Mark Antony Julius Caesar Make Rome Great Again
The relationships between Cleopatra VII, Julius Caesar and Marker Antony were honey affairs, and ability struggles, that would change the form of Egyptian and Roman history, forever.
First century BC. Rome, the latest superpower, was speedily extending a foothold across the known world under three formidable generals: Julius Caesar, Gnaeus Pompeious Magnus (Pompey), and Marcus Licinius. A definite threat to Egypt, Rome's supreme wealth and influence also made it a source of attraction and necessary financial support.
How did Arab republic of egypt's fate become entwined with Rome'due south?
Information technology was Cleopatra's begetter, Ptolemy XII, who had finer opened the door to the Romans. When Ptolemy XI was killed in lxxx BC, his just male heirs were Ptolemy XII and his younger brother – the illegitimate sons of Ptolemy IX. Ptolemy XII was crowned in 76 BC simply, shortly later, the question of his legitimacy was raised in Rome, where anti-Senate politicians claimed to be in possession of a will, written by Ptolemy Xi, that bequeathed Egypt to the Romans. Fearing the loss of the throne and an end to his dynasty, Ptolemy took a huge risk: he struck a bargain with Rome.
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Desperate to retain his kingship, Ptolemy asked Caesar and Pompey to recognise him every bit Egypt's legal ruler and a comrade and ally of Rome. This they did, for the cost of 6,000 talents – an enormous corporeality, of which some was borrowed from Roman moneylenders. When Rome moved in on the Egyptian territory of Cyprus the following year, Ptolemy did nothing. The Egyptian people were outraged, and banished their Pharaoh, leaving his wife and eldest girl to dominion in his stead.
Although Ptolemy was eventually restored to the throne, again with the aid of the Roman Senate, the damage had been washed. Arab republic of egypt was weak, and Rome had its sights firmly set on conquest. To further compound matters, Ptolemy XII made the Roman Senate executor of his will (which proclaimed his eldest surviving daughter, Cleopatra, and eldest son co-regents), and his extensive bribery had left the realm in financial straits: Rome's foothold in Egypt looked certain to extend.
Cleopatra becomes pharaoh
In 51 BC, xviii-year-erstwhile Cleopatra emerged onto the political scene as co-regent of Egypt with her younger blood brother and (in true Egyptian royal tradition) hubby, ten-year-old Ptolemy Xiii.
Like her begetter before her, Cleopatra sought absolute ability in Arab republic of egypt, and soon set up about dropping her brother's name from official documents. Only, with Egypt facing economic failures, famine and crippling debt, Cleopatra realised she, also, needed the help of mighty Rome to lead Egypt back to peace and prosperity once more than.
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Merely this time, it would exist on her terms. Cleopatra was non the only 1 harbouring a desire for sole control of Egypt. In 48 BC, encouraged by his court advisors, Ptolemy Thirteen banished Cleopatra from Alexandria and proclaimed himself sole ruler. The battle lines had been drawn between the siblingspouses and Cleopatra, alone and powerless, hatched a plan to gain the ear of Caesar, who was merrily celebrating victory over his one-fourth dimension comrade Pompey, at the Battle of Pharsalus.
Equally luck would have it, Caesar and his troops were already in Alexandria (he was in pursuit of his antagonist Pompey who, having been defeated, was hoping for assistance from Ptolemy Thirteen). All Cleopatra had to practice was enter Alexandria unseen and talk to Caesar before he reached his own understanding with her blood brother. It was an thought easier said than done.
Cleopatra and Caesar
Fully prepared to seduce Caesar in order to enlist his assistance, Cleopatra planned to smuggle herself into Alexandria and inside the royal palace, where Caesar was staying every bit her brother's honoured invitee. Greek historian Plutarch, writing more a century subsequently, described how Cleopatra achieved her mission:
"[Cleopatra] embarked in a little skiff and landed at the palace when information technology was already getting dark; and every bit it was incommunicable to escape notice otherwise, she stretched herself at total length inside a bed-sack, while Apollodorus [her servant] tied the bed-sack up with a cord and carried it indoors to Caesar."
