[300] A male servant holds the mouth of an artificial Egyptian crocodile (possibly an elaborate tray handle), while another man standing by is dressed as a Roman. [470] Its popularity led to the perception that the 1885 painting by Lawrence Alma-Tadema depicted the meeting of Antony and Cleopatra on her pleasure barge in Tarsus, although Alma-Tadema revealed in a private letter that it depicts a subsequent meeting of theirs in Alexandria. . Philosophers say Cleopatra was going to be named Jillian but once the power of the name alone was considered they decided she could not fulfill such large shoes. [27][29], Cleopatra VII was born in early 69 BC to the ruling Ptolemaic pharaoh Ptolemy XII and an unknown mother,[33][34][note 13] presumably Ptolemy XII's wife Cleopatra VI Tryphaena (also known as Cleopatra V Tryphaena),[35][36][37][note 14][note 4] the mother of Cleopatra's older sister, Berenice IV Epiphaneia. the diadem) to make herself more appealing to the citizens of Republican Rome. She became queen on the death of her father, Ptolemy XII, in 51 bce and ruled successively with her two brothers Ptolemy XIII (51-47) and Ptolemy XIV (47-44) and her son Ptolemy XV Caesar (44-30). [380] Plutarch's work included both the Augustan view of Cleopatrawhich became canonical for his periodas well as sources outside of this tradition, such as eyewitness reports. [102][104] Cleopatra seems to have attempted a short-lived alliance with her brother Ptolemy XIV, but by the autumn of 50 BC Ptolemy XIII had the upper hand in their conflict and began signing documents with his name before that of his sister, followed by the establishment of his first regnal date in 49 BC. [23], Roman interventionism in Egypt predated the reign of Cleopatra. [20][21][19][note 11] Plutarch implies that she also spoke Ethiopian, the language of the "Troglodytes", Hebrew (or Aramaic), Arabic, the Syrian language (perhaps Syriac), Median, and Parthian, and she could apparently also speak Latin, although her Roman contemporaries would have preferred to speak with her in her native Koine Greek. [293] Antony and Cleopatra lost several skirmishes against Octavian around Actium during the summer of 31 BC, while defections to Octavian's camp continued, including Antony's long-time companion Dellius[293] and the allied kings Amyntas of Galatia and Deiotaros of Paphlagonia. was cleopatra going to be named jillian 2800 Mechelen. [442][443] The other side of the vase perhaps contains a scene of Octavia, abandoned by her husband Antony but watched over by her brother, the emperor Augustus. There is academic disagreement on whether the following portraits are considered "heads" or "busts". [300] Sophonisba was also a more obscure figure when the painting was made, while Cleopatra's suicide was far more famous. The name Cleopatra comes from the Ancient Greek words (klos), meaning "glory," and (pater), meaning "father," which means "glory of her father." Renowned for her intellect and wit, Cleopatra was described as incredibly seductive and persuasive, qualities which added to her mystery throughout the centuries. [5][90][91][note 26] Cleopatra faced several pressing issues and emergencies shortly after taking the throne. [151] However, Antony, an officer of his, helped to secure Caesar's appointment as dictator lasting for a year, until October 47 BC, providing Caesar with the legal authority to settle the dynastic dispute in Egypt. IFunny is fun of your life. [1] Contemporary images of Cleopatra were produced both in and outside of Ptolemaic Egypt. [492][493][494][note 78] She was presumably the daughter of Cleopatra VI Tryphaena (also known as Cleopatra V Tryphaena),[note 4] the sister-wife of Ptolemy XII who had previously given birth to their daughter Berenice IV. [326][329] Octavian was said to have been angered by this outcome but had Cleopatra buried in royal fashion next to Antony in her tomb. [99][100][101] A long-held royal Egyptian practice, it was loathed by contemporary Greeks. [27][31][32] The Romans chose instead to divide the Ptolemaic realm among the illegitimate sons of Ptolemy IX, bestowing Cyprus on Ptolemy of Cyprus and Egypt on Ptolemy XII Auletes. [294][290][286] Cleopatra, aboard her flagship, the Antonias, commanded 60 ships at the mouth of the Ambracian Gulf, at the rear of the fleet, in what was likely a move by Antony's officers to marginalize her during the battle. [258][261] News of this event was heavily criticized in Rome as a perversion of time-honored Roman rites and rituals to be enjoyed instead by an Egyptian queen. [300] Arguments in favor of it depicting Cleopatra include the strong connection of her house with that of the Numidian royal family, Masinissa and Ptolemy VIII Physcon having been associates, and Cleopatra's own daughter marrying the Numidian prince Juba II. [215] With his powers as a triumvir, Antony also had the broad authority to restore