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Thereign of Cleopatra VII of thePtolemaic Kingdom ofEgypt began with thedeath of her father,Ptolemy XII Auletes, by March 51 BC. It ended withher suicide in August 30 BC,[note 1] which also marked the conclusion of theHellenistic period and the annexation ofEgypt into aRoman province.[note 2] In the style of her Greek predecessors,Cleopatra reigned over Egypt and other territories as anabsolute monarch,[5] although theRoman Republic frequently interfered in its internal affairs. Her personal rule of Egypt was characterized by a continued reliance onagriculture, extensivetrade andconflict with other states, the tackling of corruption, strategic management of the bureaucracy, and ambitiousbuilding projects.
Cleopatra initially acceded to the throne alongside her younger brotherPtolemy XIII, but a fallout between them led to opencivil war. Further chaos ensued when the RomanconsulJulius Caesar pursued his rivalPompey intoPtolemaic Egypt, aRomanclient state. Upon arrival, Caesar discovered that Pompey had been assassinated on the orders of Ptolemy XIII. Caesar attempted to reconcile the siblings, but a discontent Ptolemy XIII and his adviserPotheinos raisedforcesagainst Caesar and Cleopatra. Reinforcements lifted the siege in early 47 BC, and Ptolemy XIII died shortly afterwards in theBattle of the Nile.Arsinoe IV (Cleopatra's younger sister and a rival claimant to the throne) was exiled, and Caesar, nowdictator, declared Cleopatra and her younger brotherPtolemy XIV co-rulers of Egypt. However, Caesar maintained a private affair with Cleopatra that produced a son,Caesarion, before he departedAlexandria for Rome.
Cleopatra visited Rome as aclient queen in 46 and 44 BC; followingCaesar's assassination in 44 BC, Cleopatra attempted to have Caesarion named as his heir, which was thwarted by Caesar's grandnephewOctavian. Cleopatra then had Ptolemy XIV killed and elevated Caesarion as her co-monarch. In theLiberators' civil war of 43–42 BC, Cleopatra sided with theSecond Triumvirate and developed a personal relationship withMark Antony, one of its members, that would produce three children.[6] Antony continually used his triumviral authority to the benefit of Cleopatra and became increasingly reliant on her for funding and military aid duringhis invasions of various eastern domains. The 34 BCDonations of Alexandria, in which Cleopatra and her children received various titles and territories under Antony's triumviral authority, along with Antony'sdivorce of Octavian's sisterOctavia, marked a turning point that led to Octavian declaring war on Cleopatra. In 31 BC, Antony and Cleopatra led a joint naval force atActium against Octavian's generalAgrippa, who won after they fled the battle.Octavian's forces invaded Egypt the following year. Although the couple offered military resistance, Octavian defeated their forces, driving Antony to suicide. When Cleopatra learned that Octavian intended to transport her to Rome as a prisoner in his triumphal procession, she likewise committed suicide, reportedly throughpoisoning.
Ptolemy XII Auletes, rulingpharaoh of thePtolemaic Kingdom ofEgypt, designated in hiswill that his daughterCleopatra VII should reign alongside her brotherPtolemy XIII as co-rulers in the event of his death.[8][9][10] On 31 May 52 BC, Cleopatra was made aregent of Ptolemy XII as indicated by an inscription in the Temple ofHathor atDendera.[11][12][13]Duane W. Roller asserts that Ptolemy XII perhaps died sometime before 22 March 51 BC,[14] whileJoann Fletcher offers the date 7 March 51 BC.[15]Michael Grant states it could have occurred as late as May of that year.[16][note 4] Cleopatra's first known act as queen occurred on 22 March 51 BC. She traveled toHermonthis, nearThebes, to install a new sacredBuchis bull, worshiped as an intermediary for the godMontu in theAncient Egyptian religion.[14][17][18] TheRoman Senate, which viewed Ptolemaic Egypt as a client state, was not informed of the death of Ptolemy XII until 30 June or 1 August 51 BC.[19][20] This was most likely an attempt by Cleopatra to suppress this information and consolidate power.[15][16][note 4]
Cleopatra perhaps wedded her brother Ptolemy XIII,[21][22][note 5] but it is unknown if their marriage ever took place.[17][23] By 29 August 51 BC, official documents began listing Cleopatra as the sole ruler,[24] evidence that she had rejected her brother as a co-ruler by this point.[25][26][27] Cleopatra faced several pressing issues and emergencies shortly after taking the throne. These included food shortages and famine caused by drought and low-levelflooding of the Nile and assaults by gangs of armed brigands.[28] Another problem was the lawless behavior instigated by theGabiniani, the now unemployed, assimilated, and largelyGermanic andGallic Roman soldiers left byAulus Gabinius to garrison Egypt after restoring Ptolemy XII and removing his daughterBerenice IV from power.[29][30] As an astute financial administrator of her kingdom, Cleopatra eventually brought the combined wealth oftax revenues and foreign trade up to 12,000talents a year, surpassing thewealth creation of some of her Ptolemaic predecessors.[31] In the meantime, however, she inherited her father's debts and owed theRoman Republic 17.5 milliondrachmas by the timeJulius Caesar arrived at Alexandria in 48 BC.[25]
In 50 BC,Marcus Calpurnius Bibulus,proconsul ofSyria, sent his two eldest sons to Egypt, most likely to negotiate with the Gabiniani and recruit them as soldiers in the desperate defense of Syriaagainst the Parthians.[34] However, the Gabiniani tortured and murdered them, perhaps with secret encouragement by rogue senior administrators in Cleopatra's court such as the eunuch-regentPotheinos. This led her to send the Gabiniani culprits to Bibulus as prisoners awaiting his judgment.[34][26][35] Although a seemingly shrewd act by the young queen, Bibulus sent the prisoners back to her and chastised her for interfering in Roman affairs that should have been handled directly by the Roman Senate.[36] Bibulus, siding withPompey the Great inCaesar's Civil War, was then charged with preventing Caesar from landing a naval fleet inGreece. He failed at the task, which ultimately allowed Julius Caesar to reach Egypt in pursuit of Pompey.[36]
Although Cleopatra had rejected her 11-year-old brother as a joint ruler in 51 BC, Ptolemy XIII still retained strong allies, including Potheinos, his tutor and administrator of his properties.The Romans, including Caesar, initially viewed him as the power behind the throne.[37][38][39] Others involved in the cabal against Cleopatra includedAchillas, a prominent military commander, andTheodotus of Chios, another tutor of Ptolemy XIII.[37][40] Cleopatra seems to have attempted a short-lived alliance with her brotherPtolemy XIV, but by October of 50 BC, Ptolemy XIII had the upper hand in their conflict and began signing documents with his name before that of his sister,[41] followed by the establishment of his firstregnal date in 49 BC.[17][42][43]
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Cleopatra and her forces were still holding their ground against Ptolemy XIII within Alexandria whenGnaeus Pompeius, son of Pompey, arrived at Alexandria in the summer of 49 BC seeking military aid on behalf of his father.[42] After returning to Italy fromthe wars inGaul andcrossing the Rubicon in January of 49 BC, Caesar forced Pompey and his supporters to flee to Greece ina Roman civil war.[44][45] In perhaps their last joint decree, both Cleopatra and Ptolemy XIII agreed to Gnaeus Pompeius' request. They sent his father 60 ships and 500 troops, including the Gabiniani, a move that helped erase some of the debt owed to Rome by the Ptolemies.[44][46] The Roman writerLucan claimed that by early 48 BC, Pompey named Ptolemy XIII as the legitimate sole ruler of Egypt; whether true or not, Cleopatra was forced to flee Alexandria and withdraw to the region of Thebes.[47][48][49] However, by the spring of 48 BC, Cleopatra traveled to Syria with her younger sisterArsinoe IV to gather an invasion force that would head to Egypt.[50][43][51] She returned with an army, perhaps right around the time of Caesar's arrival, but her brother's forces, including some Gabiniani, mobilized to fight against her. They blocked her advance to Alexandria, and she had to make camp outsidePelousion in the easternNile Delta.[52][43]