Caesar – a man some 30 years her senior – seems to have been instantly captivated by the Egyptian Queen and, after "succumbing to the charm of further intercourse with her, he reconciled her to her brother on the basis of a articulation share with him in the royal power". Cleopatra finally had the military machine support she needed to dominion Arab republic of egypt.
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Her brother-hubby was livid. On finding his banished sister and Caesar together at the palace, having clearly spent the night together, he reputedly flung his diadem to the ground and stormed out of the room, declaring his sister a traitor to Egypt.
Chaos followed. Ptolemy besieged the palace in which Caesar was staying, and Cleopatra's younger sister, Arsinoe, also joined in the fight. She declared herself to be the truthful queen of Arab republic of egypt and led rebel forces against her siblings.
All must have seemed lost for Cleopatra and her Roman lover but, with the arrival of Caesar's troops from Syrian arab republic, the tide turned once again. Ptolemy and Arsinoe were both defeated. Cleopatra's seat equally Egyptian ruler now seemed secure – she was fifty-fifty pregnant with Caesar'southward child. But, instead, of declaring Cleopatra sole ruler of Egypt, the Roman general instead made her co-ruler with her remaining brother, and soon-to-exist husband, 12-year-old Ptolemy XIV
In June 47 BC, Cleopatra gave birth to a son, Ptolemy Caesar, known as Caesarion – 'little Caesar' – although the child was never formally acknowledged by his father. The pair followed Caesar to Rome, where they were officially welcomed every bit "friends and allies of the Roman people".
Below the veneer of its friendly exterior, Rome was furious. Caesar had no sons from his Roman wife, Calpurnia, and none from his previous wives. The thought of Caesarion – the son of a foreigner from a land despised as a pleasure-loving and decadent order – growing up to merits dominion over 'civilised' Rome as Caesar'due south heir, was intolerable.
That situation never came to laissez passer, still, every bit the Caesar named his grandnephew Octavian (who would later accept the proper noun Augustus) as his heir. When, in 44 BC, Caesar was assassinated, Cleopatra – a much-disliked figure in Rome, whose aureate-covered statue stood in the city'southward temple of Venus Genetrix – fled with her son. Just months later, the Egyptian Queen'southward 2d brother-hubby was also expressionless – likely on her orders – and Cleopatra was free to rule with her three-twelvemonth-old son, and plan the infant'southward succession as Emperor of Rome.
Back in Rome, however, trouble was brewing. Disputes had broken out over who would succeed Caesar, with both Octavian and the Roman general Mark Antony seeking power. Past 41 BC, the leadership had been split: Antony was governing the eastern region and Octavian, the due west. Following Cleopatra's return, Rome had left Arab republic of egypt in relative peace, but the Senate's eyes turned once more to the wealthy empire, when Antony decided he needed money to subdue his enemies in the Parthian Empire (now Republic of iraq).
Mark Antony and Cleopatra
Conveniently, Cleopatra had befriended Marker Antony during her fourth dimension in Rome, and supported him militarily during the ensuing ceremonious war. She at present agreed to meet him in Tarsus (mod-day Turkey) to discuss the prospect of Egyptian support in a war against the Parthians.
In an echo of plans made 7 years earlier with her former lover, Cleopatra fix out for Tarsus to amuse and seduce her unsuspecting old friend. This time, still, her entrance was somewhat grander. In Plutarch'south words: "[Cleopatra] came sailing up the River Cydnus in a barge with gilded stern and outspread sails of majestic, while oars of silver beat time to the music of flutes and fifes and harps. She herself lay all forth, under a canopy of fabric of gold, dressed as Venus in a picture, and beautiful young boys, like painted Cupids, stood on each side to fan her."
Similar Caesar before him, Antony was captivated. "The attraction of her person, joining with the charm of her chat, and the grapheme that attended all she said or did, was something bewitching," Plutarch tells us. "It was a pleasure but to hear the sound of her voice." Indeed, Antony was so taken with the Pharaoh that he abandoned his original reasons for meeting at Tarsus. He left his wife to manage his diplomacy in Rome and his troops waiting for orders, while he spent the wintertime of 41-twoscore BC in Alexandria with Cleopatra. They were inseparable.