former Ptolemaic lands, which were currently in Roman hands, to Cleopatra. [8] Through the marriage of Ptolemy V Epiphanes and Cleopatra I Syra (a Seleucid princess), the name entered the Ptolemaic dynasty. [304][305], 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. [412] Coins dated to the period of her marriage to Antony, which also bear his image, portray the queen as having a very similar aquiline nose and prominent chin as that of her husband. [210][211] In Egypt, Antony continued to enjoy the lavish royal lifestyle he had witnessed aboard Cleopatra's ship docked at Tarsos. [430], Cleopatra, mid-1st century BC, with a "melon" hairstyle and Hellenistic royal diadem worn over her head, now in the Vatican Museums[1][3][422], Cleopatra, mid-1st century BC, showing Cleopatra with a "melon" hairstyle and Hellenistic royal diadem worn over the head, now in the Altes Museum[1][3][422], In the House of Marcus Fabius Rufus at Pompeii, Italy, a mid-1st century BC Second Style wall painting of the goddess Venus holding a cupid near massive temple doors is most likely a depiction of Cleopatra as Venus Genetrix with her son Caesarion. [405][374][330], Since the 1950s scholars have debated whether or not the Esquiline Venusdiscovered in 1874 on the Esquiline Hill in Rome and housed in the Palazzo dei Conservatori of the Capitoline Museumsis a depiction of Cleopatra, based on the statue's hairstyle and facial features, apparent royal diadem worn over the head, and the uraeus Egyptian cobra wrapped around the base. [245][246], Antony's enlargement of the Ptolemaic realm by relinquishing directly controlled Roman territory was exploited by his rival Octavian, who tapped into the public sentiment in Rome against the empowerment of a foreign queen at the expense of their Republic. [237][238] In order to stabilize the east, Antony not only enlarged Cleopatra's domain,[236] he also established new ruling dynasties and client rulers who would be loyal to him, yet would ultimately outlast him. [3][413] These similar facial features followed an artistic convention that represented the mutually-observed harmony of a royal couple. [489] Through her father, Ptolemy XII Auletes, she was a descendant of two prominent companions of Alexander the Great of Macedon: the general Ptolemy I Soter, founder of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt, and Seleucus I Nicator, the Macedonian Greek founder of the Seleucid Empire of West Asia. [308], Cleopatra had Caesarion enter into the ranks of the ephebi, which, along with reliefs on a stele from Koptos dated 21 September 31 BC, demonstrated that Cleopatra was now grooming her son to become the sole ruler of Egypt. [338][339][340][note 2] Octavian was convinced by the advice of the philosopher Arius Didymus that there was room for only one Caesar in the world. [195][196] Cleopatra received messages from both Gaius Cassius Longinus, one of Caesar's assassins, and Publius Cornelius Dolabella, proconsul of Syria and Caesarian loyalist, requesting military aid. [75][77] Ptolemy XII had Berenice IV and her wealthy supporters executed, seizing their properties. [123][126][125][note 32], 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. [496][497][499][note 80] It is generally believed that the Ptolemies did not intermarry with native Egyptians. [271][269] The litany of accusations and gossip associated with this propaganda war have shaped the popular perceptions about Cleopatra from Augustan-period literature through to various media in modern times. [304] Herod, who had personally advised Antony after the Battle of Actium that he should betray Cleopatra, traveled to Rhodes to meet Octavian and resign his kingship out of loyalty to Antony. [203][202] Cleopatra sailed up the Kydnos River to Tarsos in Thalamegos, hosting Antony and his officers for two nights of lavish banquets on board the ship. [7] The masculine form would have been written either as Klepatros () or Ptroklos (). [3][422][424][note 69] Francisco Pina Polo writes that Cleopatra's coinage present her image with certainty and asserts that the sculpted portrait of the Berlin head is confirmed as having a similar profile with her hair pulled back into a bun, a diadem, and a hooked nose. Theodotus was found years later in Asia, by Marcus Junius Brutus, and executed. Caesar then attempted to reconcile the rival Ptolemaic siblings, but Ptolemy's chief adviser, Potheinos, viewed Caesar's terms as favoring Cleopatra, so his forces besieged her and Caesar at the palace. [419] Duane W. Roller speculates that the British Museum head, along with those in the Egyptian Museum, Cairo, the Capitoline Museums, and in the private collection of Maurice Nahmen, while having similar facial features and hairstyles as the Berlin portrait but lacking a royal diadem, most likely represent members of the royal court or even Roman women imitating Cleopatra's popular