Cleopatra and Julius Caesar
The story of Cleopatra is full of love and romance, greed, and war.
Cleopatra was born in Egypt in 69 B.C. to the Ptolemic royal family of Greek-Egyptians. This family ruled Egypt since the time of Alexander the Great when Egypt was part of Alexander's empire. When Alexander died in 336 B.C., his empire was divided among his top generals. Ptolemy became the ruler of Egypt and the first ruler of the Ptolemic dynasty.
Ptolemy XII was Cleopatra's father. When he died in 51 BCE, Ptolemy XII willed that seventeen-year-old Cleopatra and her twelve-year-old brother, Ptolemy XIII, were to marry together and rule Egypt. Cleopatra was a very different ruler than the Ptolemies who came before her. She learned the Egyptian language; the other Ptolemies spoke only Greek. Cleopatra also practiced the religious customs of Egypt, and many of the Egyptians viewed her as a pharaoh (Egyptian ruler), not a Greek ruler. In 48 BCE, Cleopatra's generals found they could not control her, so they ousted Cleopatra (kicked her out; removed her from leadership) and made her brother the sole monarch (the only ruler, one king) of Egypt.
A few months later, a Roman army led by Julius Caesar arrived in Egypt. Caesar was pursuing (going after, chasing) another Roman army that tried to keep him from returning to Rome. Caesar's army was much larger than the Egyptian forces, so Cleopatra concluded (decided) that Caesar could return her to power. She arranged to have a huge carpet (rug) delivered to the 54-year-old Caesar. When he unrolled it, he found the 22-year-old former queen wrapped inside. She asked for Caesar's help against her brother. [See a famous painting of the meeting of Cleopatra and Caesar by Jean-Leon Gerome painted in 1866.]
Caesar and Cleopatra became lovers, and Cleopatra got what she wanted from him. The Roman general led his army to capture and kill the people who removed her from power. Ptolemy XIII drowned in the Nile while trying to flee.
A marble bust of Cleopatra [Getty Museum]
Egyptian law did not allow a queen to rule without a king, so Cleopatra married another brother, Ptolemy XIV. However, she was in love with Julius Caesar. Caesar and Cleopatra spent the next several months traveling along the Nile, where Caesar saw how the Egyptian people worshipped her. Caesar was a very powerful general who conquered many lands, but he knew that becoming a pharaoh was something he could never achieve. He saw his marriage to Cleopatra might unite Rome with Egypt. Perhaps their son could eventually rule this great empire.
Caesar returned to Rome in 46 BCE with Cleopatra and their newborn son, Caesarion. At this time, Caesar already had a Roman wife. Many Romans were shocked that he would also marry a foreign woman.
But Julius Caesar was very popular with the Roman people. They named him dictator (ruler with complete power). Cleopatra was not popular with the Romans, however. She had called herself the "new Isis" (an Egyptian goddess), and she didn't worship the Roman gods.
The senators of Rome were threatened Julius Caesar's popularity and power. Caesar used his power to make many changes in Rome, often without approval from the Senate. A year after his election as dictator, the Roman people elected Caesar "dictator for life." The Roman senators were outraged. On March 15, 44 B.C., Caesar was met by a mob of sixty senators who stabbed the him to death.
Cleopatra left Rome with her son in fear of their own lives and they returned to Egypt. There she murdered her husband (and brother) Ptolemy XIV and named her four-year-old son as the new king. She thought that she was once again in control of Egypt.
|
Learn More About It:
|
