Who is Cleopatra?

Cleopatra… Perhaps you hear this famous name in history. Yes she is indeed an interesting woman for you to know. She is even controversial too and she can be one of the most powerful women in this world. 

So, who is Cleopatra?

Cleopatra was the last queen ruler of Egypt after the Roman power took place. But before Egypt fell to the mighty hands of Rome, a great controversial and tragic story happened about Cleopatra’s life.

The leadership of Cleopatra’s family in Egypt could be traced after the death of Alexander the Great. Ptolemy, one of the generals of Alexander took over Egypt and he became a king. Now Cleopatra’s father was King Ptolemy XII, a descendant of the first Ptolemy. So, Cleopatra’s nationality is of Greek origin.

When Cleopatra’s father died in 51 B.C., Cleopatra and her brother were left. It was also believed the two got married as part of their custom. However, Egypt that time faced a lot of crisis such as famine, floods, problems in the economy, and most of all political tensions. Cleopatra and her brother had conflicts in political issues. Cleopatra wanted the throne badly. But during this time, Egypt was also endangered to the powerful Rome with the Leadership of Julius Caesar.

 Cleopatra’s Seduction to Julius Caesar

Julius fell in love with Cleopatra when he went in Egypt to follow his enemy named Pompey who was the husband of Caesar’s daughter. But Ptolemy XIII showed to Caesar the head of Pompey thinking that he wouldn’t be angry. So, because of Caesar’s anger to him, he captured the center of Egypt. And Cleopatra took advantage of his anger and she seduced him and she supported the idea of ousting Ptolemy XIII. Thus, she succeeded when Julius army defeated Ptolemy XIII in the Battle of Nile. After that, Ptolemy died. So, Cleopatra became a mistress of Julius Caesar because he was married in Rome. After that they had children. So the plans of Caesar in capturing Egypt were stopped. And he even became very obsessed to Cleopatra that he made a golden statue of her in Rome. However, people didn’t like how he acted as their leader for he was a married man. Therefore, it is no wonder that he was being assassinated in 44 B.C.

 Cleopatra Got Caesar’s Son- Mark Antony

Well, the story didn’t end up in Caesar’s death. Cleopatra’s charm and beauty continued its power. This happened when she supported Mark Antony as one of leader among the factions in Rome after Caesar’s death. Because of her loyalty and support for Antony, the met and eventually fell in love with each other. Their love resulted when Cleopatra gave birth to twins and another child. And later, he married her according to Egyptian rites though at that time he was a married to Octavian. Because of this, Octavian raged war to Cleopatra and Antony. But while Antony was in the battlefield, he heard false news that Cleopatra died. With this, he committed suicide by stabbing himself. And when Cleopatra heard this news, she also committed suicide by letting herself bitten by a cobra. Actually, her death was a big debate. But the similarities of the stories are that she committed suicide by taking a poison. After that, Egypt became a province of the mighty Roman Empire.

What makes Cleopatra that attractive?

With this controversial and tragic story of Cleopatra, you will really wonder how beautiful and attractive she is. But who is Cleopatra? What made her so appealing and so seductive to men? Especially during those days, countries and empires were led by the dominant and fearless men. And yet, she managed to lure them just to stay in power…

Accordingly, she was not that very beautiful. But her charm and wit was incomparable. Well, that was unquestionable with those historical proofs. However, many would mark some thoughts of negativity towards her actions. She may be a lewd woman and greedy or whatever reasons. But what makes it important for people in this present time is to think how a woman could be as powerful and as wise as Cleopatra.