In Greece, Caesar and Pompey's forces engaged each other at the decisiveBattle of Pharsalus on 9 August 48 BC, leading to the destruction of most of Pompey's army and his forced flight toTyre.[52][53][54] Given his close relationship with the Ptolemies, he ultimately decided that Egypt would be his place of refuge, where he could replenish his forces.[55][54][56] Ptolemy XIII's advisers, however, feared the idea of Pompey using Egypt as his base of power in a protracted Roman civil war.[55][57][58] They also wished to ensure that none of the Gabiniani would leave their campaign against Cleopatra to join Pompey's forces instead.[57] In a scheme devised by Theodotos, Pompey arrived by ship near Pelousion after being invited by written message, only to be ambushed and stabbed to death on 28 September 48 BC.[55][53][59] Ptolemy XIII believed he had demonstrated his power and simultaneously defused the situation by having Pompey's severed head sent to Caesar,[41] who arrived in Alexandria by early October and resided at the royal palace.[60][61][62] Theodotos presented Caesar with his son-in-law Pompey'sembalmed head, which Caesar retrieved and planned to bury properly along the shores of Alexandria.[63][64] Caesar expressed grief and outrage over the killing of Pompey[65][66] and called on both Ptolemy XIII and Cleopatra to disband their forces and reconcile.[60][67][62]
Caesar's request for partial repayment of the 17.5 million drachmas owed to Rome (to pay for immediate military expenditures) was met with a response by Potheinos, who replied that it would be made later if Caesar left Alexandria, but this offer was rejected.[73][74][75] Ptolemy XIII arrived at Alexandria at the head of his army, in clear defiance of Caesar's demand that he disband and leave his army before his arrival.[73][75] Cleopatra initially sent emissaries to Caesar, but upon allegedly hearing that Caesar was inclined to having affairs with royal women, she came to Alexandria to see him personally.[73][74][75] The historianCassius Dio records that she simply did so without informing her brother, dressing in an attractive manner and charming Caesar with her wit and linguistic skills.[73][76][77]Plutarch provides an entirely different and perhaps mythical account that alleges she was bound inside a bed sack to be smuggled into the palace to meet Caesar.[73][72][78]
When Ptolemy XIII realized that his sister was in the palace consorting directly with Caesar instead of at Pelousion, he attempted to rouse the populace of Alexandria into a riot.[79][80] Caesar promptly detained him and used his oratorical skills to calm the frenzied crowd gathered outside the palace.[81][82][83] He then brought the siblings before theassembly of Alexandria and revealed the written will of Ptolemy XII – previously possessed by Pompey – naming Cleopatra and Ptolemy XIII as his joint heirs.[84][82][74] Caesar then attempted to arrange for the other two siblings, Arsinoe IV and Ptolemy XIV, to rule together over Cyprus,[79][85] thus removing potential rival claimants to the Egyptian throne. This would also appease the Ptolemaic subjects still bitter over the loss of Cyprus to the Romans in 58 BC.[86][82][87]
Potheinos judged that this agreement actually favored Cleopatra over Ptolemy XIII and that the latter's army of 20,000, including the Gabiniani, could most likely defeat Caesar's army of 4,000 unsupported troops. He decided to have Achillas lead their forces to Alexandria to attack both Caesar and Cleopatra.[86][82][88] The resultingsiege of the palace with Caesar and Cleopatra trapped inside lasted into the following year of 47 BC.[89] It included Caesar's burning of ships in the harbor that spread fires and potentially burned down part of theLibrary of Alexandria.[90][67][91] Caesar managed to execute Potheinos after he attempted an assassination plot against him.[92] Arsinoe IV joined forces with Achillas and was declared queen. Soon afterwards, she had her tutor Ganymedes kill Achillas and take his position as commander of her army.[93][94][95] Ganymedes then tricked Caesar into requesting the presence of his erstwhile captive Ptolemy XIII as a negotiator, only to have him join the army of Arsinoe IV.[93][96][97] With his detailed knowledge of the palace, Ganymedes pumpedseawater into thereservoirs viawater pipes,[98] but Cleopatra and Caesar countered this by ordering the construction offresh water wells.[97][99]
Sometime between January and March 47 BC, Caesar's reinforcements arrived.[89] These included soldiers led byMithridates of Pergamon and Antipater the Idumaean, who would receiveRoman citizenship for his timely aid (a status that would be inherited by his son Herod the Great).[93][67][101][note 6] Ptolemy XIII and Arsinoe IV withdrew their forces to theNile River,where Caesar attacked them and forced Ptolemy XIII to flee by boat. It capsized, and he drowned. His body was later found nearby in the mud.[102][67][103] Ganymedes was perhaps killed in the battle, while Theodotos was found years later in Asia byMarcus Junius Brutus and executed. Arsinoe IV was forcefully paraded in Caesar's triumph in Rome, where she was the object of public sympathy, before being exiled to the Temple of Artemis atEphesus.[104][105][106] Cleopatra was conspicuously absent from these events and resided in the palace, most likely because she was pregnant with Caesar's child (perhaps since September 47 BC). She gave birth toCaesarion on 23 June 47 BC.[107][108][109] Caesar and Cleopatra likely visited theTomb of Alexander the Great together.[109] Caesar also ensured the proper burial of Pompey's embalmed head in a tomb near theeastern wall of Alexandria.[110]
Caesar's term as consul had expired at the end of 48 BC.[104] However, his officer Mark Antony, recently returned to Rome from the battle atPharsalus, helped to secure Caesar'selection as dictator. This lasted for a year, until October 47 BC, providing Caesar with the legal authority to settle the dynastic dispute in Egypt.[104] Wary of repeating the mistake of Berenice IV in having a sole-ruling female monarch, Caesar appointed 12-year-old Ptolemy XIV as 22-year-old Cleopatra's joint ruler in a nominalsibling marriage, but Cleopatra continued living privately with Caesar.[111][67][101][note 7] The exact date at which Cyprus was returned to her control is not known, although she had a governor there by 42 BC.[112][101]
Before returning to Rome to attend to urgent political matters, Caesar is alleged to have joined Cleopatra for a cruise of the Nile and sightseeing of monuments, although this may be a romantic tale reflecting later well-to-do Roman proclivities and not a real historic event.[113][67][114] The historianSuetonius provided considerable details about the voyage, including use of aThalamegospleasure barge.[115] First constructed during the reign ofPtolemy IV, it measured 300 ft (91 m) in length and 80 ft (24 m) in height and was complete with dining rooms, state rooms, holy shrines, andpromenades along its two decks resembling a floating villa.[113][116] Cleopatra possibly used theThalamegos again years later to sail to Mark Antony's provisional headquarters atTarsos.[117][115] Its design almost certainly had an influence on the later RomanNemi ships.[118] Caesar could have been interested in a Nile cruise owing to his fascination withgeography. He was well-read in the works ofEratosthenes andPytheas, and perhaps wanted to discover the source of the river, but his troops reportedly demanded they turn back after nearly reachingEthiopia.[119][120]
