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Cleopatra
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After much family strifing and several
murders, the throne of Egypt fell to the 17- year-old daughter of Ptolemy XII -
Cleopatra VII. Cleopatra was given the throne under the condition that she
would marry her brother, Ptolemy XIII. She complied, but it was not long before
he and his courtiers tried to dispose of her.
Cleopatra escaped to Syria and returned with
an army. Ptolemy sent an army to meet her At this point, Julius Caesar of Rome
arrived in pursuit of an enemy, who was seeking help from Ptolemy. Caesar had
to choose which of the Egyptian rulers to back. He chose Cleopatra.
Being the friend of all-powerful Rome,
Cleopatra was thus left to rule Egypt. For the sake of tradition, Cleopatra
ruled with her younger brother, Ptolemy XIV, and she bore a son called Ptolemy
XV Caesarion, whom she claimed to be Caesar’s son. Later, upon Caesar’s
invitation, she went to live in Rome
When Caesar was assassinated, Egypt became a
pawn amid the struggle for power between Caesar’s heir, Octavian, and Mark
Antony. Cleopatra sided with Mark Antony, with whom she had fallen in love. The
battle swung from one side to the other, until Mark Antony broke away from the
fight and followed Cleopatra’s ships into the open sea. Octavian pursued them
to Egypt the next year and entered Alexandria in triumph. Refusing to accept
defeat and humiliation, Mark Antony killed himself by falling on his sword and
Cleopatra followed him by committing suicide. They were both buried in
Alexandria.
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