Cleopatra Essay, Research Paper

Significant Woman: Cleopatra

I chose to compose my “ Significant Woman ” paper on Egypt? s last Pharaoh, Cleopatra. When I began my study, I knew really small about Cleopatra, except that she was the kept woman of both Julius Caesar and Mark Antony of Rome. I wondered what impacts on history Cleopatra made on her ain.

I feel that Cleopatra was a really important adult female in history because she was really aggressive and self-asserting, features that have ever been considered unfeminine. At the same clip, nevertheless, Cleopatra has been remembered by some as somewhat of a sex object, which is and ever has been a common opinion of attractive females. Cleopatra did utilize her sex entreaty to her advantage. It was one of the few uses that cipher could take away from her, and it was a really convincing signifier of persuasion.

Cleopatra? s household had been governing Egypt since 305 BC, when Ptolemy I declared himself King of Egypt sometime after Alexander the Great? s decease. The Ptolemy household was of Macedonian decent, non Egyptian.

Cleopatra, more exactly, Cleopatra VII, was the 3rd girl of Ptolemy XII Neos Dionysos “ Auletes ” , who began his regulation of Egypt in 80 BC. Cleopatra VII? s female parent could perchance hold been Cleopatra V Tryphaena, who either died or disappeared in 68 BC, right after Cleopatra VII? s birth in 69 BC. Cleopatra VII had two older sisters, Cleopatra VI and Berenice IV, and one younger sister, Arsinoe IV. She besides had two younger brothers, Ptolemy XIII and Ptolemy XIV.

Ptolemy XII ruled until his decease in 51 BC, with merely a brief break in 58 BC when his 2nd firstborn girl, Berenice IV, took over the land. His will named Cleopatra and Ptolemy XIII as inheritors to the throne. Leaderships in Rome were named as defenders and were to continue the pick of Ptolemy XII for the two to get married and jointly govern Egypt. Ptolemy II had established these brother-sister matrimonies as usage when he married his sister Arsinoe II.

As kids, Cleopatra and her siblings witnessed the licking of their guardian, Pompey, by Julius Caesar in a affaire d’honneur. Meanwhile, Cleopatra and her brother/husband Ptolemy XIII were dueling, albeit mutely, over the throne.

In the center of all this convulsion, Julius Caesar left Rome for Alexandria in 48 BC. During his stay in the Palace, he received the most celebrated gift in history: an oriental rug. . . with a 22-year-old Cleopatra wrapped in. She counted on Caesar? s support to estrange Ptolemy XIII. With the reaching of Roman supports, and after a few conflicts in Alexandria, Ptolemy XIII was defeated and killed.

In the summer of 47 BC, holding married her younger brother Ptolemy XIV, Cleopatra and Caesar embarked for a two-month trip along the Nile, aboard a legendary boat. Together, they visited Dendara, where Cleopatra was be

ing worshipped as Pharaoh, an honor beyond Caesar? s range. They became lovers, and so, she bore him a boy, Ptolemy XV Caesar “ Caesarion ” . In 45 BC, Cleopatra, Ptolemy XIV, and Caesarion left Alexandria for Rome, where they stayed in a castle built by Caesar in their award.

Caesar? s Acts of the Apostless were anything but overlooked by the Romans. In 44 BC, he was killed in a confederacy by his Senators. With his decease, Rome split between protagonists of Mark Antony and Octavian.

Soon after Caesar? s decease, Cleopatra returned to Egypt. It is believed that Ptolemy XIV survived the trip place, but died shortly thenceforth. Many believe that Cleopatra had him killed. This is possible because he was 15 old ages old and would likely get down to asseverate his right to the throne.

Cleopatra was watching Rome in silence, and when Antony seemed to predominate, she supported him and, shortly after, they excessively became lovers.

Mark Antony? s confederation with Cleopatra angered Rome even more. The senators called her a sorceress and accused her of all kinds of immorality. The Romans became even more ferocious as Antony was giving off parts of their Empire? Tarsus, Cyrene, Crete, Cyprus, and Palestine? one after the other to Cleopatra and her kids, which, in add-on to Caesar? s boy, included Antony? s twins Cleopatra Selene and Alexander Helios and his boy Ptolemy Philadelphus.

It was the boiling point when Octavian declared war on Cleopatra, and off the seashore of Greece in the Adriatic Sea, they met in one of the most celebrated conflicts in history: Actium. The Egyptian licking was frequently attributed to the early withdraw of a coward Cleopatra from the conflict scene, although this claim is now discredited by most historiographers.

Octavian waited for a twelvemonth before he claimed Egypt as a Roman state. He arrived in Alexandria and easy defeated Mark Antony outside the metropolis. Antony asked to be taken to Cleopatra. He died in her weaponries and was buried as a King.

Octavian entered Alexandria in 30 BC. Cleopatra was captured and taken to him, and the Roman Emperor had no involvement in any relation, rapprochement, or even dialogue with the Egyptian Queen. Recognizing that her terminal is close, she decided to set an terminal to her life. It is non known for certain how she killed herself, but two little puncture wounds left on her arm have led many to believe that she used an asp as her decease instrument. However, there were no marks of a serpent or any poison nowadays at the scene of her decease.

With the decease of Cleopatra, a whole epoch in Egyptian history was closed. Alexandria remained the capital of Egypt, but Egypt is now a Roman state. The age of Egyptian Monarchs gave manner to the age of Roman Emperors, and Cleopatra? s decease gave manner to the rise of Rome. The Ptolemies were of Macedonian decent, yet they ruled Egypt as Egyptians? as Pharaohs. And, so, Cleopatra was the last Pharaoh.