69–30 BCE · queen of Egypt · last of the Ptolemies
Cleopatra VII
Κλεοπάτρα
In Alexandria: 51–30 BCE
The last Ptolemaic ruler, besieged with Caesar in the palace quarter in 48 BCE. Her death in 30 BCE ended the dynasty. The story that Antony gave her the 200,000 rolls of Pergamon was one of the charges Calvisius brought against him in Rome; most of them, Plutarch says, were thought to be lies.
Their life and work
She came to the throne in 51 BCE with her brother Ptolemy XIII, was driven out, and returned with Caesar's support during the war of 48–47 BCE; Plutarch tells that she reached him hidden in a bedding sack (Caesar 49). Plutarch also says she spoke many languages and was the first of her line to learn Egyptian (Antony 27). Her alliance with Antony ended at Actium in 31 BCE, and she died in Alexandria the next year, by an asp's bite according to the story Plutarch reports while admitting that no one knew the truth (Antony 86).
Our device: Their emblem is a coin of the queen. No portrait of any of these people survives. The emblems are our devices.
Moments
- late 48 BCE · Caesar's fire in the harbour Known: attested, disputed
- 32 BCE · A charge reported by Plutarch: Antony's gift of Pergamon's rolls Legend: told story
- 30 BCE · Egypt becomes Roman; Caesar appoints the Mouseion's priest Known: attested
In the show
The show has not yet spoken of Cleopatra VII.
Sources (5)
- Plutarch, Antony 58.9–59.1 (opens in a new tab)
- Plutarch, Caesar 48–49 (opens in a new tab)
- Plutarch, Antony 27; 86 (opens in a new tab)
- Cassius Dio 42.34–44; 51.11–14
- P. M. Fraser, Ptolemaic Alexandria, 3 vols. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1972)