Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator (Koine Greek: Κλεοπάτρα Θεά Φιλοπάτωρ, lit.
'Cleopatra
father-loving goddess';[note 4] 70/69 BC – 10 or 12 August 30 BC) was Queen of
the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt from 51 to 30 BC, and the last
active Hellenistic pharaoh.[note 5] A member of the Ptolemaic dynasty, she was a
descendant of its founder Ptolemy I Soter, a Macedonian Greek general
and companion of Alexander the Great.[note 6] Her first language was Koine Greek, and
she is the only Ptolemaic ruler known to have learned the Egyptian language, among
several others.[note 7] After her death, Egypt became a province of the Roman Empire,
marking the end of the Hellenistic period in the Mediterranean, which had begun during
the reign of Alexander (336–323 BC).[note 8]
Born in Alexandria, Cleopatra was the daughter of Ptolemy XII Auletes, who named her
his heir before his death in 51 BC. Cleopatra began her reign alongside her
brother Ptolemy XIII, but falling-out between them led to a civil
war. Roman statesman Pompey fled to Egypt after losing the 48 BC Battle of
Pharsalus against his rival Julius Caesar, the Roman dictator, in Caesar's civil war.
Pompey had been a political ally of Ptolemy XII, but Ptolemy XIII had him ambushed and
killed before Caesar arrived and occupied Alexandria. Caesar then attempted to
reconcile the rival Ptolemaic siblings, but Ptolemy XIII's forces besieged Cleopatra and
Caesar at the palace. Shortly after the siege was lifted by reinforcements, Ptolemy XIII
died in the Battle of the Nile. Caesar declared Cleopatra and her brother Ptolemy
XIV joint rulers, and maintained a private affair with Cleopatra which produced a
son, Caesarion. Cleopatra traveled to Rome as a client queen in 46 and 44 BC, where
she stayed at Caesar's villa. After Caesar's assassination, followed shortly afterwards by
the sudden death of Ptolemy XIV (possibly murdered on Cleopatra's order), she named
Caesarion co-ruler as Ptolemy XV.
In the Liberators' civil war of 43–42 BC, Cleopatra sided with the Roman Second
Triumvirate formed by Caesar's heir Octavian, Mark Antony, and Marcus Aemilius
Lepidus. After their meeting at Tarsos in 41 BC, the queen had an affair with Antony
which produced three children. Antony became increasingly reliant on Cleopatra for both
funding and military aid during his invasions of the Parthian Empire and the Kingdom of
Armenia. The Donations of Alexandria declared their children rulers over various
territories under Antony's authority. Octavian portrayed this event as an act of treason,
forced Antony's allies in the Roman Senate to flee Rome in 32 BC, and declared war on
Cleopatra. After defeating Antony and Cleopatra's naval fleet at the 31 BC Battle of
Actium, Octavian's forces invaded Egypt in 30 BC and defeated Antony, leading to
Antony's suicide. After his death, Cleopatra reportedly killed herself, probably by
poisoning, to avoid being publicly displayed by Octavian in Roman triumphal procession.
Cleopatra's legacy survives in ancient and modern works of art. Roman
historiography and Latin poetry produced a generally critical view of the queen that
pervaded later Medieval and Renaissance literature. In the visual arts, her ancient
depictions include Roman busts, paintings, and sculptures, cameo
carvings and glass, Ptolemaic and Roman coinage, and reliefs.
In Renaissance and Baroque art, she was the subject of many works including operas,
paintings, poetry, sculptures, and theatrical dramas. She has become a pop culture
icon of Egyptomania since the Victorian era, and in modern times, Cleopatra has
appeared in the applied and fine arts, burlesque satire, Hollywood films, and brand
images for commercial products.
Etymology
The Latinized form Cleopatra comes from the Ancient Greek Kleopátra (Κλεοπάτρα),
meaning "glory of her father",[5] from κλέος (kléos, "glory") and πατήρ (patḗr,
"father").[6] The masculine form would have been written either
as Kleópatros (Κλεόπατρος) or Pátroklos (Πάτροκλος).[6] Cleopatra was the
name of Alexander the Great's sister Cleopatra of Macedonia, as well as the wife
of Meleager in Greek mythology, Cleopatra Alcyone.[7] Through the marriage of Ptolemy
V Epiphanes and Cleopatra I Syra (a Seleucid princess), the name entered
the Ptolemaic dynasty.[8][9] Cleopatra's adopted title Theā́ Philopátōra (Θεᾱ́ Φιλοπάτωρα)
means "goddess who loves her father".[10][11][note 9]