Caesar departed from Egypt around April 47 BC.[121] The reason for his departure was apparently thatPharnaces II of Pontus, son of Mithridates the Great, was stirring up trouble for Rome inAnatolia and needed to be confronted. It is possible, however, that Caesar, who was married to the prominent Roman womanCalpurnia, wanted to avoid being seen together with Cleopatra when she had their son.[121][114] He left three legions in Egypt, later increased to four, under the command of thefreedmanRufio, to secure Cleopatra's tenuous position, but also perhaps to keep her activities in check.[121][122][123]
Cleopatra's alleged child with Caesar was born 23 June 47 BC, as preserved on a stele at theSerapeion in Memphis.[124][67][125] In the stele, he was named "Pharaoh Caesar", but the Alexandrians preferred the patronymic Caesarion.[126][127][67] Perhaps owing to his still childlessmarriage with Calpurnia, Caesar remained silent about Caesarion.[128] There is conflicting evidence that he publicly denied fathering him, but privately accepted him as his son.[129][note 8] Cleopatra, on the other hand, made repeated official declarations about Caesarion's parentage, with Caesar as the father.[129][130] She also built aCaesareum temple near the harbor of Alexandria dedicated to his worship.[122][131]
Cleopatra and her nominal joint ruler Ptolemy XIV visited Rome sometime around the autumn of 46 BC, possibly with Caesarion.[135] They were given lodging in Caesar's Villa within theHorti Caesaris.[136][137][138] As he did with their father Ptolemy XII, Julius Caesar awarded both Cleopatra and Ptolemy XIV with the legal status of 'friend and ally of the Roman people' (Latin:socius et amicus populi Romani), in effectclient rulers loyal to Rome.[139][137][140] Cleopatra's distinguished visitors at Caesar's villa across theTiber included the senatorCicero. He was not flattered by her and found her to be arrogant, especially after one of her advisers failed to provide him with requested books from theLibrary of Alexandria.[141][142]Sosigenes of Alexandria, one of the members of Cleopatra's court, aided Caesar inthe calculations for the newJulian Calendar, put into effect on 1 January 45 BC.[143][144][145] TheTemple of Venus Genetrix, established in theForum of Caesar on 25 September 46 BC, contained a golden statue of Cleopatra (which still stood there during the 3rd century AD), associating the mother of Caesar's child directly with thegoddess Venus, mother of the Romans.[146][144][147] The statue also subtly linked the Egyptian goddessIsis with theRoman religion. Caesar may have had plans to build a temple to Isis in Rome, as was voted by the Senate a year after his death.[141]
Fletcher asserts that it is unclear if Cleopatra consistently stayed in Rome until 44 BC or briefly returned to Egypt after Caesar traveled toRoman Spain in November 46 BC to wage war against thesons of Pompey.[148][149] Since Cleopatra was also present in the city in 44 BC duringCaesar's assassination, it is unclear if this represented a single, two-year-long trip to Rome or two separate visits.[150] The latter is more likely according to Roller.[151] Cleopatra's presence in Rome most likely had an effect on the events at theLupercalia festival a month before Caesar's assassination.[152][153] Mark Antony attempted to place a royaldiadem on Caesar's head, which he refused. This was most likely a staged performance, perhaps to gauge the Roman public's mood about accepting Hellenistic-style kingship.[152][153] Cicero, who was present at the festival, mockingly asked where the diadem came from, an obvious reference to the Ptolemaic queen whom he abhorred.[152][153]
Caesar was assassinated on theIdes of March (15 March 44 BC), but Cleopatra lingered in Rome until about mid-April, in the vain hope of having Caesarion recognized as Caesar's heir.[154][155][156] However, Caesar's will named his grandnephewOctavian as the primary heir.[157] He arrived inItaly around the same time Cleopatra decided to depart for Egypt.[154][155][158] A few months later, Cleopatra ordered the assassination of Ptolemy XIV by means of poisoning,[159] elevating her son Caesarion instead as her co-ruler.[160][161][162] The murder of political opponents, even if they were family members, was alarmingly common among the Ptolemies.[163]
Octavian, Mark Antony, andLepidus formed theSecond Triumvirate in 43 BC.[164]They were each elected for five-year terms to restore order to the Republic andbring Caesar's assassins to justice.[165][166] Cleopatra received messages from bothGaius Cassius Longinus, one of Caesar's assassins, andPublius Cornelius Dolabella, proconsul of Syria and a Caesarian loyalist, requesting military aid.[165] She decided to write Cassius an excuse that her kingdom faced too many internal problems while sending the four legions left by Caesar in Egypt to Dolabella.[165][167] However, Cassius captured these troops in Palestine, while they traveled en route to Syria.[165][167]Serapion, Cleopatra's governor of Cyprus, defected to Cassius and provided him with ships. Cleopatra took her own fleet to Greece to personally assist Octavian and Antony. Her ships were heavily damaged in a Mediterranean storm, however, and she arrived too late to aid in the fighting.[165][168] By the autumn of 42 BC, Antony had defeated the forces of Caesar's assassins at theBattle of Philippi in Greece, leading to the suicides of Cassius andMarcus Junius Brutus the Younger.[165][169]
By the end of 42 BC, Octavian gained control over much of the western half of the Roman Republic and Antony the eastern half, with Lepidus largely marginalized.[170] Antony moved his headquarters fromAthens to Tarsos in Anatolia by the summer of 41 BC.[170][171] He summoned Cleopatra to Tarsos in several letters, invitations she initially rebuffed until he sent his envoyQuintus Dellius to Alexandria, convincing her to come.[172][173] The meeting would allow Cleopatra to clear up the misconception that she seemed to support Cassius during the civil war, and would address pressing issues about territorial exchanges inthe Levant. Mark Antony also undoubtedly desired to form a personal, romantic relationship with the queen.[174][173]
Cleopatra sailed up theKydnos River to Tarsos in herThalamegos, inviting Antony and his officers for two nights of lavish banquets aboard her ship. Antony attempted to return the favor on the third night of dining with his own far less luxurious banquet.[175][171] Cleopatra presented herself as theEgyptian goddess Isis in the appearance of theGreek goddessAphrodite, meeting her divine husbandOsiris in the form of the Greek godDionysus, the latter whom the priests of Artemis at Ephesus had associated with Antony prior to this meeting with Cleopatra.[171] Some surviving coins of Cleopatra also depict her as Venus–Aphrodite.[176] Cleopatra managed to clear her name as a supposed supporter of Cassius, arguing she had really attempted to help Dolabella in Syria. At the same time, she convinced Antony to have her rival sister Arsinoe IV dragged from her place of exile at the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus and executed.[177][178][89] Her former governor of Cyprus, Serapion, who had rebelled against her and joined Cassius, was found at Tyre and handed over to Cleopatra.[177][179]
Cleopatra invited Antony to visit Egypt before departing from Tarsos, which led Antony to visit Alexandria by November 41 BC.[177][180] He was well received by the populace of Alexandria for his heroic actions in restoring Ptolemy XII to power and, unlike Caesar, coming to Egypt without an occupational force.[181][182] In Egypt, Antony continued to enjoy the lavish royal lifestyle he had witnessed aboard Cleopatra's ship docked at Tarsos.[183][179] He also had his subordinates, such asPublius Ventidius Bassus,drive the Parthians out of Anatolia and Syria.[184][185][186]
