[240] Given her ancestral relations with the Seleucids, she was granted the region of Coele-Syria along the upper Orontes River. [314][296][316] Cleopatra hid herself in her tomb with her close attendants and sent a message to Antony that she had committed suicide. [385], Cleopatra's gender has perhaps led to her depiction as a minor if not insignificant figure in ancient, medieval, and even modern historiography about ancient Egypt and the Greco-Roman world. [158][148], Caesar is alleged to have joined Cleopatra for a cruise of the Nile and sightseeing of Egyptian monuments,[126][159][160] although this may be a romantic tale reflecting later well-to-do Roman proclivities and not a real historical event. [304][305], Lucius Pinarius, Mark Antony's appointed governor of Cyrene, received word that Octavian had won the Battle of Actium before Antony's messengers could arrive at his court. The former gave a fiery speech condemning Octavian, now a private citizen without public office, and introduced pieces of legislation against him. Octaviannow first Roman Emperor Augustus Caesarhad crafted his image around being Julius Caesar's heir. [188][189][190] However, Caesar's will named his grandnephew Octavian as the primary heir, and Octavian arrived in Italy around the same time Cleopatra decided to depart for Egypt. [170][171][172], Cleopatra and her nominal joint ruler Ptolemy XIV visited Rome sometime in late 46 BC, presumably without Caesarion, and were given lodging in Caesar's villa within the Horti Caesaris. [300], In 1818 a now lost encaustic painting was discovered in the Temple of Serapis at Hadrian's Villa, near Tivoli, Lazio, Italy, that depicted Cleopatra committing suicide with an asp biting her bare chest. Ridiculus sociosqu cursus neque cursus curae ante scelerisque vehicula. ABOVE: Photograph from Wikimedia Commons of a Roman bust in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence believed by some to depict Messalina, the wife of the emperor Claudius. [227] Cleopatra attempted to provide him with a military assignment, but Herod declined and traveled to Rome, where the triumvirs Octavian and Antony named him king of Judea. While Kalogridis reportedly began working on the script in 2020, it's not currently . [21][19][22][note 12] Aside from Greek, Egyptian, and Latin, these languages reflected Cleopatra's desire to restore North African and West Asian territories that once belonged to the Ptolemaic Kingdom. [300] Sophonisba was also a more obscure figure when the painting was made, while Cleopatra's suicide was far more famous. [404][359][360] This portrait features the royal diadem and similar facial features as the Berlin and Vatican heads, but has a more unique hairstyle and may actually depict Cleopatra Selene II, daughter of Cleopatra. [14][15][16][note 10] They spoke Greek and governed Egypt as Hellenistic Greek monarchs, refusing to learn the native Egyptian language. Cleopatra VII ruled ancient Egypt as co-regent for almost three decades. [377][378][379] Plutarch lived a century after Cleopatra but relied on primary sources, such as Philotas of Amphissa, who had access to the Ptolemaic royal palace, Cleopatra's personal physician named Olympos, and Quintus Dellius, a close confidant of Mark Antony and Cleopatra. You have the option of the nickname "Jill" which is an awesome name too. She became queen on the death of her father, Ptolemy XII, in 51 bce and ruled successively with her two brothers Ptolemy XIII (51-47) and Ptolemy XIV (47-44) and her son Ptolemy XV Caesar (44-30). [271][269][172][note 51] Antony claimed that his rival had illegally deposed Lepidus from their triumvirate and barred him from raising troops in Italy, while Octavian accused Antony of unlawfully detaining the king of Armenia, marrying Cleopatra despite still being married to his sister Octavia, and wrongfully claiming Caesarion as the heir of Caesar instead of Octavian. [154][155][156], Caesar's term as consul had expired at the end of 48 BC. [385] The Augustan-period authors Virgil, Horace, Propertius, and Ovid perpetuated the negative views of Cleopatra approved by the ruling Roman regime,[385][388] although Virgil established the idea of Cleopatra as a figure of romance and epic melodrama. was cleopatra going to be named jillian. [211], Mark Antony's Parthian campaign in the east was disrupted by the events of the Perusine War (4140 BC), initiated by his ambitious wife Fulvia against Octavian in the hopes of making her husband the undisputed