Cleopatra

Cleopatra
The Berlin Cleopatra, a Roman sculpture of Cleopatra wearing a royal diadem, mid-1st century BC, now in the Altes Museum, Germany[1][2][3][note 1]
Pharaoh
Queen of the Ptolemaic Kingdom
Reign	51–30 BC (21 years)[4]
Coregency	See list Ptolemy XIII (51–47 BC) Ptolemy XIV (47–44 BC) Ptolemy XV (44–30 BC)
Predecessor	Ptolemy XII Auletes
Successor	Caesarion
Royal titulary Horus name Wr(.t)-nb(.t)-nfrw-ꜣḫ(t)-sḥ Wer(et)-neb(et)-neferu-achet-seh The great Lady of perfection, excellent in counsel Wr.t-twt-n-jt=s Weret-tut-en-it-es The great one, sacred image of her father Nomen Qlwjwꜣpꜣdrtꜣ Cleopatra epithet to nomen: Qlwpdrt nṯrt mr(t) jts Cleopatra netjeret mer(et) ites The goddess Cleopatra who is beloved of her father
Consorts	Ptolemy XIII Theos Philopator Ptolemy XIV Mark Antony
Children	Caesarion Alexander Helios Cleopatra Selene II Ptolemy Philadelphus
Father	Ptolemy XII Auletes
Mother	Presumably Cleopatra V Tryphaena[note 2]
Born	Early 69 BC or late 70 BC Alexandria, Ptolemaic Kingdom
Died	10 August 30 BC (aged 39)[note 3] Alexandria, Roman Egypt
Burial	Unlocated tomb (probably in Egypt)
Dynasty	Ptolemaic dynasty

Part of a series on
Cleopatra VII
Ancestry Early life Children Reign Siege of Alexandria Battle of the Nile Accession Assassination of Pompey Liberators' civil war Donations of Alexandria Battle of Actium Downfall Death and legacy Death Tomb Cultural depictions
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Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator (Koinē Greek: Κλεοπάτρα Θεά Φιλοπάτωρ, lit. 'Cleopatra father-loving goddess';^{[note 4]} 70/69 BC – 10 August 30 BC) was Queen of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt from 51 to 30 BC, and the last active Hellenistic pharaoh.^{[note 5]} A member of the Ptolemaic dynasty, she was a descendant of its founder Ptolemy I Soter, a Macedonian Greek general and companion of Alexander the Great.^{[note 6]} Her first language was Koine Greek, and she is the only Ptolemaic ruler known to have learned the Egyptian language, among several others.^{[note 7]} After her death, Egypt became a province of the Roman Empire, marking the end of the Hellenistic period in the Mediterranean begun during the reign of Alexander (336–323 BC).^{[note 8]}

Cleopatra was the daughter of Ptolemy XII Auletes, who named her his heir before his death in 51 BC. Cleopatra began her reign alongside her brother Ptolemy XIII, but falling-out between them led to a civil war. Roman statesman Pompey fled to Egypt after losing the 48 BC Battle of Pharsalus against his rival Julius Caesar, the Roman dictator, in Caesar's civil war. Pompey had been a political ally of Ptolemy XII, but Ptolemy XIII had him ambushed and killed before Caesar arrived and occupied Alexandria. Caesar then attempted to reconcile the rival siblings, but Ptolemy XIII's forces besieged her and Caesar at the palace. Shortly after the siege was lifted by reinforcements, Ptolemy XIII died in the Battle of the Nile. Caesar declared Cleopatra and her brother Ptolemy XIV joint rulers, and maintained a private affair with Cleopatra which produced a son, Caesarion. Cleopatra traveled to Rome as a client queen in 46 and 44 BC, where she stayed at Caesar's villa. After Caesar's assassination, followed shortly afterwards by the sudden death of Ptolemy XIV (possibly murdered on Cleopatra's order), she named Caesarion co-ruler as Ptolemy XV.

In the Liberators' civil war of 43–42 BC, Cleopatra sided with the Roman Second Triumvirate formed by Caesar's heir Octavian, Mark Antony, and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus. After their meeting at Tarsos in 41 BC, the queen had an affair with Antony which produced three children. Antony became increasingly reliant on Cleopatra for both funding and military aid during his invasions of the Parthian Empire and the Kingdom of Armenia. The Donations of Alexandria declared their children rulers over various territories under Antony's authority. Octavian portrayed this event as an act of treason, forced Antony's allies in the Roman Senate to flee Rome in 32 BC, and declared war on Cleopatra. After defeating Antony and Cleopatra's naval fleet at the 31 BC Battle of Actium, Octavian's forces invaded Egypt in 30 BC and defeated Antony, leading to Antony's suicide. When Cleopatra learned that Octavian planned to bring her to his Roman triumphal procession, she killed herself by poisoning (contrary to the popular belief that she was bitten by an asp).

Cleopatra's legacy survives in ancient and modern works of art. Roman historiography and Latin poetry produced a generally critical view of the queen that pervaded later Medieval and Renaissance literature. In the visual arts, her ancient depictions include Roman busts, paintings, and sculptures, cameo carvings and glass, Ptolemaic and Roman coinage, and reliefs. In Renaissance and Baroque art, she was the subject of many works including operas, paintings, poetry, sculptures, and theatrical dramas. She has become a pop culture icon of Egyptomania since the Victorian era, and in modern times, Cleopatra has appeared in the applied and fine arts, burlesque satire, Hollywood films, and brand images for commercial products.

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