Of all thequeens of antiquity, those who ruled independently at times were married for most of their careers.[187] Cleopatra, however, reigned for most of her 21 years as a sole monarch, with nominal joint rulers and a possible marriage to Antony very late in her life.[187] Having Caesarion as her sole heir produced both benefits and dangers. His sudden death could extinguish the dynasty, but rivalry with other potential heirs and siblings could also spell his downfall.[187] Cleopatra carefully chose Antony as her partner to produce further heirs, as he was deemed to be the most powerful Roman figure following Caesar's demise.[188] With histriumviral powers, Antony also had the broad authority to restore former Ptolemaic lands to Cleopatra now in Roman hands.[189][190] While it is clear that Cleopatra controlled bothCilicia andCyprus by 19 November 38 BC with a mention of her governor Diogenes who administered both, the transfer probably occurred earlier in the winter of 41–40 BC, during her time spent with Antony.[189] Plutarch asserted that Cleopatraplayed dice,drank alcohol,hunted wild game, and attended military exercises with Antony. These masculine activities did not endear her to later Roman authors, but they demonstrated the close relationship she fostered with her Roman partner.[191]
By the spring of 40 BC, troubles in Syria forced Mark Antony to end his vacation in Egypt with Cleopatra.[192] His governorLucius Decidius Saxa had been killed and his army taken byQuintus Labienus, a former officer under Cassius who now served theParthian Empire.[193] Cleopatra provided Antony with 200 ships for his campaign and as payment for her newly acquired territories.[193] She would not see him again until 37 BC, but they maintained correspondence, and evidence suggests she kept a spy in his camp.[193] By the end of 40 BC, Cleopatra gave birth to twins,[194] a boy namedAlexander Helios and a girl namedCleopatra Selene II, both of whom Antony acknowledged as his children.[195][196]Helios (Ancient Greek:Ἥλιος), the sun, andSelene (Ancient Greek:Σελήνη), the moon, were symbolic of a new era of societal rejuvenation,[197] as well as sign that Cleopatra hoped Antony would repeat theexploits of Alexander the Great by conqueringPersia.[182]
Events of thePerusine War (41–40 BC) disrupted Mark Antony's focus on confronting the Parthians in the east. The war was initiated by his ambitious wifeFulvia against Octavian in the hopes of making her husband the undisputed leader of Rome.[197][201] Although it has been suggested that part of her motivation was to cleave Antony from Cleopatra, this is unlikely, as the conflict emerged in Italy even before Cleopatra's meeting with Antony at Tarsos.[202] Fulvia and Antony's brotherLucius Antonius were eventually besieged by Octavian atPerusia (modernPerugia, Italy) and exiled from Italy. Fulvia died after this atSikyon in Greece while attempting to reach Antony.[203] Her sudden death led to a reconciliation of Octavian and Antony atBrundisium in Italy in September 40 BC.[203][182] Although the agreement struck at Brundisium solidified Antony's control of the Roman Republic's territories east of theIonian Sea, it also stipulated that he concedeItalia,Hispania, andGaul, and marry Octavian's sisterOctavia the Younger, a potential rival for Cleopatra.[204][205]
In December 40 BC, Cleopatra receivedHerod I the Great in Alexandria as an unexpected guest and refugee who fled a turbulent situation inJudea.[206] Mark Antony had established Herod there as atetrarch, but he was soon at odds withAntigonus II Mattathias of the long-establishedHasmonean dynasty.[206] Antigonus had imprisoned Herod's brother and fellow tetrarchPhasael, who was executed while Herod was in mid-flight towards Cleopatra's court.[206] Cleopatra attempted to provide him with a military assignment,[207] but Herod declined and traveled to Rome, where the triumvirs Octavian and Mark Antony named himking of Judea.[208][209] This act put Herod on a collision course with Cleopatra, who wished to reclaim former Ptolemaic territories of his newHerodian kingdom.[208]
Relations between Mark Antony and Cleopatra perhaps soured when he not only married Octavia in 40 BC,[210] but also moved his headquarters to Athens and sired her two children,Antonia the Elder in 39 BC andAntonia Minor in 36 BC.[211] However, Cleopatra's position in Egypt was secure.[182] Her rival Herod was occupied with civil war in Judea that required heavy Roman military assistance, but received none from Cleopatra.[211] Since the triumviral authority of Mark Antony and Octavian had expired on 1 January 37 BC, Octavia arranged for a meeting atTarentum, where the triumvirate was officially extended to 33 BC.[212] With twolegions granted by Octavian and a thousand soldiers lent by Octavia, Mark Antony traveled toAntioch, where he made preparations for war against the Parthians.[213]
Antony summoned Cleopatra to Antioch to discuss pressing issues such as Herod's kingdom and financial support for his Parthian campaign.[213][214] Cleopatra brought her three-year-old twins to Antioch, where Mark Antony saw them for the first time.[215] They probably first received their surnames Helios and Selene here as part of Antony and Cleopatra's ambitious plans for the future.[216][217] In order to stabilize theeast, Antony not only enlarged Cleopatra's domain,[214] but also established new ruling dynasties and client rulers who would be loyal to him yet would ultimately outlast him.[190] These includedHerod I of Judea,Amyntas of Galatia,Polemon I of Pontus andArchelaus of Cappadocia.[218]
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In this arrangement, Cleopatra gained significantformer Ptolemaic territories in the Levant. This included nearly all ofPhoenicia (centered in what is now modernLebanon) minusTyre andSidon, which remained in Roman hands.[220][190][214] She also receivedPtolemais Akko (modernAcre, Israel), a city thatPtolemy II established.[220] Given her ancestral relations withthe Seleucids, Antony granted her the region ofKoile-Syria along the upperOrontes River.[221][214] She was even given the region surroundingJericho in Palestine, but she leased this territory back to Herod.[222][209] At the expense of theNabataean kingMalichus I (a cousin of Herod), Cleopatra was also given a portion of theNabataean Kingdom around theGulf of Aqaba on theRed Sea, including Ailana (modernAqaba,Jordan).[223][209] To the west, Cleopatra was handedCyrene along the Libyan coast, as well asItanos andOlous inRoman Crete. This restored much of the territory lost by the Ptolemies but did not include any territories in theAegean Sea or southwest Asia Minor.[224][214] Cleopatra's control over much of these new territories was nominal, and they were still administered by Roman officials. Nevertheless, they enriched her kingdom and led her to declare the inauguration of a new era bydouble-dating her coinage in 36 BC.[225][226]
Antony's rival Octavian exploited the enlargement of the Ptolemaic realm by relinquishing directly controlled Roman territory. Octavian tapped into public sentiment in Rome against the empowerment of a foreign queen at the expense of their Republic.[227] He also fostered the narrative that Antony was neglecting his virtuous Roman wife Octavia. Octavian granted her and his own wifeLivia the extraordinary privileges ofsacrosanctity.[227]Cornelia Africana, daughter ofScipio Africanus, mother of the reformistsTiberius andGaius Gracchus, and love interest of Cleopatra's great-grandfatherPtolemy VIII, was the first living Roman woman to have a statue dedicated in her honor.[225] She was followed by Octavian's sister Octavia and his wife Livia, whose statues were most likely erected in theForum of Caesar to rival that of Cleopatra's statue erected there earlier by Julius Caesar.[225]
In 36 BC, Cleopatra accompanied Antony to theEuphrates River, perhaps as far asSeleucia at the Zeugma, on the first leg of his journey to invade the Parthian Empire.[228] She then toured of some of her newly acquired territories. She traveled pastDamascus and entered the lands of Herod, who escorted her in lavish conditions back to the Egyptian border town ofPelousion.[229] Her main reason for returning to Egypt was her advanced state of pregnancy. By the summer of 36 BC,[230] she gave birth toPtolemy Philadelphus, her second son with Antony.[229][214] He was also named after thesecond monarch of the Ptolemaic dynasty in what Cleopatra almost certainly intended as a prophetic gesture that the Ptolemaic Kingdom would be restored to its former glory.[229][209][230]
