The Cleopatra Series: Part 6 Following the death of her father, Ptolemy XII Auletes, in 51 BC, Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator initially ruled alongside her younger brother and co-ruler, Ptolemy XIII Theos Philopator. However, the arrangement quickly deteriorated, with Cleopatra fleeing for her life. Taking refuge in Syria, she began raising an army with the […]
The Cleopatra Series: Part 5 When Ptolemy XII was restored to the Egyptian throne in 55 BC, it was largely due to Roman intervention. Officially, the Roman Senate was reluctant to become involved. In practice, powerful individuals often mattered more than official institutions. Pompey, Caesar and Crassus, the men who dominated Roman politics through the […]
The Historical Question Cleopatra Series: Part 4 One of the pleasures of writing about Cleopatra is that so much of her early life remains uncertain. Historians can tell us quite a lot about her father Ptolemy XII and his exile from Egypt. We know that he sought support from powerful Romans. We also know that […]
The Cleopatra Series: Part 3 When Ptolemy XII was driven from Alexandria in 58 BC, his eleven-year-old daughter Cleopatra suddenly disappears from the historical record. What happened to her? Most historians assume she remained in Egypt while her sister, Berenice IV, seized the throne. But there is another possibility. What if Cleopatra went into exile […]
The Cleopatra Series: Part 2 Unlike many famous historical figures, we do not know the exact date of Cleopatra VII’s birth. Historians generally place it in either 70 or 69 BC, during a turbulent period in the history of Ptolemaic Egypt. She was born in Alexandria, the great city founded by Alexander the Great, and […]
The Cleopatra Series: Part 1 Born around 70/69 BC and dying in Alexandria on either 10 or 12 August 30 BC, Cleopatra VII Philopator belonged to the Ptolemaic dynasty, a royal house of Macedonian Greek origin that had ruled Egypt for nearly three centuries before her birth. Although remembered as Egypt’s most famous queen, her […]