited the throne in 51 a. C. Soon conflicts
erupted between the two brothers and husbands, which led to the overthrow of
Cleopatra.
But his
luck changed when arriving to Egypt civil strife in Rome: chasing his enemy
Pompey, Julius Caesar went to Egypt and Cleopatra took sides in the conflict
with his brother. During the so-called "Alexandrian War" (48-47 a.)
Pompey died both as Ptolemy XIII and fire occurred on the legendary Library of
Alexandria, which was lost forever.
Cleopatra
was revived on the throne by Julius Caesar, who had become her lover (46 a.),
And married again with another brother, Ptolemy XIV, who handled whimsically.
Cleopatra tried to use their influence on Caesar to restore the hegemony of
Egypt in the eastern Mediterranean as an ally of Rome, the birth of a child of
both (Ptolemy XV or Caesarion) seemed to reinforce that possibility.
After the
assassination of Julius Caesar in 44. C., Cleopatra tried to repeat the
maneuver seducing his immediate successor, the consul Mark Antony, who was then
struggling with Octavio Augusto for power (36 a.). Cleopatra and Antony imposed
their strength in East creating a new Hellenistic kingdom able to conquer
Armenia in 34.
Then broke
'Ptolemaic War "(32-30 a.), Which led to Egypt Augusto their fight against
Antonio. The final confrontation took place in the naval battle of Actium (31),
in which Antony's fleet was defeated easily abandon the Egyptians. Marco
Antonio managed to escape and take refuge with Cleopatra in Alexandria, when
Octavian's troops took the city, Antony committed suicide.
Cleopatra
even try for the third time, to seduce the Roman warrior on this occasion,
Octavio Augusto-to save the life and throne, but Augustus was insensitive to
her charms and decided to take her to Rome as war booty. Given this
perspective, Cleopatra committed suicide by Egyptian ritual procedure be bitten
by an asp. Augusto took the occasion to also kill his son Caesarion,
extinguishing thereby annexing Egypt Ptolemaic dynasty and the Roman Empire.