Antony's Parthian campaign in 36 BC turned into a complete debacle, having been stymied by a number of factors such as extreme weather, the spread of disease, and the betrayal ofArtavasdes II of Armenia, who defected to the Parthian side.[231][190][232] After losing some 30,000 men, more so than Crassusat Carrhae (an indignity he had hoped to avenge), Antony finally arrived at Leukokome nearBerytus (modernBeirut, Lebanon) in December. He engaged in heavy drinking before Cleopatra arrived to provide funds and clothing for his battered troops.[231][233] Octavia offered to lend him more troops for another expedition. Antony wished to avoid the political pitfalls of returning to Rome, however, so traveled with Cleopatra back to Alexandria to see his newborn son.[231]
Antony prepared for another Parthian expedition in 35 BC, this time aimed at their allyArmenia. As he did so, Octavia traveled to Athens with 2,000 troops in alleged support of Antony. This was most likely a scheme devised by Octavian to embarrass Antony for his military losses.[236][237][note 10] Antony received the troops but ordered Octavia not to stray east of Athens. He and Cleopatra traveled together to Antioch, only to suddenly and inexplicably abandon the military campaign and head back to Alexandria.[236][237] When Octavia returned to Rome, Octavian portrayed his sister as a victim wronged by Antony. She refused to leave Antony's household, however, and return to Octavian's in Rome.[238][190] Octavian's confidence grew as he eliminated his rivals in the west, includingSextus Pompeius and even Lepidus, the third member of the triumvirate, who was placed under house arrest afterrevolting against Octavian in Sicily.[238][190][233]
Antony sent Quintus Dellius as his envoy to Artavasdes II of Armenia in 34 BC to negotiate a potentialmarriage alliance between the Armenian king's daughter and Antony and Cleopatra's son Alexander Helios.[239][240] When this was declined, Antony marched his army into Armenia, defeated its forces, and captured the king and the Armenian royal family.[239][241] They were sent back to Alexandria as prisoners in golden chains befitting their royal status.[239][240] Antony then held a military parade in Alexandria in the style of aRoman triumph. He dressed asDionysos and rode into the city on a chariot presenting the royal prisoners to Queen Cleopatra,[242] who sat on agolden throne above a silverdais.[239][243][244] News of this event was heavily criticized in Rome as being distasteful, if not a perversion of time-honoredRoman rites and rituals to be enjoyed instead by an Egyptian queen and her subjects.[239][244]
In an event held at thegymnasium soon after the triumph, now known as theDonations of Alexandria, Cleopatra dressed as Isis and Antony declared that she was theQueen of Kings with her son Caesarion,King of Kings.[249][250][251] Alexander Helios, dressed as aMedian, was made king of Armenia, Medes, and Parthia, and two-year-old Ptolemy Philadelphos, dressed as aMacedonian-Greek ruler, king of Syria and Cilicia.[252][253][254] Cleopatra Selene was also bestowed with Crete and Cyrene.[255][256] Given the polemic, contradictory, and fragmentary nature of primary sources from the period, it is uncertain if Cleopatra and Antony were also formally wed at this ceremony, or if they even had any marriage at all.[255][254][note 13] However, coins of Antony and Cleopatra depict them in the typical manner of a Hellenistic royal couple.[255] Antony then sent a report to Rome requesting ratification of these territorial claims,[257] which Octavian wanted to publicize for propaganda purposes, but the two consuls, both supporters of Antony, had it censored from public view.[258][256]
In late 34 BC, following the Donations, Antony and Octavian engaged in a heatedwar of propaganda that would last for years.[259][256] Antony argued that his rival had illegally deposed Lepidus from their triumvirate and barred him from raising troops in Italy. Octavian accused Antony of unlawfully detaining the king of Armenia, marrying Cleopatra despite still being married to his sister Octavia, and wrongfully claiming Caesarion as the heir of Caesar instead of Octavian.[259][256] The litany of accusations and gossip associated with this propaganda war have shaped popular perceptions of Cleopatra fromAugustan-period literature to various media in modern times.[260][261]
Aside from casual criticisms of Cleopatra's extravagant lifestyle and corruption of Antony with her opulence, she was alleged by various Roman authors to have resorted towitchcraft as a lethal sorceress who not onlytoyed with the idea of poisoning many, Antony included, but also intended to conquer and punish Rome itself. She was a woman as dangerous asHomer'sHelen of Troy in toppling the order of civilization.[264][265] Antony was generally viewed as having lost his judgment, brainwashed by Cleopatra's magic spells.[266][267] Antony's supporters rebutted with tales of Octavian's wild and promiscuoussex life, whilegraffiti now often appeared slandering either side as being sexually obscene.[266] Cleopatra had a conveniently timedSibylline Oracle claim that Rome would be punished, but that peace and reconciliation would follow in agolden age led by the queen.[268] In an account ofLucius Munatius Plancus, preserved inHorace'sSatires, Cleopatra allegedly made a bet that she could spend 2.5 million drachmas in a single evening. She proved it by removing apearl, one of the most expensive known, from one of herearrings and dissolving it in vinegar at her dinner party.[269][270] The accusation that Antony had stolen the books of theLibrary of Pergamon to restock the Library of Alexandria, however, was an admitted fabrication byGaius Calvisius Sabinus. He may have been the source of many other slanders of Antony in support of Octavian's side.[271]
Apapyrus document dated to February 33 BC contains with little doubt thesignature handwriting of Cleopatra.[262][263] It concerns certaintax exemptions in Egypt granted toPublius Canidius Crassus (or Quintus Caecillius),[note 14]former Roman consul and Antony's confidant who would command his land forces atActium.[272][263] A subscript in a different handwriting at the bottom of the papyrus reads "make it happen" (Koine Greek:γινέσθωι,romanized: ginesthō), undoubtedly the autograph of the queen, as it was Ptolemaic practice tocountersign documents to avoidforgery.[272][263]
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In a speech to theRoman Senate on the first day of his consulship on 1 January 33 BC,[273] Octavian accused Antony of attempting to subvert Roman freedoms and authority as a slave to Cleopatra, who he said was given lands that rightfully belonged to the Romans.[274] Before Antony and Octavian's jointimperium expired on 31 December 33 BC, Antony declared Caesarion as the true heir of Julius Caesar in an attempt to undermine Octavian.[274] On 1 January 32 BC, the Antonian loyalistsGaius Sosius andGnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus were elected as consuls.[272] On 1 February 32 BC, Sosius gave a fiery speech condemning Octavian,[257] now a private citizen without public office, introducing pieces of legislation against him.[272][275] During the next senatorial session, Octavian entered the Senate house with armed guards and levied his own accusations against the consuls.[272][276] Intimidated by this act, the consuls and over two hundred senators still in support of Antony fled Rome the next day and joined his side. Antony established his own counter-Roman Senate.[272][276][277] Although he held military office and his reputation was still largely intact, Antony was still fundamentally reliant on Cleopatra for military support.[272] The couple traveled together to Ephesus in 32 BC, where Cleopatra provided him with 200 of the 800 total naval ships he was able to acquire.[272]
