History's Mysteries:

People, Places, and Oddities Lost in the Sands of Time

By

Brian Haughton

Cleopatra: The Last Pharaoh of Egypt*

An Excerpt from History's Mysteries
 

Regarded by the Romans as "fatale monstrum" -- a fatal omen -- Cleopatra is one of the ancient world's most popular, though elusive, figures. The Egyptian queen has been immortalized by numerous writers and film-makers, most popularly by Shakespeare in Antony and Cleopatra, and by Hollywood in Cleopatra (1963), starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. The latter work features the memorable image of the enticing young Cleopatra emerging gracefully from an unfurled carpet in front of Roman general Julius Caesar. Who was the real Cleopatra? Is she to be regarded merely as the lover of Julius Caesar and Mark Antony? Or did she play an important role not only in the history of Egypt, but also in that of the mighty Roman Republic?

Cleopatra VII Philopator ("father-loving") was born in January 69 BC in the city of Alexandria, and died on August 12, 30 BC. She was the daughter of Ptolemy XII Auletes (117 - 51 BC) and possibly Cleopatra V Tryphaena (c95 - c57 BC), and was to become the last monarch of the Ptolemaic Empire, ruling Egypt from 51 BC to 30 BC.

The Ptolemaic Kingdom was established following the death of Alexander the Great in Babylon in 323 BC, when his generals divided up his Empire, each setting up their own kingdoms. One of these generals, Ptolemy I Soter, declared himself Pharaoh of Egypt in 305 BC, establishing the last dynasty that would rule Egypt under the title of Pharaoh. One extraordinary feature of the Ptolemaic monarchy was the important role played by women (there were no less than seven Ptolemaic queens named Cleopatra), who attained the throne because their sons or brothers were too young.

After the death of her father, Ptolemy XII, in 51 BC, 17-year-old Cleopatra and her 12-year-old brother, Ptolemy XIII, whom she probably also married in accordance with her father's will, became joint rulers of Egypt. In 49 BC, after a power struggle over the throne with her brother, who was backed by various members of the Egyptian court at Alexandria, mainly  the eunuch Pothinus (who acted as regent for him), Cleopatra was forced from the palace and fled to Syria, where her father had many friends. Here she assembled a small army of Arab tribesmen and attempted to invade Egypt, via Pelusium, a city on the country's northeast frontier. Cleopatra and her army were defeated by Ptolemy XIII's forces.

A few months later a Roman army of 10 warships and around 4,000 men led by Julius Caesar were heading for Alexandria in pursuit of Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (also known as Pompey the Great), who was attempting to find refuge with Ptolemy XIII. However, factions in the Ptolemaic court led by Pothinus viewed the arriving Pompey as a danger to their relationship with Caesar, and so, on September 28, 48 BC, they had the Roman general stabbed to death as he stepped ashore. He was decapitated and his body was left lying on the shoreline. The embalmed head later being presented to Caesar, who reportedly turned away in disgust at the sight.

In Caesar and his army, Cleopatra saw an opportunity to return to power, and Caesar shrewdly observed in Cleopatra someone who could help him obtain a repayment of the debts incurred by her father, Ptolemy XII Auletes -- funds that he desperately needed in his struggle to retain his throne. It seems probable that Cleopatra arranged to have herself smuggled into the presence of the 54-year-old Caesar wrapped up inside a sleeping bag (or a bundle of bedclothes, in other sources). After this daring exploit, Caesar and Cleopatra became lovers, and Caesar had her officially returned to the throne as co-ruler with her brother, probably because her saw her as a monarch who could be manipulated from Rome. However, realizing the relatively small size of the army Caesar had brought over with him, Ptolemy XIII allied himself with his (and probably also Cleopatra's) sister, Arsinoe IV, in an attempt to depose Cleopatra. The resulting Alexandrian War took place in mid-December 48 BC within the city of Alexandria itself, and was decided in Caesar's favour by the arrival of Roman reinforcements from Pergamum (a city in modern western Turkey).

Ptolemy XIII and Arsinoe IV were forced to flee the city, and Ptolemy was reportedly drowned on January 13, 47 BC, while attempting to cross the Nile. Arsinoe escaped and joined the Egyptian army under Achillas, who gave her the title of Pharaoh in opposition to her possible sister, Cleopatra. She was later captured by Caesar's army and transported to Rome. Cleopatra VII was now the unchallenged sole ruler of Egypt, though tradition dictated that she name her younger brother, Ptolemy XIV, her new co-ruler. In 46 BC Caesar returned to Rome in triumph, bringing with him Cleopatra and their newborn son, Caesarion ("little Caesar"). Soon after his arrival in Rome, Caesar organized a four-day Triumph to celebrate his victories over foreign enemies, which included Cleopatra's hostile possible sister, Arsinoe, being paraded through the streets in chains. The Roman public's unexpected sympathy for the pathetic figure of Arsinoe tramping through the streets in irons persuaded Caesar to spare her life, and she was exiled to the temple of Artemis at Ephesus (in modern western Turkey).

