Queen Cleopatra, whose biography is extremely romantic in our time, is still one of the most significant women in world history. Her image today literally personifies treachery and beauty, a tragedy of national proportions and political will. Her name is associated with the last glorious years that Egypt experienced. Queen Cleopatra regularly appeared in works of art, and especially in the cinema of recent decades. Perhaps, very few historical characters could compete with her in popularity, because there are more than a dozen feature films with her,
depicting the great ruler, the ancient era and Egypt.
Queen Cleopatra: a story of life
The girl was born in 69 BC. She was the daughter of the then ruler of the country Ptolemy XII. Almost nothing is known about the years of childhood and youth of the future ruler. The only thing that can be said is that it was probably to a large extent influenced by the unrest in the mid-50s BC, to which Egypt was subjected. Queen Cleopatra then experienced serious upheaval, because her father was ousted from the throne and expelled from the state. This event was a very important episode in the history of antiquity. Ptolemy managed to recover on the throne, but this was done already with the help of one of the Roman generals, as a result of which the ruler became actual
puppet of the latter. The life of Ptolemy XII was cut short in 51 BC He left a will, to which he transferred all Egypt to the hands of his son Ptolemy XIII. Queen Cleopatra was forced to conclude a
fictitious marriage with her own brother for the sake of joint rule.
Age of government, intrigue and romance
The first years were marked by a serious struggle between a sister and a brother for real power in the state. The moment of the turning point was the conflict of Ptolemy XIII with the Roman state, as a result of which he was in 47 BC. killed. From this moment Cleopatra becomes the sole Queen of Egypt. Of course, she was forced to reckon with representatives of the powerful Roman state. And it was precisely for her own position in power that she often used her charms, which subsequently made her a name.
Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt (photos of some of the performers of her role in the movie you can see in the article) at first fascinated the famous Julius Caesar, who helped her defeat Ptolemy XIII. But after Caesar's death, the woman had to look for a new patron. Such was the famous commander of the time, Mark Anthony. Cleopatra met this man in 41 BC He spent the winter with her in Alexandria. During this time, they really managed to become attached to each other. However, urgent state affairs forced the lovers to part. They had not seen each other for about three years. The next date occurred in 37 BC in Antioch. However, their happiness was not destined to last long. The fact is that Anthony is gaining considerable popularity in Rome itself, and its alliance with the ruler of a very rich province makes the Roman emperor Octavian consider this as a direct threat to his own throne. The emperor literally begins a civil war against Anthony, convincing the population of Rome that the commander is fascinated by the eastern ruler, who has plans to crush Rome. The general battle of this conflict was the battle of Aktsium in 31 BC. The fleet of Anthony and Cleopatra was defeated. And the lovers themselves were forced to hide under the protection of the walls of Alexandria. The defensive power of the city was only enough for a year. And when the walls fell under the onslaught of the troops of Octavian, Anthony and Cleopatra killed themselves, taking poison in turn.