Cleopatra

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Cleopatra VII
Cleopatra The Queen of Egypt "Life of Cleopatra"
by Craig T. Staunton
Cleopatra VII's family had been ruling Egypt since 305 B.C., when Ptolemy I declared himself King of Egypt sometime after Alexander the Great's death. The Ptolemy family was of Macedonian decent, not of Egyptian. The capital city which they ruled from, Alexandria, had been established by Alexander and is a port city on the Mediterranean and Nile River. This made Alexandria very important commercially, and it also became an intellectually and artistically important city as well. Cleopatra VII's father was Ptolemy XII Neos Dionysos "Auletes", who began his rule of Egypt in 80 B.C. He was not well respected and thought weak, as is exhibited by his popular nickname "Auletes", which means "flute-player" in Greek. Cleopatra VII's mother could possibly be Cleopatra V Tryphaena, who either died or disappeared in 68 B.C., right after Cleopatra VII's birth in 69 B.C. Cleopatra VII had two older sisters, Cleopatra VI and Berenice IV, and one younger sister, Arsinoe IV. She also had two y!
ounger brothers, Ptolemy XIII and Ptolemy XIV. In 58 B.C. Berenice IV (and perhaps Cleopatra VI) took over the kingdom, forcing Ptolemy XII "Auletes" to flee to Rome. Berenice IV ruled the kingdom until Ptolemy XII "Auletes" regained the throne in 55 B.C. Berenice IV was beheaded, and Cleopatra VI disappeared in the intervening time between 58 and 55 B.C. Ptolemy XII "Auletes" then ruled until his death in 51 B.C. His will named Cleopatra VII and Ptolemy XIII as heirs to the throne. Leaders in Rome were named as guardians and were to uphold the choice of Ptolemy XII for the two to marry and jointly rule Egypt. These brother-sister marriages had been established as custom by Ptolemy II when he married his sister Arsinoe II. (From now on Cleopatra VII will be referred to simply as Cleopatra unless otherwise indicated) Cleopatra and Ptolemy XIII ruled jointly and did marry, thou...