Cleopatra returned to Rome just more than a year later, in 44 BC, and was in the city when, on March 15th of that year, Caesar was assassinated. With her ally and lover gone, Cleopatra left Rome and returned to Alexandria. The death of Caesar threw Rome into turmoil, with various factions competing for control, the most important of these being the armies of Mark Antony (83 - 30 BC) and Octavian (63 BC - AD 14), the former a supporter and loyal friend Caesar, the latter his adopted son. Cleopatra had to tread carefully in this potentially lethal political climate.

Soon after Cleopatra's return to Egypt, her brother and co-ruler, Ptolemy XIV, died mysteriously -- possibly poisoned on her instruction. Cleopatra's hold on power in Egypt was now secure, ruling with her infant son, Ptolemy XV Caesar. But there were difficulties ahead: In the years 43 and 42 BC she was faced with severe famine and plague in Egypt, caused by the extremely low levels of the Nile flood. Through astute political dealings Cleopatra managed to guide Egypt through these difficult years, and in 41 BC she was summoned to Tarsus (in modern southern Turkey) by Mark Antony. Cleopatra is said to have entered the city by sailing up the Cydnus River in a decorated barge with purple sails, while dressed in the robes of the Greek goddess Aphrodite. Antony, who equated himself with the god Dionysus, was instantly won over. Much like the meeting between Cleopatra and Caesar, both sides saw something in the other that they needed. For Cleopatra it was another opportunity to achieve power both in Egypt and in Rome; for Antony, the support of Rome's largest and wealthiest client states in his campaign against the might of the Parthians (Parthia was a region in modern northeastern Iran) was highly desirable. At the meeting Cleopatra allegedly requested that her possible sister, Arsinoe, still living in protection at the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, be executed to prevent any future attempts on her throne.

Antony and Cleopatra soon became allies and lovers, and he returned with her to Alexandria in 40 BC. In Alexandria, Cleopatra and Antony formed a society of "inimitable livers," which some historians have interpreted as an excuse to lead a life of debauchery, though it was more likely to have been a group dedicated to the cult of the mystical god Dionysus. In that year Cleopatra bore Antony twins Alexander Helios (the Sun) and Cleopatra Selene (the Moon).

The political situation in Rome compelled Antony to return to Italy, where he was forced to conclude a temporary settlement with Octavian, part of which was that he married Octavian's sister, Octavia. It was three years before he and Cleopatra met again, at the city of Antioch (near the modern Turkey/Syria border) under the shadow of the Octavian's growing military power in the West. One result of this meeting was that Cleopatra became pregnant with her third child by Antony (the future Ptolemy Philadelphus); another was that parts of Rome's eastern possessions came under Cleopatra's control.

In 34 BC, despite the fact that Antony's Parthian campaign had been an extravagant failure, Antony and Cleopatra celebrated a mock Roman Triumph in the streets of Alexandria. Crowds flocked to the Gymnasium to see the couple seated on golden thrones surrounded by their children, and Antony made a proclamation known today as the "Donations of Alexandria." In this declaration Antony distributed lands held by Rome and Parthia among Cleopatra and their children, and proclaimed Caesarion as Caesar's legitimate son. Not surprisingly, the Donations of Alexandria caused outrage in Rome, where the rumor began to spread that Antony intended to transfer the empire's capital from Rome to Alexandria. In 32 BC, Octavian had the Senate deprive Antony of his powers and declare war against Cleopatra, calling her a whore and a drunken Oriental. To avoid another civil war, Antony was not mentioned in the declaration, but this was to no avail, as Antony decided to join the war on Cleopatra's side. The culmination of the war came at the naval Battle of Actium, which took place near the town of Preveza, northwestern Greece, on September 2, 31 BC. Here Mark Antony and Cleopatra's combined force of 230 vessels and 50,000 sailors were defeated by Octavian's navy commanded by Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, effectively handing control of the Roman world over to Octavian.

