Cleopatra

Date of Birth: c. 70/69 BC

Place of Birth: Alexandria, Ptolemaic Kingdom (now Egypt)

Date of Death: 10 August, 30 BC

Place of Death: Alexandria, Roman Egypt (now Egypt)

Ethnicity: Macedonian Greek, small amount of Persian/Sogdian Iranian, possibly other

Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator was Queen of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt, from 51 BC to 30 BC, her death. She was Egypt’s last active ruler from the Ptolemaic Dynasty, with the land transitioning from a Hellenistic-ruled kingdom to a province of the Roman Empire at the end of her reign. Her likeness, though often fictionalized, has appeared in works of art, culture, and commerce across millennia, including Roman busts, Ptolemaic and Roman coinage, applied and fine arts, paintings, sculptures, cameo carvings, glass images, reliefs, operas, poetry, theatrical drama, satire, and commercial product brand images. Her latinized name Cleopatra is from the Ancient Greek word Kleopátra/Κλεοπάτρα, translating to “glory of her father.”

Her father was Ptolemy XII Auletes, or Ptolemy XII Neos Dionysus, who was King of the Ptolemaic Kingdom, from c.80 to 58 BC, and again, from c.55 to 51 BC. Her mother likely was Cleopatra V; she was Ptolemy XII’s only attested wife, and was Queen of the Ptolemaic Kingdom, from 79 to 69 BC, and again, from 58 to 57 BC.

Cleopatra was a descendant of Macedonian Greek general Ptolemy I Soter (c. 367 BC-January 282 BC), who was a companion of Alexander the Great. The Ptolemaic monarchs were Hellenistic Greeks, who spoke Greek and ruled Egypt from Alexandria, an Egyptian city largely inhabited by Greeks. They were crowned Ptolemaic pharaohs by the Egyptian high priest of Ptah at Memphis, in lower Egypt. Cleopatra’s first language was Koine Greek. She was said to have been the first Ptolemaic ruler to learn Egyptian.

Cleopatra’s ethnicity is often debated in the modern-day. She is sometimes referred to as having been of Egyptian or African ancestry, though this has never been established. Her Ptolemy family were Macedonian Greeks, with a small amount of Persian/Sogdian Iranian ancestry from her descent from the Seleucid dynasty. Large swaths of Cleopatra’s family tree (for instance her paternal grandmother) are simply not known, and likely never will be.

Her sister, Berenice IV, was a Queen of the Ptolemaic Kingdom, from 58 to 55 BC. She ruled Egypt while their father was exiled to Rome. Cleopatra may have lived with him there. The two returned to Egypt later in the decade, overthrowing Berenice, who was killed, and Cleopatra then ruled Egypt with her brother Ptolemy XIII Theos Philopator. The two later engaged in a civil war, with Roman general, statesman, and dictator Julius Caesar eventually intervening and declaring Cleopatra and her brother Ptolemy XIV as rulers.

Cleopatra and Caesar maintained a romantic relationship, and she lived with him in Rome for a time in the 40 BCs. Her son, Caesarion, later Ptolemy XV Caesar, is believed to have been Caesar’s. Caesarion was the last Pharaoh of Ptolemaic Egypt, and reigned with Cleopatra, from 2 September, 44, BC to 12 August, 30 BC.

Cleopatra joined with the Roman Second Triumvirate during the Liberators’ civil war of 43 tp 42 BC. She began a relationship with Caesar’s great-nephew and heir, Mark Antony, of the Triumvirate. The two had three children together, and she also assisted him politically and financially with his invasions of the Parthian Empire and the Kingdom of Armenia. Their political rival, Octavion, defeated their naval fleet at the 31 BC Battle of Actium and invaded Egypt the next year; subsequently, Mark Antony killed himself. Cleopatra followed, killing herself by poison.

Cleopatra and Mark Antony’s children were Alexander Helios, a Ptolemaic prince; Cleopatra Selene II, who was Queen of Cyrenaica, from 34 BC to 30 BC, Queen of Numidia, in 25 BC, and Queen of Mauretania, from 25 BC to 5 BC; and Ptolemaic prince Ptolemy Philadelphus.

Cleopatra’s paternal grandfather was Ptolemy IX Soter (the son of Ptolemy VIII Physcon and Cleopatra III). Cleopatra’s grandfather Ptolemy was King of the Ptolemaic Kingdom, from 116 BC to 107 BC, and again, from 88 BC to 81 BC. Cleopatra’s great-grandfather Ptolemy was King of the Ptolemaic Kingdom, from 170 BC to 164 BC, again, from 145 BC to 132/1 BC, and again, from 127/6 BC to 116 BC. He was the son of Ptolemy V Epiphanes, who was King of the Ptolemaic Kingdom, from July/August 204 BC to September 180 BC; and of Cleopatra I Syra, who was Queen of Egypt, from 193 BC to 176 BC. Cleopatra’s great-grandmother Cleopatra III was the daughter of Ptolemy VI Philometor, who was King of the Ptolemaic Kingdom, from 180 BC to 164 BC, and again, from 163 BC to 145 BC; and of Cleopatra II, who was Queen of the Ptolemaic Kingdom, from c. 175 BC to 164 BC, again, from 163 BC to 127 BC, and again, from 124 BC to 116/5 BC.

Cleopatra’s maternal grandfather may have been Ptolemy IX Soter or Ptolemy X Alexander I.

Cleopatra’s maternal grandmother may have been Cleopatra IV or Berenice III.

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