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During his stay, Cleopatra gained Antony's back up in ridding her of the ane person who had the power to disrupt her accented dominion in Egypt: Arsinoe. Defeated in boxing, Arsinoe had been banished to the Temple of Artemis in Roman-controlled Ephesus, in modern-twenty-four hour period Turkey. In 41 BC, on Antony's orders and in scandalous violation of the sanctuary she'd been promised, Arsinoe was murdered on the temple steps. The following year Cleopatra gave nascence to twins: Alexander Helios and Cleopatra Selene II. Antony, however, had finally been forced to render to Rome to deal with the aftermath of his failed rebellion against Octavian. A political alliance known equally the Second Triumvirate was formed betwixt the two generals and a dignitary named Marcus Aemilius Lepidus.
Recently widowed, Antony agreed to seal the peace bargain with a marriage to Octavian'due south sister, Octavia Small-scale, in 40 BC. Just Cleopatra was never far from Antony'southward mind and, in 37 BC, he returned to Alexandria where he fathered another son, Ptolemy Philadelphus, and Cleopatra and Caesarion were crowned co-rulers of Egypt and Cyprus.
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For a happy ending, the story should end there. But it doesn't. E'er greedy for power, Octavian continued to campaign for sole power in Rome, successfully eliminating Lepidus from the Triumvirate. In 33 BC, allegedly in retaliation for Antony divorcing his sis, Octavian did the unthinkable: he declared war on the Egyptian Queen. Two years later, in 31 BC, the combined armies of Antony and Cleopatra took on Octavian's forces in a swell sea battle at Actium, off Greece'southward west coast.
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The boxing was a disaster for the lovers. Victorious, Octavian invaded Arab republic of egypt where he received the surrender of the defeated Roman forces. Antony's efforts to go sole ruler of the Roman globe had ended and, first believing that his amour had forged an agreement with Octavian to ensure her ain survival, then that she had committed suicide, he attempted to fall on his sword in truthful Roman tradition.
But even in this he failed, and his wounded body was taken to Cleopatra who, still very much alive, was hiding in a mausoleum.
In that location, Antony succumbed to his wounds, reportedly dying in his lover's arms. Cleopatra realised that without her lover and his troops, she and her beloved state were now at the mercy of the triumphant Octavian. Knowing she would be paraded around every bit his prisoner should she be captured, the proud Egyptian Queen chose to take her own life, reputedly by allowing a poisonous Egyptian cobra, or aspis, to bite her. Rome had emerged victorious: the historic period of the Pharaohs was dead.
What happened to Cleopatra's son, Caesarion?
Following the deaths of Cleopatra and Mark Antony, the victorious Octavian changed his name to Augustus Caesar and causeless sole control of Rome as its Emperor, administering to Egypt's people and decision-making its treasury himself. But i concluding threat to his rule remained: Caesar and Cleopatra'southward son, Caesarion.
Brash by his confidant and philosopher Arius Didymus that "likewise many Caesars is not practiced", the new Emperor planned his rival's murder, luring Caesarion to Alexandria with simulated promises of his safety.
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The exact circumstances of Caesarion'south death are unknown, but it is idea that he may have been strangled, after which Augustus took absolute control of Egypt. The three children Cleopatra bore Marking Antony had different fates to their half brother. Post-obit their parents' deaths, the three were paraded through the streets of Rome in heavy gold chains, walking behind an effigy of their female parent: twins Cleopatra Selene and Alexander Helios were x, while Ptolemy Philadelphus was just four.
The three children were given into the care of their former footstep-mother, Octavia. The two boys disappeared without trace a few years later on, but the young Cleopatra afterwards married Male monarch Juba Ii of Mauretania where nosotros know she had at to the lowest degree one kid, named Ptolemy Philadelphus, thought to accept been named after her younger, missing blood brother.
This content beginning appeared in the Jan 2022 issue of BBC History Revealed
Source: https://www.historyextra.com/period/ancient-egypt/cleopatra-love-affairs-julius-caesar-mark-antony/
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