Domitius Ahenobarbus, wary of having Octavian's propaganda confirmed to the public, attempted to persuade Antony to have Cleopatra excluded entirely from the military efforts launched against Octavian.[278][279]Publius Canidius Crassus made the counterargument that Cleopatra was funding the war effort and, as a long-reigning monarch, was by no means inferior to the male allied kings Antony had summoned for the campaign.[278][279] Cleopatra refused Antony's requests that she return to Egypt, judging that by blocking Octavian in Greece, she could defend Egypt more easily from him.[278][279] Cleopatra's insistence that she be involved in the battle for Greece led to defections of prominent Romans such as Domitius Ahenobarbus andLucius Munatius Plancus.[278][276]
During the spring of 32 BC, Antony and Cleopatra traveled toSamos and Athens, where Cleopatra was ostensibly well-received.[278] She persuaded Antony to send Octavia an officialdeclaration of divorce.[278][276][254] This encouraged Munatius Plancus to advise Octavian that he should seize Antony's will, invested with theVestal Virgins.[278][276][256] Although a violation ofsacred customs andlegal rights,[280] Octavian forcefully acquired the document from theTemple of Vesta.[281] It was a useful tool in the propaganda war against Antony and Cleopatra.[278][256] In the selective public reading of the will,[282] Octavian highlighted the claim that Caesarion was heir to Caesar, that the Donations of Alexandria were legal, that Antony should beburied alongside Cleopatra in Egyptinstead of Rome, and that Alexandria would be made the new capital of the Roman Republic.[283][276][256] In a show of loyalty to Rome, Octavian decided to begin construction ofhis own mausoleum at theCampus Martius.[276] His legal standing was also improved by being elected consul in 31 BC, and re-entering public office.[276] With Antony's will made public, Octavian had hiscasus belli and Rome declared war on Cleopatra, not Antony.[283][284][285] Scholars argue that this decision was made on the basis that the declaration of war against afellow citizen would be associated with a civil war and thus cause Octavian to lose support.[286][285] The legal argument for war was based less on Cleopatra's territorial acquisitions of former Roman territories, ruled by her children with Antony, and more on the fact that she was providing military support to a private citizen, now that Antony's triumviral authority had expired.[287] Octavian's wish to invade Egypt also coincided with his financial concern of collecting the massive debts owed to Caesar by Cleopatra's father Ptolemy XII. These were passed on to Cleopatra and were now the prerogative of Octavian, Caesar's heir.[288]
Antony and Cleopatra had greater numbers of troops (i.e. 100,000 men) and ships (i.e. 800 vessels) than Octavian, who had some 200 ships and 80,000 men.[289][279] However, the crews of Antony and Cleopatra's navy were not all well-trained, some of them perhaps from merchant vessels, whereas Octavian had a fully professional force.[290] Antony wanted to cross theAdriatic Sea and blockade Octavian at either Tarentum or Brundisium,[291] but Cleopatra, concerned primarily with defending Egypt, overrode the decision to attack Italy directly.[289][279] Antony and Cleopatra set up their winter headquarters atPatrai in Greece, and by the spring of 31 BC, they moved toActium along the southernAmbracian Gulf.[289][291] With this position, Cleopatra had the defense of Egypt in mind, as any southward movement by Octavian's fleet along the coast of Greece could be detected.[289]
Cleopatra and Antony had the support of various allied kings. Conflict between Cleopatra and Herod had previously erupted and an earthquake in Judea provided an excuse for him and his forces not to be present at Actium in support of the couple.[292] They also lost the support ofMalichus I ofNabataea, which would prove to have strategic consequences.[293] Antony and Cleopatra lost several skirmishes against Octavian around Actium during the summer of 31 BC. Defections to Octavian's camp continued, including Antony's long-time companion Quintus Dellius.[293] The allied kings also began to defect to Octavian's side, starting withAmyntas of Galatia andDeiotaros of Paphlagonia.[293] While some in Antony's camp suggested abandoning the naval conflict to retreat inland and face Octavian in the Greek interior, Cleopatra urged for a naval confrontation to keep Octavian's fleet away from Egypt.[294]
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On 2 September 31 BC,[297] Octavian's naval forces, led byMarcus Vipsanius Agrippa,[298] met those of Antony and Cleopatra for a decisive engagement, theBattle of Actium.[294][291][284] On board herflagship theAntonias, Cleopatra commanded 60 ships at the mouth of theAmbracian Gulf, at the rear of the fleet. This was likely a move by Antony's officers to marginalize her during the battle.[294] Antony had ordered that their ships have sails on board for a better chance to pursue or flee from the enemy. Cleopatra, ever-concerned about defending Egypt, took advantage of the favourable winds and used them to move swiftly through the area of major combat in a strategic withdrawal to thePeloponnese.[299][300][301][302] Burstein writes that partisan Roman writers would later accuse Cleopatra of cowardly deserting Antony, but their original intention of keeping their sails on board may have been to break the blockade and salvage as much of their fleet as possible.[301] Antony followed her and boarded her ship, identified by its distinctivepurple sails, as the two escaped the battle and headed forTainaron.[299] Antony apparently avoided Cleopatra during this three-day voyage, until her ladies-in-waiting at Tainaron urged him to speak with her.[303] The Battle of Actium raged on without Cleopatra and Antony until the morning of 3 September, when there were massive defections of both officers, troops, and even allied kings to Octavian's side.[303][300][304]
While Octavian occupied Athens, Antony and Cleopatra landed atParaitonion in Egypt and parted ways.[303][306] Antony went to Cyrene to raise more troops; Cleopatra sailed into the harbor at Alexandria in a misleading attempt to portray the activities in Greece as a victory.[303][307] Conflicting reports make it unclear if Cleopatra had financial difficulties at this juncture or not. Some claims, such as robbingtemples of their wealth to pay for her military expenditures, were likely Augustan propaganda.[308] It is also uncertain if she actually executed Artavasdes II of Armenia and sent his head to his rivalArtavasdes I of Media Atropatene, in an attempt to strike an alliance with him.[309][310][307]
Lucius Pinarius, Mark Antony's appointed governor of Cyrene, received word that Octavian had won the Battle of Actium before Antony's messengers could arrive at his court.[309] Pinarius had these messengers executed and defected to Octavian's side, surrendering to him the four legions under his command that Antony wanted to obtain.[309] Antony nearly committed suicide after this news but his staff officers stopped him.[309] In Alexandria, he built a reclusive cottage on the island ofPharos. He nicknamed it theTimoneion, after the philosopherTimon of Athens, who was famous for his cynicism andmisanthropy.[309][311] Herod the Great, who had personally advised Antony after the Battle of Actium that he should betray Cleopatra, traveled toRhodes to meet Octavian and resign his kingship out of loyalty to Antony.[312] Impressed by his speech and sense of loyalty, Octavian allowed him to maintain his position in Judea, further isolating Antony and Cleopatra.[312]
