The life story of Cleopatra - Growth

Queen Cleopatra

Complete together the life story of Queen Cleopatra And political experience gained by And plots that were surrounded by And her sisters were killed because of the seizure of the throne

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Political unrest in Egypt, The first meeting between Cleopatra and Mark Anthony, Cleopatra and the influence of governance, Marriage Cleopatra, Plot against Queen Cleopatra

Political unrest in Egypt

Cleopatra was twelve-years-old when her father returned to Alexandria with the decree that he was the right full king of Egypt. King Ptolemy was back on his throne for only a short time when Rome had taken over the rich island of Cyprus, Egypt’s only remaining overseas possession. King Ptolemy’s brother was the King of Cyprus at the time. He committed suicide rather that submit to Roman rule. 

The annexation of Cyprus happened just as the “Flute Player” was beginning to tax his subjects to repay his huge debt to Rome. The people of Egypt grew angry at being taxed. They were also angry with King Ptolemy for not helping his brother resist the Roman takeover of Cyprus. A rebellion broke out, and King Ptolemy was forced to flee Alexandria. He set off to Rome for help, again.

In Cleopatra’s father absence her oldest sister, Cleopatra Tryphaena “She Who Lives in Luxery” VI, seized the throne. She was only on the throne for a short time. Berenice, Cleopatra’s next older sister, killed Cleopatra VI for the right to the throne. An angry Alexandrian mob and palace intriguers backed Berenice.

In Rome, King Ptolemy managed one more deal. This time he made a deal with just Pompey. Pompey now promised King Ptolemy military support to put him back on his throne. Ptolemy had to pay an even larger bribe. King Ptolemy returned to Alexandria followed by Roman soldiers from Pompey’s legion that was stationed in Syria. Mark Antony led this legion. 

The first meeting between Cleopatra and Mark Anthony
Mark Antony seemed to be a very powerful man, with a build and face that spelled courage and confidence. He resembled paintings and statues of the god-hero Hercules and he claimed that his family was descended from Hercules. Mark Antony stayed only a short time in Alexandria, but long enough to meet Cleopatra, who was now fourteen. He would not forget her charm and her delightful way of speaking. Mark Antony and Cleopatra would soon meet again.

Restored to power a second time King Ptolemy had to deal with his daughter Berenice, who had taken over his throne. King Ptolemy had her put to death for treason. The King went back to playing his flute and squeezing taxes out of his people to repay his increasing debt to the Romans. This time with the Roman legions on hand the people could not openly rebel. There was an uneasy peace in Alexandria for a few years while Rome was slowly repaid. But the people knew that their kingdom was slowly becoming a puppet state under the control of Rome.  

Cleopatra and the influence of governance

In 51 B.C. King Ptolemy died. He willed his throne jointly to his oldest daughter, Cleopatra VII, now eighteen, and to his ten-year-old son Ptolemy XIII. Cleopatra had hoped to avoid marrying her brother, but this was an old custom of brother-sister marriages in the royal family. Such brother-sister marriages were considered divine and it was to prevent any commoner from contaminating the royal bloodline. The Ptolemies had adopted this ancient custom of royal intermarriages from the Egyptians, along with the Egyptian’s use of divine titles.

Marriage Cleopatra
Cleopatra, dutifully and reluctantly, married her little brother. There were two marriage ceremonies: one Greek with Cleopatra dressed and the Greek goddess of love, Aphrodite, and Ptolemy as Dionysus. The other ceremony was Egyptian, with Cleopatra as the goddess Isis and her brother as Osiris, god of the Nile River. Cleopatra loved the pageants; this gave her the opportunity to show of her artistic talent and flair for showmanship.

Cleopatra paid no attention to the brother-sister rule. This was her chance to rule. This was her chance to make Egypt the dominant power of the Mediterranean. She ruled as though she was the only monarch. This angered her brother Ptolemy and his guardians, who had another agenda. They were already teaching young Ptolemy to hate and envy his sister. Cleopatra knew her ten-year-old brother was not capable of coping with the problems “she” inherited.

Cleopatra set off on her first goodwill tour up the Nile River to Hermonthis in Upper Egypt to observe the religious ceremony of the sacred bull Buchis. When Cleopatra arrived she was hailed as the Lady of the two Lands Cleopatra Thea Philopater, “ the Goddess Who Loves Her Father.” Cleopatra was probably the first Ptolemy to attend as well as lead such a ceremony. This was good public relations on Cleopatra’s behalf and it enhanced her popularity among her Egyptian subjects. But she was anything but popular in Alexandria because of her father’s pro-Roman policies.

Plot against Queen Cleopatra
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.

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