leader of Rome. [35][504][note 86] Strabo was the only ancient historian who claimed that Ptolemy XII's children born after Berenice IV, including Cleopatra, were illegitimate. [7] Cleopatra was the name of Alexander the Great's sister, as well as Cleopatra Alcyone, wife of Meleager in Greek mythology. [475], Georges Mlis's Robbing Cleopatra's Tomb (French: Cloptre), an 1899 French silent horror film, was the first film to depict the character of Cleopatra. [68] Pompey persuaded Aulus Gabinius, the Roman governor of Syria, to invade Egypt and restore Ptolemy XII, offering him 10,000 talents for the proposed mission. The Donations of Alexandria declared their children Alexander Helios, Cleopatra Selene II, and Ptolemy Philadelphus rulers over various erstwhile territories under Antony's triumviral authority. [450][note 75] Adrian Goldsworthy writes that, despite these representations in the traditional Egyptian style, Cleopatra would have dressed as a native only "perhaps for certain rites" and instead would usually dress as a Greek monarch, which would include the Greek headband seen in her Greco-Roman busts. When Cleopatra learned that Octavian planned to bring her to his Roman triumphal procession, she killed herself by poisoning, contrary to the popular belief that she was bitten by an asp. [445] The sculpture also has pronounced eyes that share similarities with Roman copies of Ptolemaic sculpted works of art. [58][59][62][note 19] Ptolemy XII spent nearly a year there on the outskirts of Rome, ostensibly accompanied by his daughter Cleopatra, then about 11. [97], By 29 August 51 BC, official documents started listing Cleopatra as the sole ruler, evidence that she had rejected her brother Ptolemy XIII as a co-ruler. It should therefore come as no surprise that ancient Roman writers chose to portray Cleopatra as a sexually alluring and licentious. Octavian wanted to publicize it for propaganda purposes, but the two consuls, both supporters of Antony, had it censored from public view. [181][182][183] The Temple of Venus Genetrix, established in the Forum of Caesar on 25 September 46 BC, contained a golden statue of Cleopatra (which stood there at least until the 3rd century AD), associating the mother of Caesar's child directly with the goddess Venus, mother of the Romans. [435] A chemical analysis performed in 1822 confirmed that the medium for the painting was composed of one-third wax and two-thirds resin. [381][382] However, this work relies largely on Herod's memoirs and the biased account of Nicolaus of Damascus, the tutor of Cleopatra's children in Alexandria before he moved to Judea to serve as an adviser and chronicler at Herod's court. [460], Cleopatra appeared in miniatures for illuminated manuscripts, such as a depiction of her and Antony lying in a Gothic-style tomb by the Boucicaut Master in 1409. [245], In 36 BC, Cleopatra accompanied Antony to the Euphrates in his journey toward invading the Parthian Empire. [255][256][note 49] Antony received these troops but told Octavia not to stray east of Athens as he and Cleopatra traveled together to Antioch, only to suddenly and inexplicably abandon the military campaign and head back to Alexandria. [471] Also based on Shakespeare's play was Samuel Barber's opera Antony and Cleopatra (1966), commissioned for the opening of the Metropolitan Opera House. [480] By the end of the 20th century there were forty-three films, two hundred plays and novels, forty-five operas, and five ballets associated with Cleopatra. [149][126][150][note 39] Ganymedes may have been killed in the battle. [406][431] The commission of the painting most likely coincides with the erection of the Temple of Venus Genetrix in the Forum of Caesar in September 46 BC, where Caesar had a gilded statue erected depicting Cleopatra. [300] Arguments in favor of it depicting Cleopatra include the strong connection of her house with that of the Numidian royal family, Masinissa and Ptolemy VIII Physcon having been associates, and Cleopatra's own daughter marrying the Numidian prince Juba II. [298][302] The couple then went their separate ways, Antony to Cyrene to raise more troops and Cleopatra to the harbor at Alexandria in an attempt to mislead the oppositional party and portray the activities in Greece as a victory. [278][263], In a speech to the Roman Senate on the first day of his consulship on 1January 33 BC, Octavian accused Antony of attempting to subvert Roman freedoms and territorial integrity as a slave to his Oriental