With Halloween around the corner, a popular costume choice among women is that of Cleopatra. Her elaborate headpiece and snake jewelry are always a hit. But, even though Cleopatra was Queen of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt and had many accomplishments, she isn’t as well known as some may think.
Cleopatra wasn’t actually Egyptian as many would believe. Even though she was the queen of Egypt, Cleopatra was from Macedonia Greece and was from the Ptolemaic line.
Cleopatra was the product of incest. As disgusting as that sounds, incest was very common back then and even Cleopatra herself married her brothers.
Cleopatra helped build up the economy after a civil war. While under Cleopatra’s rule, Egypt became one of the richest nations even while the Roman Empire was expanding.
Cleopatra had four kids. Cleopatra had a son with Julius Caesar and three kids with Mark Antony. Cleopatra and the son that she had with Caesar ruled Egypt until her death. After her death her son was ordered to be killed by the Roman emperor Augustus.
Cleopatra’s death is still a mystery, although, many believe that she died via suicide. They believe she used an Asp, which is an Egyptian cobra, to kill herself.
Cleopatra killed three of her siblings. Cleopatra killed her two brothers and she also had her sister executed just because Cleopatra saw her as a threat to the throne.
Cleopatra was actually exiled from Egypt by her own brother. With the help of Julius Caesar, Cleopatra was able to go back to Egypt and get her power back. Her brother drowned in the Nile while trying to escape.
Cleopatra may have committed suicide with Mark Antony who was her lover.
Cleopatra believed she was a god. She used her looks and status to get what she wanted. Her looks attracted men like Caesar and Antony and even though they were her lovers, they were also political allies which benefited Egypt.
Cleopatra was very smart. She could speak many languages and was educated in many areas like mathematics, astronomy and philosophy.
I love this article. Reading this article made me realize teaching history is better by reading through an article rather than a textbook as you get the most important information such as in this article.
It’s interesting to learn because I know of her but I don’t really know her. She was the “it” girl of her time. I think it is important to teach students about her and her influence since she was one of the most influential woman in history.
This is very interesting to read because I did not know much about who Cleopatra and just from reading this it crazy to hear about what went on during the time of her being alive and its crazy how she is not Egyptian like what!!!! I think those who dress up as Cleopatra should know about her background before dressing up as her.
Before reading I knew little to no information about Cleopatra if anything I only and automatically thought she was Egyptian. So it being one of the first facts that she wasn't actually Egyptian but from Macedonia Greece was pretty shocking. Also how much possessive she was over the thrown that she had to take out her siblings.