Cleopatra perhaps started to view Antony as a liability by the late summer of 31 BC, when she prepared to leave Egypt for her son Caesarion.[313] As an object of Roman hostility, Cleopatra wouldrelinquish her throne and remove herself from the equation bytaking her fleet from the Mediterranean into the Red Sea and then setting sail to a foreign port,perhaps in India, where she could spend time recuperating.[313][310] However, these plans were ultimately abandoned when Malichus I of Nabataea, as advised by Octavian's governor of SyriaQuintus Didius, managed to burn Cleopatra's fleet in revenge for his losses in a war with Herod largely initiated by Cleopatra.[313][310] Cleopatra had no option but to stay in Egypt and negotiate with Octavian.[313] Although most likely pro-Octavian propaganda, it was reported at this time that Cleopatra had begun testing the strengths of various poisons on prisoners and even her own servants.[314]
Cleopatra had Caesarion enter into the ranks of theephebi.[311] This, along with reliefs on a stele fromKoptos dated to 21 September 31 BC, demonstrate that she was now grooming her son to become the sole ruler of Egypt.[315] In a show of solidarity, Antony also hadMarcus Antonius Antyllus, his son with Fulvia, enter theephebi at the same time.[313][311] Separate messages and envoys from Antony and Cleopatra were then sent to Octavian, still stationed atRhodes, although Octavian seems to have replied only to Cleopatra.[314] Cleopatra requested that her children inherit Egypt and that Antony be allowed to live there in exile.[316] She offered Octavian money in the future and immediately sent him gifts of a golden scepter, crown, and throne.[314][310] Octavian sent his diplomat Thyrsos to Cleopatra after she had threatened toimmolate herself and vast amounts of her treasure within a tomb already under construction.[317] Thyrsos advised her to kill Antony so that her life would be spared. When Antony suspected foul intent, however, he had this diplomat flogged and sent back to Octavian without a deal.[318][319] From Octavian's point of view, Lepidus could be trusted under house arrest. Antony, however, had to be eliminated, and Caesarion, the rival heir to Julius Caesar, could not be trusted either.[318]
After lengthy negotiations that ultimately produced no results, Octavian set out to invade Egypt in the spring of 30 BC.[320] He stopped atPtolemais in Phoenicia where his new ally Herod entertained him and provided his army with fresh supplies.[321][322] Octavian moved south and swiftly took Pelousion, whileCornelius Gallus, marching eastward from Cyrene, defeated Antony's forces near Paraitonion.[323][324] Octavian advanced quickly to Alexandria. Antony returned and won a small victory over Octavian's tired troops outside the city'shippodrome.[323][324] However, on 1 August 30 BC, Antony's naval fleet surrendered to Octavian, followed by his cavalry.[323][300][325] Cleopatra hid herself in her tomb with her close attendants, sending a message to Antony that she had committed suicide.[323][326][327] In despair, Antony responded by stabbing himself in the stomach, taking his own life at age 53.[323][300][310] According to Plutarch, however, Antony was allegedly still dying when he was brought to Cleopatra at her tomb.[328][329] Plutarch told her Antony had died honorably in a contest against a fellow Roman, and that she could trust Octavian's companion Gaius Proculeius over anyone else in his entourage.[323][330][331] It was Proculeius, however, who infiltrated her tomb using a ladder and detained the queen, denying her the ability to immolate herself with her treasures.[332][333] Cleopatra was then allowed toembalm and bury Antony within her tomb before she was escorted to the palace.[332][310][334]
Octavian entered Alexandria and gave a speech of reconciliation at the gymnasium before settling in the palace and seizing Cleopatra's three youngest children.[332] When she met with Octavian, she looked disheveled, but still retained her poise and classic charm.[335] She told him bluntly, "I will not be led in a triumph" (Koine Greek:οὑ θριαμβεύσομαι,romanized: ou thriambéusomai), according toLivy, a rare recording of her exact words.[336][337] Octavian cryptically promised that he would keep her alive but offered no explanation about his plans for her kingdom.[338] When a spy informed her that Octavian planned to move her and her children to Rome in three days, she prepared for suicide.[339] She had no intention of being paraded in a Roman triumph like her sister Arsinoe IV.[338][300][310] It is unclear ifCleopatra's suicide, in August 30 BC at age 39,[340] took place within the palace or her tomb.[341][342][note 1] Ancient authors reported that her servants Erias andCharmion also took their own lives to accompany her.[338][343][344] Octavian was apparently angered by this outcome but had her buried in royal fashion next to Antonyin her tomb.[338][345][346] Cleopatra's physician Olympos did not give an account of the cause of her death. The popular belief is that she allowed anasp, orEgyptian cobra,[347] to bite and poison her.[348][349][310] Plutarch relates this tale, but then suggests an implement (knestis) was used to introduce the toxin by scratching. Cassius Dio says that she injected the poison with a needle (belone), andStrabo argued for an ointment of some kind.[350][349][351][note 15] Novenomous snake was found with her body, but she did have tiny puncture wounds on her arm that could have been caused by a needle.[348][351][346]
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Cleopatra, though long desiring to preserve her kingdom, decided in her last moments to send Caesarion away to Upper Egypt perhaps with plans to flee toNubia, Ethiopia or India.[352][353][324] The sixteen-year-old Caesarion, now Ptolemy XV, reigned for a mere eighteen days until he was executed on the orders of Octavian on 29 August 30 BC.[159][354][354] He had been returning to Alexandria under the false pretense that Octavian would allow him to be king.[355][356][note 16] Octavian hesitated to have him killed at first, but the advice of philosopher and friendArius Didymus convinced him there was room for only one Caesar in the world.[357] With the fall of the Ptolemaic Kingdom, Egypt was formallyannexed by Rome on 31 August and made into aRoman province,[358][300][359] marking the end ofHellenistic Egypt and the entireHellenistic age that had begun with the reign ofAlexander the Great (r. 336 – 323 BC) ofMacedon.[360][361][note 2] In January 27 BC, Octavian was renamedAugustus ('the revered') and amassedconstitutionalpowers that established him as the firstRoman emperor, inaugurating thePrincipate era of theRoman Empire.[362] Roman emperors were thereafterconsidered pharaohs of Egypt, but unlike the Ptolemaic rulers, they did not reside there. Octavian, now Augustus, distanced himself from Egyptian royal rituals, such ascoronation in the Egyptian style or worshiping theApis bull.[261][363] He was, however,depicted in Egyptian temples as a typical pharaoh making sacrifices to thegods.[364] Unlike regular Roman provinces, Octavian established Egypt as territory under his personal control.[363] He barred the Roman Senate from intervening in any of its affairs and appointed his ownequestriangovernors of Egypt, the first of whom was Cornelius Gallus.[365][366]
Cleopatra's personal rule of Egypt followedthe model of virtualabsolute monarchy that had existed in theKingdom of Macedon innorthern Greece, thehomeland of Alexander the Great, before he and his successors, theDiadochi, spread this style of monarchy throughout theconqueredAchaemenid Persian Empire.[368]Classical Greece (480–336 BC) had contained a variety ofcity-states (i.e.poleis) possessing various forms of government, includingdemocracy andoligarchy.[368] These city-states continued to have these forms of government inHellenistic Greece (336–146 BC) and even laterRoman Greece. They were heavily influenced and in many cases dominated by the Hellenistic monarchies of theAntigonid,Seleucid, andPtolemaic realms.[368] Beginning with the reign ofPtolemy I Soter, founder of the Ptolemaic dynasty, the Ptolemaic Kingdom had foughta series of conflicts against theSeleucid Empire over control ofSyria.[369] Cleopatra's kingdom was based in Egypt, but she desired to expand it and incorporate territories ofNorth Africa,West Asia, and the easternMediterranean Basin that had belonged to her illustrious ancestor Ptolemy I Soter.[370]