queen. Childhood and Rise to Egypt's Throne The previous rulers of the Ptolemaic dynasty spoke only Greek and refused to learn Egyptian. [127][130][131] Plutarch provides an entirely different and perhaps mythical account that alleges she was bound inside a bed sack to be smuggled into the palace to meet Caesar. [498] Cleopatra I Syra's father Antiochus III the Great was a descendant of Queen Apama, the Sogdian Iranian wife of Seleucus I Nicator. I do prefer this spelling over Gillian though. [107][108] In perhaps their last joint decree, both Cleopatra and Ptolemy XIII agreed to Gnaeus Pompeius's request and sent his father 60 ships and 500 troops, including the Gabiniani, a move that helped erase some of the debt owed to Rome. [283][281], During the spring of 32 BC Antony and Cleopatra traveled to Athens, where she persuaded Antony to send Octavia an official declaration of divorce. [257][217] Octavian's confidence grew as he eliminated his rivals in the west, including Sextus Pompeius and even Lepidus, the third member of the triumvirate, who was placed under house arrest after revolting against Octavian in Sicily. [119][117][122][note 31] Ptolemy XIII believed he had demonstrated his power and simultaneously defused the situation by having Pompey's head, severed and embalmed, sent to Caesar, who arrived in Alexandria by early October and took up residence at the royal palace. Unfortunately, fans should expect to wait awhile before the new Cleopatra premieres. [203][202] Cleopatra sailed up the Kydnos River to Tarsos in Thalamegos, hosting Antony and his officers for two nights of lavish banquets on board the ship. [249] By the summer of 36 BC, she had given birth to Ptolemy Philadelphus, her second son with Antony. [429], Other possible sculpted depictions of Cleopatra include one in the British Museum, London, made of limestone, which perhaps only depicts a woman in her entourage during her trip to Rome. [467] Fictional novels such as H. Rider Haggard's Cleopatra (1889) and Thophile Gautier's One of Cleopatra's Nights (1838) depicted the queen as a sensual and mystic Easterner, while the Egyptologist Georg Ebers's Cleopatra (1894) was more grounded in historical accuracy. Her official name is Cleopatra VII Philopater, which is definitely a bigger mouthful than just calling her Cleopatra, like most tend to do. [43][44] Cleopatra's childhood tutor was Philostratos, from whom she learned the Greek arts of oration and philosophy. [293] While some in Antony's camp suggested abandoning the naval conflict to retreat inland, Cleopatra urged for a naval confrontation, to keep Octavian's fleet away from Egypt. [363][364] Cleopatra Selene II and Alexander Helios were present in the Roman triumph of Octavian in 29 BC. 'spine, cheese-grater') was used to introduce the toxin by scratching, while Dio says that she injected the poison with a needle (, beln), and Strabo argued for an ointment of some kind. [336][337][315] Caesarion, now Ptolemy XV, would reign for a mere 18 days until executed on the orders of Octavian on 29 August 30 BC, after returning to Alexandria under the false pretense that Octavian would allow him to be king. [113][106][114] She returned with an army, but her advance to Alexandria was blocked by her brother's forces, including some Gabiniani mobilized to fight against her, so she camped outside Pelousion in the eastern Nile Delta. Cleopatra's former rebellious governor of Cyprus was also handed over to her for execution. [293] Antony and Cleopatra lost several skirmishes against Octavian around Actium during the summer of 31 BC, while defections to Octavian's camp continued, including Antony's long-time companion Dellius[293] and the allied kings Amyntas of Galatia and Deiotaros of Paphlagonia. [279] Before Antony and Octavian's joint imperium expired on 31 December 33 BC, Antony declared Caesarion as the true heir of Caesar in an attempt to undermine Octavian. Pompey had been a political ally of Ptolemy XII, but Ptolemy XIII, at the urging of his court eunuchs, had Pompey ambushed and killed before Caesar arrived and occupied Alexandria. Although the name Cleopatra has been used by many Egyptian Queens, Cleopatra VII, by far is the most remembered overshadowing her predecessors with her political savvy, beauty and romantic life. That the medium for the painting was made, while Cleopatra 's tutor! The nickname & quot ; which is an awesome name too private citizen without public,! 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