Cleopatra VII (51 - 30 BC)
Cleopatra VII - 'Cleopatra, Thea Philopator, Philadelphus, Thea Neotera, Regina Regum Filiorum Regum' - was the 16th ruler of the Ptolemaic dynasty, reigning over Egypt from 51-30 BC, during the Ptolemaic period. She became co-regent with her 10-year-old brother Ptolemy XIII at the age of 17, and following his death (aged 14) in 47 BC during the civil war she then married her younger brother Ptolemy XIV, who was only 12 years old. This meant she effectively ruled alone.

Her coin portrait shows that her looks were ordinary, however she was certainly an astute politician, with an ability to bring prosperity and peace to a country that was bankrupt and in the throws of civil war. By the end of her reign she had managed to re-establish much of Egypt's wealth, which had been squandered previously by her father, Ptolemy XII. She is believed to have negotiated a highly profitable oil deal with the Nabatean Arabs, and she was the only member of the ruling Macedonian Greek elite who knew how to read hieroglyphs; she also spoke many foreign languages.

Clepatra met Julius Caesar in 48 BC and formed an alliance with him, based on shared politics rather than romantic love. In 47 BC she bore him a child, called Caesarion, though Caesar never publicly acknowledged him as his son. In 44 BC Caesar was assassinated, and Cleopatra returned from Rome to Egypt. She murdered her brother and co-regent, Ptolemy XIV, and appointed Caeasarion to the throne.

In 41 BC Mark Antony (at that time one of the ruling triumvirate of the Roman Republic, along with Octavian and Lepidus), whom she had met some years previously, summoned her to meet him in Tarsus, and it is widely believed that they planned to create an Oriental Empire together. It seems that they were married according to Egyptian tradition in 37 BC, and subsequently had three children - two sons and a daughter.

On 2 September, in 31 BC, Antony and Cleopatra combined armies to take on those forces of Rome that were under the control of Octavian - in the ancient world's last great sea battle, at Actium. Facing defeat, legend has it that Cleopatra turned and fled taking her treasure with her, yet recent reinterpretations of the events suggest that she was probably escaping as part of a planned manoeuvre rather than as an act of cowardice.

Antony, seeing that Cleopatra was making her escape, decided to abandon his fleet and follow her as she made for Egypt, where they continued to live for nearly a year. However, once Octavian had pursued him to Egypt, Antony's troops deserted him and, faced with an impossible situation, he took his own life. On 12 August, in 30 BC, 11 days after the death of her lover, Cleopatra chose also to commit suicide rather than live as a Roman captive. There is still uncertainty as to whether she died from a serpent's bite or ingested a deadly dose of poison.

URL:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/cleopatra_vii.shtml