Cleopatra VII Philopator

Relatives:

• Father: Ptolemy XII Auletes
• Mother: An Egyptian lady from a Memphite priestly family
• First husband: Gaius Julius Caesar
  • Son: Caesarion
• Second husband: Marc Antony
  • Children: the twins Alexander Helius and Cleopatra Selene (married to king Juba II of Mauretania), Ptolemy Philadelphus

Main deeds:

• December 70 / January 69: Born
• February/March 51: Death of Cleopatra's father, Ptolemy XII Auletes.
• Summer 50: Cleopatra accepts her brother Ptolemy XIII as co-ruler
• Summer 49: Sole rule of Ptolemy XIII, recognized by both Gaius Julius Caesar, the Roman dictator, and his opponent, Pompey the Great
• Cleopatra remains queen in the Thebaid, and accepts another brother, Ptolemy XIV, as co-ruler
• 48: Cleopatra tries to return, but her army is defeated near Pelusium.
• 48: Caesar defeats Pompey (battle of Pharsalus); Pompey flees to Egypt and is killed by courtiers of Ptolemy XIII
• Caesar arrives in Egypt and orders Ptolemy XIII and Cleopatra VII to disband their armies, but instead, war breaks out (text)
• January 47: Ptolemy XIII is killed in action
• Ptolemy XIV and his sister Arsinoe IV are made rulers of Cyprus
• Spring 47: Cleopatra VII is sole ruler of Egypt; she presents herself as the goddess Isis
• 23 June 47: Birth of a son, named Caesarion; Caesar is said to be the father
• 46: Ptolemy XIV is recognized as Cleopatra's co-ruler again; the two are in Rome
• March 44: Julius Caesar is killed (text); Cleopatra and Ptolemy XIV return to Egypt, where Ptolemy is soon killed and Caesarion recognized as king; first of a series of bad harvests
• Summer 43: Cleopatra has achieved control of Cyprus; she supports the faction of Caesar, led by the Second Triumvirate (Marc Antony, Octavian, Lepidus), in its war against the assassins, led by Brutus and Cassius
• 42: Battle of Philippi: the triumvirs defeat Brutus and Cassius; Marc Antony will visit the east
• 41: Cleopatra meets Marc Antony in Tarsus. The Roman needs the Egyptian queen in his war against the Parthian Empire, and returns the rule of old Ptolemaic territories to her
• 39: Birth of the twins Alexander Helius and Cleopatra Selene
• 38: Marc Antony gives Chalkis (the Bekaa valley) and parts of Cilicia and Chalkis to Cleopatra; later, she is allowed to govern, as vassal, parts of Phoenicia, Judaea (cordial relations with king Herod), Cyrenaica, and Crete
• 37: Marc Antony and his wife Octavia are separated
• 36: Marc Antony's Parthian War
• 34: Marc Antony celebrates the conquest of Armenia; Cleopatra is called 'new Isis' and 'queen of kings',
• 32: Marc Antony divorces his wive Octavia; outbreak of war between Octavian and Marc Antony
• 31: Marc Antony and Cleopatra move to Greece, where they are isolated by Octavian's admiral Agrippa; although they are able to win a tactical victory and break out of their isolated position at Actium, the campaign is a distaster and Octavian is able to achieve control of the east
• Cleopatra flees to Alexandria and opens negotiations with Octavian; her purpose is to save her children and keep the Ptolemaic kingdom intact
• 12 August 30: After Octavian has declined to negotiate, Cleopatra reportedly commits suicide; Marc Antony does the same. Their children survive, but Caesarion is killed.

Information on the web:

• E.R. Bevan, The House of Ptolemy (1927), chapter 13.
• B.L. Ulman, "Cleopatra's Pearls", in the Classical Journal 52 (1957)
• Cleopatra's Viper