(#13) Her Two Sisters Were Both Failed Queens (And Cleopatra Had One of Them Killed)
In addition to her brother-husbands, Cleopatra had two sisters, Berenice IV and Arsinoe IV. Berenice was the oldest of the five siblings, and, when her father decided to run away to Rome for a bit, she made herself queen in his absence in 58 BC (perhaps after another mysterious relative took the throne).
Berenice married a cousin named Seleucus to solidify her claim to the throne, but he was killed within a week of the wedding, and a second marriage didn't fare much better. When her dad came home, he had Daughter Dearest executed in 56 BC.
Cleopatra's little sister, Arsinoe, was just as ambitious as the rest of her family. When Caesar came to Egypt, he gave Arsinoe the island of Cyprus to rule as her own (in name only, probably). Eager for power, Arsinoe and her tutor garnered the support of a native Egyptian army, who named her queen in 48 BC. But the Romans defeated them, and Arsinoe was sent to Rome in chains as a symbolf of Caesar's triumph. In 41 BC, Cleopatra convinced Antony to execute her little sis.
(#11) She Committed Suicide Either by Snakebite or a Fatal Opium Cocktail
The story goes that, after Cleopatra and Antony lost everything, Cleo committed suicide by having a snake bite her. Plutarch claims that she hid an asp in a basket of figs and let it nibble on her. He admits, though, that "the truth of the matter no one knows; for it was also said that she carried about poison in a hollow comb and kept the comb hidden in her hair; and yet neither spot nor other sign of poison broke out upon her body."
Or perhaps Cleopatra didn't die by snakebite, but instead she downed a lethal cocktail. What would her beverage have contained? Perhaps opium, hemlock (what Socrates used to kill himself), and deadly wolfsbane.
(#5) She Was Married to Two of Her Own Brothers (And May Have Killed One of Them)
In true royal Egyptian fashion, members of the Ptolemaic dynasty married their siblings and immediate relatives. Cleopatra was no different. Upon the death of her father, Ptolemy XII, this 18-year-old began to rule Egypt alongside her 10-year-old brother, the inventively named Ptolemy XIII. The two probably got married; he exiled her from Egypt, and she went to Rome to get Julius Caesar's help in retaking her kingdom. When the Romans invaded Alexandria, Ptolemy XIII drowned in the Nile, probably due to the weight of his armor. To maintain dynastic face, Cleopatra then wed her other surviving brother, Ptolemy XIV, whom she may well have murdered after she had a son of her own, a son she named Ptolemy XV Caesarion and claimed was fathered by the Roman general.
(#2) Cleopatra Used Julius Caesar to Help Her Get the Throne
Cleo didn't flirt with Caesar because he was hot; she used him to get what she wanted. Rome started to threaten Egypt during her father's reign, with some politicians talking about annexing Egypt and granting its lands to the Roman citizenry. Cleopatra's father fled to the Eternal City once he was deposed, and the Senate - and Caesar - helped him get his throne back, but at a cost. The Romans gave him a "finance minister" to help him out, but the guy stole a lot of money from Egypt.
Cleopatra needed money and military help to stay in power, so she matched wits with the man at the top - Julius Caesar. Cleo used him to cultivate military support for herself over her little brothers. They met in 48 BC, when Caesar's arch-rival Pompey landed on Egyptian shores and was promptly killed by Cleo's little brother. Caesar followed Pompey and came to Egypt, where he met a brilliant young queen who appealed to him intellectually and sexually. And history was made.
(#8) Cleopatra Dressed Up as a Goddess to Seduce Mark Antony
After Caesar was murdered, Cleopatra needed a new ally in Rome. Who better than Caesar's number-one ally, Marcus Antonius (better known as Mark Antony)? He was a womanizer (who was also married multiple times), so Cleopatra knew she had to dress to impress when she met him. He summoned her to him multiple times, but she came on her own time!
When Cleo met Antony, she sailed up the river in regal style befitting a mysterious foreign queen, as the Romans saw her. Plutarch noted that she rode in "a barge with gilded poop, its sails spread purple, its rowers urging it on with silver oars to the sound of the flute blended with pipes and lutes." Cleopatra herself was lying on a bed with a golden canopy and was dressed like the Roman goddess "Venus in a painting," with her servants made up as nymphs.
Needless to say, Antony was impressed and invited her over, but she ordered that he come on board her ship. He did as he was told, and was impressed by Cleopatra's opulence, charm, and intelligence (she could speak many different languages, and had a strong command of political and military sciences). And so an affair was begun...
(#14) Cleopatra Had Four Kids - And One of Her Descendants May Have Been Another Rebel Queen
Cleopatra did her dynastic duty and had four heirs to the Ptolemaic throne, but none of them succeeded her after her death. What happened to her children? Her eldest, Ptolemy Caesarion ("Little Caesar"), was her kid by Julius Caesar, although some Roman authorities doubted his paternity. Before Cleopatra's demise, she sent Caesarion into exile in India with a great deal of money to support himself, but he hesitated on the way and turned back, and Caesar's adopted son/great-nephew, Octavian, got to Caesarion and killed him.
Cleo's three younger kids were sired by her second Roman lover, Mark Antony. They were twins Alexander Helios and Cleopatra Selene (named after the Greek gods of the sun and moon) and Ptolemy Philadelphus. Each got their own realm to rule, but Philadelphus and Helios likely died, whether naturally or due to foul play, after they were brought to Rome and under Octavian's watchful eye.
But Cleopatra Selene had a different fate. She was married to Juba, the Roman client king of Mauretania in North Africa. Her son was later killed by his cousin, the Roman emperor Caligula. He may have had heirs, however, including another great rebel against Rome: Zenobia, Queen of Palmyra in Syria.
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Cleopatra VII was the last female pharaoh of the Ptolemaic dynasty in ancient Egypt. The actual meaning of this name is the glory of the father. The last queen of Egypt was famous for her beauty, wisdom, and cruel political policies. Her life is dramatic and had a close relationship with Caesar and Anthony, which has made her a famous figure in many literary and artistic works.
Her death is still a mystery, but studies have shown that she was more likely to die in the murder of Octavian. Her death represented the end of the Ptolemaic Dynasty and the beginning of the Eastern Roman Empire. The random tool shares 14 fascinating facts about Cleopatra VII.
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