In 30 BC Octavian invaded Egypt and laid siege to Alexandria. Hopelessly outnumbered, Anthony's forces surrendered and, in the honorable Roman tradition, Antony committed suicide by falling on his sword. After Antony's death Cleopatra's was taken to Octavian, who informed her that she would be brought to Rome and paraded in the streets as part of his triumph. Perhaps unable to bear the thought of suffering the same humiliation as Arsinoe many years earlier, on August 12, 30 BC, Cleopatra dressed in her royal robes and lay upon a golden couch with a diadem on her brow.  According to tradition (found in ancient historian Plutarch, for example) she had an asp (an Egyptian cobra) brought to her concealed in a basket of figs, and died from the bite. Two of her female servants died with her. The asp was a symbol of divine royalty to the Egyptians, so by allowing the asp to bite her, Cleopatra became immortal. Other historians (including Joyce Tyldesley) believe that Cleopatra used either a poisonous ointment or a took a vial of poison to commit suicide. Cleopatra lived 39 years; for 22 years she reigned as queen; and for 14 years was Antony's partner in his empire. After her death her son Caesarion was declared pharaoh, but he was soon executed on Octavian's orders. Her other children were sent to Rome to be raised by Antony's wife, Octavia.

Cleopatra represented the last significant threat to Roman authority, and her death also marks the end of the Ptolemaic Kingdom. The vast treasures of Egypt were plundered by Octavian, and Egypt itself became a new Roman province. Within a few years the Senate named Octavian Augustus, and he became the first Roman Emperor, consolidating the western and eastern halves of the Republic into a Roman Empire.

Octavian later published his biography, in which he stripped Cleopatra of her political ability and portrayed her as an immoral foreigner and a temptress of upright Roman men. A number of Roman historians and writers (poets Horace [65 - 8 BC] and Lucan [AD 39 - 65], for example) reinforced the image of Cleopatra as an incestuous, adulterous whore who used sex to try to emasculate the Roman Empire. Unfortunately, this result of Roman propaganda has had a profound influence on the image of Cleopatra that has passed into Western culture. The real Cleopatra was highly skilled politically (though ruthless with her enemies), was popular with her subjects, spoke seven languages, and was said to be the only Ptolemy to read and speak Egyptian intelligent. It is also a sobering thought to remember how different the history of Western civilization might have been if she had managed to create an Eastern empire to rival the increasing might of Rome, which she very nearly succeeded in doing.

Recent archaeological work has cast interesting light on two aspects of Cleopatra's life: the location of her tomb, and the death of her possible sister, Arsinoe. Greco-Roman historian Plutarch wrote that that Antony and Cleopatra were buried together and, in 2008, archaeologists from the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities and from the Dominican Republic, working at the Temple of Taposiris Magna, 28 miles west of Alexandria, reported that one of the chambers in the building probably contained the bodies of Cleopatra and Mark Antony. The team have so far discovered 22 bronze coins inscribed with Cleopatra's name, and bearing her image, a bust of Cleopatra, and an alabaster mask believed to represent Mark Antony. Work at the site is ongoing, and only time will tell if the archaeologist are correct in their theory that the great couple were interred at such a distance from Alexandria.

In 1926 the body of a young aristocratic woman of approximately 15 - 18 years of age was discovered in an octagonal tomb in Ephesus, dating to the period 50 to 20 BC. Some researchers, including Hilke Thur of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, believe that this skeleton is the murdered Arsinoe. Although the skull was lost in Germany during World War II, Caroline Wilkinson, a forensic anthropologist, has reconstructed the missing skull using computer technology based on measurements taken in the 1920s. According to Wilkinson, the long head shape indicates a possible black African origin, which led to various newspapers (including the Times Online; www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article5908494.ece) to proclaim that Cleopatra herself was not ethnically Greek or Macedonian, but of mixed race, at least part African. The story of the discovery was also the subject of a BBC documentary, sensationally (and unnecessarily) entitled Cleopatra: Portrait of a Killer.

However, it is important to remember that these conclusions have been reached not by examining the actual skull of the body (which has long since disappeared) but by studying the measurements of the skull left by the first excavators of the Octagonal Tomb in the 1920s. Furthermore, as the identity of Cleopatra's mother is uncertain, we don't actually know that Cleopatra and Arsinoe were full sisters -- or even related by blood at all. Two nagging doubts also remain about the body in the Octagonal Tomb being that of Arsinoe. First, if Arsinoe had been banished to Ephesus, why would she have been buried in a rich ornate tomb at all? Second, if the age of the body is 15 - 17, possibly 18, with a death date of 41 BC, that would mean that Arsinoe was born between 59 and 55 BC. Consequently, at the time of the Alexandrian War in 48 BC, she was between 8 and 11 -- surely far too young to have played such a pivotal role in events? Perhaps detailed DNA tests on the skeleton from the Octagonal Tomb will one day help clear the matter up and give us further insight into the fascinating life of Cleopatra VII of Egypt.

*Reprinted, with permission of the publisher, from HISTORY'S MYSTERIES. (c) 2010 Brian Haughton.  Published by New Page Books a division of Career Press, Pompton Plains, NJ.  800-227-3371.  All rights reserved.

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