hairstyle. [461] Early prints depicting Cleopatra include designs by the Renaissance artists Raphael and Michelangelo, as well as 15th-century woodcuts in illustrated editions of Boccaccio's works. [201][202] The meeting would allow Cleopatra to clear up the misconception that she had supported Cassius during the civil war and address territorial exchanges in the Levant, but Antony also undoubtedly desired to form a personal, romantic relationship with the queen. Your anaconda definitely wants some. [394] Although the common view of Cleopatra was one of a prolific seductress, she had only two known sexual partners, Caesar and Antony, the two most prominent Romans of the time period, who were most likely to ensure the survival of her dynasty. Their daughter, Cleopatra Selene, became an important ruler in her own right, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cleopatra&oldid=1134355104, This page was last edited on 18 January 2023, at 07:55. [195][198] By the autumn of 42 BC, Antony had defeated the forces of Caesar's assassins at the Battle of Philippi in Greece, leading to the suicide of Cassius and Brutus. [314][317][318] In despair, Antony responded to this by stabbing himself in the stomach and taking his own life at age 53. Publications on ancient Greek medicine attributed to her are,[376] however, likely to be the work of a physician by the same name writing in the late first century AD. [285][281][269] In a show of loyalty to Rome, Octavian decided to begin construction of his own mausoleum at the Campus Martius. After their meeting at Tarsos in 41 BC, the queen had an affair with Antony. [268][267][note 50] Antony sent a report to Rome requesting ratification of these territorial claims, now known as the Donations of Alexandria. [97], By 29 August 51 BC, official documents started listing Cleopatra as the sole ruler, evidence that she had rejected her brother Ptolemy XIII as a co-ruler. [1][419] The woman in this portrait has facial features similar to others (including the pronounced aquiline nose), but lacks a royal diadem and sports a different hairstyle. [48][49] In it she wears a royal diadem, red or reddish-brown hair pulled back into a bun,[note 74] pearl-studded hairpins,[441] and earrings with ball-shaped pendants, the white skin of her face and neck set against a stark black background. [288], Antony and Cleopatra had a larger fleet than Octavian, but 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. [149][126][150][note 39] Ganymedes may have been killed in the battle. [385] The Augustan-period authors Virgil, Horace, Propertius, and Ovid perpetuated the negative views of Cleopatra approved by the ruling Roman regime,[385][388] although Virgil established the idea of Cleopatra as a figure of romance and epic melodrama. [281] Octavian's legal standing was also improved by being elected consul in 31 BC. [123][124][125][note 31] Caesar expressed grief and outrage over the killing of Pompey and called on both Ptolemy XIII and Cleopatra to disband their forces and reconcile with each other. [439] A steel engraving published by John Sartain in 1885 depicting the painting as described in the archaeological report shows Cleopatra wearing authentic clothing and jewelry of Egypt in the late Hellenistic period,[440] as well as the radiant crown of the Ptolemaic rulers, as seen in their portraits on various coins minted during their respective reigns. [429], Other possible sculpted depictions of Cleopatra include one in the British Museum, London, made of limestone, which perhaps only depicts a woman in her entourage during her trip to Rome. [324][325] Octavian promised that he would keep her alive but offered no explanation about his future plans for her kingdom. 14176. [141][126][148][note 38] Ptolemy XIII and Arsinoe IV withdrew their forces to the Nile, where Caesar attacked them. [119][118][116][note 30] Ptolemy XIII's advisers, however, feared the idea of Pompey using Egypt as his base in a protracted Roman civil war. "The joy of her father," from the Greek kleo (to make known) and pater (father). [294], On 2 September 31 BC the naval forces of Octavian, led by Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, met those of Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium. [note 6] After the death of Cleopatra, Egypt became a province of the Roman Empire, marking the end of the last Hellenistic state in the Mediterranean and of the age that had lasted since the reign of Alexander (336323 BC). 'spine, cheese-grater') was used to introduce the toxin by scratching, while Dio says that she injected the poison with a needle (, beln), and Strabo argued for an ointment of some kind. [211][213][214][note 46], Cleopatra carefully chose Antony as her partner for producing further heirs, as he was deemed to be the most powerful Roman figure following Caesar's demise. 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