Cleopatra was nominally thesole lawgiver in her kingdom.[371] As proven by the discovery of a papyrus signed by Cleopatra grantingtax exemptions to Antony's Roman colleague Quintus Cascellius, she was directly involved in the administrative affairs of her kingdom.[372] TheMusaeum and adjacent Library of Alexandria attractedscholars from all over the Hellenistic world, who were also allowed to live in Egypt with total tax exemptions.[369] Cleopatra was also thechief religious authority in the kingdom, carrying out rituals and rites in theancient Egyptian religion that hernative Egyptian subjects viewed as preventing thedestruction of the world.[373] Given thelargely-Greek presence andmulticultural nature of Ptolemaic cities like Alexandria,[374] Cleopatra was also obligated to overseereligious ceremonies honoring the variousGreek deities.[373] EthnicGreeks staffed the upper levels of government administrations, albeit within the framework of thescribal bureaucracy that had existed in Egypt since theOld Kingdom.[375] Many administrators of Cleopatra's royal court had served during her father's reign, although some of them were killed in the civil war between her and Ptolemy XIII.[376] The names of more than twenty regionalgovernors serving under Cleopatra are known from inscriptions and papyri records, indicating some were ethnic Greeks and others were nativeEgyptians.[377]
Two legally defined classes divided Ptolemaic Egyptian society: Greeks and Egyptians. Greeks inhabited the city-states ofAlexandria,Naukratis, andPtolemais Hermiou. Considered full citizens of thosepoleis, they were forbidden to marry native Egyptians (although Greeks living outside of these municipalities could).[378] Native Egyptians and evenJews could be classified as Greeks if they abandoned their original cultures, received a Greek education, labeled their gods and goddesses with Greek names, and embraced the Greek lifestyle.[379] Native Egyptians had been largely excluded from serving inthe military by the reign ofPtolemy II, replaced by Greek and Jewish landholders calledcleruchs. By the reign ofPtolemy IV in the late 3rd century BC, they were reintroduced asphalangite soldiers.[380]Large migrations of Greeks to Egypt ceased by the 2nd century BC, so the Greek minority in Ptolemaic Egypt remained demographically small.[381]
Although Egyptian priests were often wealthy landowners who rivaled the wealth of the Ptolemaic pharaohs, the Ptolemaic monarchs technically owned all Egyptian lands as part oftheir estate.[382] Virtually all aspects of the Egyptian economy were nominallytightly controlled or supervised by the central government headquartered in Alexandria.[383][384] Most of the population in Ptolemaic Egypt was involved in the agricultural industry, mainly as farmers.[385] TheRiver Nile's annual floods allowed for exceptional yields of crops,[386] most in particular wheat, barley, and olives. Owing to Egypt's impressively fertile soil, there was more often than not a surplus in food, which was stockpiled and shipped to various empires throughout the Mediterranean world.[387] The Ptolemaic rulers exacted hightariffs on imported and exported goods, establishedprice controls for various goods, imposed highexchange rates forforeign currencies, establishedstate monopolies over certain industries such asvegetable oil andtextile production, and forced farming peasants to stay in their villages duringplanting and harvesting periods.[383][384][388] However, the effectiveness of these policies and the authority of Ptolemaic rulers, including Cleopatra, to execute them fully were more of an ideal than a reality.[389] Cleopatra and many of her royal predecessors found it necessary to clear all the privatedebts of their subjects to the government at the start of their reigns, due to widespread financial corruption bylocal officials abusing the general populace.[390] Abuses often led workers to partake ingeneral strikes until the government agreed to meet their demands.[390][391] At the beginning of her reign, local officials harassed destitute farmers by collecting taxes during a famine and drought.[392] Cleopatra curtailed these predatory measures and introducedrelief efforts such asreleasing grain from the royalgranary.[393]
Both Ptolemy XII and Cleopatra found it necessary todebasePtolemaic coinage due to financial troubles.[394] Nogold coins are known from Cleopatra's reign, while use of bronze coins was revived (absent since the reign ofPtolemy IX) andsilver currency was debased roughly 40% by the end of her reign.[395][396] Coins struck under Cleopatra's reign came from a wide geographical expanse, including sites in Egypt like Alexandria, but also theisland of Cyprus, Antioch,Damascus andChalcis ad Belum in Syria,Tripolis inPhoenicia,Askalon in Judea, andCyrenaica inLibya.[395] Surviving coins minted under Cleopatra include those from virtually every year of her reign.[397] They commonly bore an image of her, along with that of the goddess Isis.[397] Some imitate the coinage of her Ptolemaic ancestorArsinoe II. Coins struck with Mark Antony include Romandenarii with dual images of Cleopatra and Antony, the first time that a foreign queen appeared onRoman coins withLatin inscriptions.[398]
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In addition to various ancientGreco-Roman works of art and literature depicting the queen, Cleopatra's legacy has partially survived in some of her ambitious building programs in Egypt utilizingGreek,Roman, andEgyptian styles ofarchitecture.[400][401] She established aCaesareum temple dedicated to the worship of her partner Julius Caesar near the palatial seafront of Alexandria. Its entrance was flanked by 200-ton rosegraniteobelisks,[402] monuments placed there by Augustus in 13/12 BC. These were later known asCleopatra's Needles and were relocated toNew York andLondon in the 19th century.[403] In conjunction with renewing a grant of asylum toJews in Egypt and the pro-Jewish policies of Julius Caesar, Cleopatra also erected asynagogue in Alexandria.[404] The city required extensive rebuilding following the civil war with her brother Ptolemy XIII, including necessary repairs to the Gymnasium and theLighthouse of Alexandria on the island of Pharos.[405] It is not known if Cleopatra made significant repairs or alterations to the Library of Alexandria or the royal palace, althoughLucan hints at the latter.[406] Cleopatra also began construction of her tomb (finished by Augustus) in the same palace precinct as theTomb of Alexander the Great. Although the exact location of both of these is still unknown, Cleopatra's tomb may have served as the model for theMausoleum of Augustus and that of laterRoman emperors.[407]
Although established earlier, Cleopatra resumed construction of theDendera Temple complex (near modernQena, Egypt). Reliefs were made depicting Cleopatra and her son Caesarion presentingofferings to the deities Hathor andIhy, mirroring images of offerings to Isis andHorus.[408][409] At the Hathor-Isis temple ofDeir el-Medina, Cleopatra erected a large granite stela withdual inscriptions inAncient Greek andDemotic Egyptian and images depicting her worshiping Montu and her son Caesarion worshipingAmun-Ra.[410] The cult center of Montu at Hermonthis was refashioned with images of Caesarion's divine birth by Julius Caesar, depicted as Amun-Ra. It included an elaborate facade and entrancekiosk with large columns bearing thecartouches of Cleopatra and Caesarion.[411][412] In the front entrancepylon of theTemple of Edfu, built by her father Ptolemy XII, Cleopatra erected two granite statues of Horus guarding the miniature figure of Caesarion.[413] Construction of a temple dedicated to the goddess Isis atPtolemais Hermiou was overseen by Cleopatra's regional governor Kallimachos.[412]
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