The Misunderstood Queen
She has captivated our imagination for centuries and is said to have been a beautiful and mysterious seductress that put political and military titans Julius Caesar and Mark Antony under her spell. While we may never know what Cleopatra looked like or how she was in person, some basic facts about her life are clear: for one, she wielded great power and ruled over one of the greatest kingdoms in the ancient Mediterranean region.
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After 2,000 years, historians, writers and Hollywood producers of all sorts continue to attempt to mold her enigmatic persona into an image that, more often than not, fits their narratives. Even Augustus, Rome’s first emperor following Julius Caesar’s assassination, attempted to slander her. Most experts agree this was out of fear for her ability to sway other men of power, eventually threatening his position as Emperor of Rome.
Conceivably, Augustus understood Cleopatra’s alliances with Julius Caesar and then Mark Antony, potentially placing her a heartbeat away from becoming the Queen of Rome. Hence, Augustus’ depiction of Antony as un-Roman and enslaved “to the passion and witchery of Cleopatra” helped to forever cement her image as a seductress of immense beauty.
Even Shakespeare’s description of Cleopatra, some sixteen hundred years later, further enshrined the Queen of Egypt as an eternal bewitching beauty when he wrote: “Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale / Her infinite variety.”
Barring our thirst for creating an image of Cleopatra as the sensual, conniving and manipulative siren she probably was not, the following are interesting facts about the Queen of the Nile.
1. Cleopatra was actually Cleopatra VII
Her public name was Cleopatra VII Philopator, and she was the last member of the Macedonian Ptolemaic dynasty, hence the last Greek ruler of Egypt.
Her real name, however, was “Cleopatra Thea Philopator,” which means “the Goddess Cleopatra, Beloved of her Father.” To most people, there was only one Cleopatra; however, there were six others before her, not including Alexander the Great’s sister — the original Cleopatra.