Among the countless great names of the ancient world, there is an elite list of a select few that have risen above the mere history books into almost mythological characters. Their deeds and lives are inflated beyond reality to the point that the stories that are told of them make you really question if anyone could ever have done such a thing, which only makes the stories that are true even more impressive. These are usually men of great power in the ancient world, larger-than-life rulers like Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, and Genghis Khan. Among their ranks, however, stands a woman from Ancient Egypt. The woman who was the last pharaoh of Egypt, Cleopatra VII, or simply Cleopatra.
If you asked your average person for as many Egyptian queen names as they could list off the top of their head, you would probably be quite hard-pressed to get more than one, and that one would be Cleopatra. As a result, much has been done in popular culture and historical anecdotes to play Cleopatra and her lifestyle up, to the point where it’s almost difficult to tell what is real and what is just a myth fabricated on partial truths and sensationalism. That said, there is a lot that is very much so true about her life, and much of it is just as outrageous as the stories would have you believe.
Was Cleopatra black?
One of the most highly contentious topics when it comes to Cleopatra, ethnicity is one of the main misconceptions people hold in the modern day about the last pharaoh. While there have been various articles written speculating that she was black, these have generally been deemed as little more than speculation. While there is obviously a relatively limited number of verifiable and trustworthy depictions of Cleopatra’s features, one of the most commonly drawn-upon sources is the official coinage that was minted during her rule, which she would have had to personally approve. In these instances, she is depicted as looking more of Greek descent than African, something which is reinforced by the fact that it is known that she was predominantly of Macedonian Greek descent. This is generally very well agreed upon, and these things in combination with other trusted depictions of the most famous queen of Egypt indicate that her skin was likely an olive colour, rather than black.
In addition to this, the Cleopatra statue on display at the Vatican, as well as its two sister busts that make up the three accepted depictions of the famous queen, depict her as very Greek in terms of her physical features. While these busts are unpainted, they are very well detailed and display features far more in line with what we know would have been ancient Greek features, which while not direct proof would very heavily aid in indicating her skin was likely of a more olive hue.
Did Julius Caesar marry Cleopatra?
One of the most famous tales from Cleopatra’s reign was her high-profile relationship with Roman emperor Julius Caesar. Having previously nominated her brother Ptolemy XIII as the co-ruler of Egypt (and likely marrying him, due to the sibling marriage practise that was common for Egyptian pharaohs at the time), when it came time for Ptolemy XIII to visit Caesar Cleopatra accompanied him. However, after their arrival and unbeknownst to her brother and (possibly) spouse, she visited Caesar privately and dressed to seduce him, as written by the historian Cassius Dio. Caesar was allegedly inclined to have affairs with royal women, and while it is unclear if Cleopatra knew this, it certainly seemed to be her intention.
Naturally, this caused a breakdown in the relationship between Cleopatra and Ptolemy XIII, with the latter seeing it as a direct choice of sides by the former. While Cleopatra never actually married Caesar, they did have a son, named Caesarion, who would accompany Cleopatra back to Egypt and become her co-ruler after all was said and done. And indeed, much was said and done, as seems to be the way with any aspect of Cleopatra's life you look at.
Did Cleopatra marry her brother?
Not only did Cleopatra marry her brother, she allegedly married two of her brothers, and also had them both killed at different points. After her affair with Julius Caesar came to light, Caesar had the older of her two brotherly husbands hunted down in his ship, which capsized and sank, drowning poor Ptolemy XIII in the Nile. As for the younger brother, Ptolemy XIV, after the death of Ptolemy XIII Caesar instructed Cleopatra to marry the then twelve-year-old prince, despite she herself being twenty-two at the time and also pregnant with Caesar’s son.
It would only get worse for poor young Ptolemy XIV though, as after Caesar was assassinated a few years later, it was Caesar’s grandnephew Octavian as his successor, rather than the child he had with Cleopatra. As a result of this, Cleopatra had her younger brother and husband at the time poisoned and elevated her son Caesarion to be her co-ruler. As a result of this, Cleopatra records one of the strangest combinations of spouses and victims seen anywhere in the ancient world, both having relationships with and contributing either directly or indirectly to the deaths of not only two of her brothers but also arguably the most famous Roman emperor in history.
How old was Cleopatra when she died?
In the tumultuous tale of Cleopatra, death was always going to be no easy thing. It all began when she began courting the most powerful Roman politician after Caesar’s death, Mark Antony. Unfortunately for her, she was rivalled in this quest for political love by the younger sister of Caesar’s heir, Octavian. Octavian wanted his sister to marry Antony to secure his power within Rome, which unsurprisingly was the exact same reason Cleopatra wanted to marry him. Despite Antony actually getting married to Octavian’s sister and even having two children with her, he ended up choosing Cleopatra as his lover and had a further two children with her, as well as divorcing his wife to be with Cleopatra.
Naturally, Octavian did not take kindly to this, as Antony leaving Rome to be with his Egyptian lover was not only an enormous blow to his political stranglehold on the empire, but also a pretty direct insult to his sister. This left him with two options, being to not overreact to the situation, or to declare war on Egypt. Choosing the latter approach, the Roman invasion began in 31 BC, and the Roman war machine quickly asserted itself as far superior, leading to a decisive and crushing victory at the battle of Actium.
Following this, Cleopatra took much of her treasure to the tomb she had constructed for herself and sent a message to Antony that she was going to commit suicide, burning herself and as much of her treasure as she could. Overcome with grief, Antony would take his own life and is brought to her tomb as he was dying before Cleopatra could commit suicide. Unfortunately for her, this meant her location was now known, and she was detained and taken to Cleopatra’s palace before she could enact her plan.
One of the lesser-known facts about Cleopatra is that there are actually very few records of her actual spoken words. One of the most famous Cleopatra quotes, however, comes from days before her death, when at the royal palace she said directly to Octavian “I will not be led in triumph”, a clear defiance to go quietly as a prisoner of war. And go quietly she would not, as so the story of how Cleopatra died goes she returned to the tomb in which Mark Antony was buried and allowed a venomous asp, a type of Egyptian cobra, to bite and poison her. She would die on the 10th of August in the year 30 BC, at just 39 years old.
Where is Cleopatra buried?
Perhaps the even more interesting question than when did Cleopatra die is the question of where she was buried afterwards. The reason this question is so interesting is that unlike some of her far less famous predecessors who also had their tombs lost for many years such as the long-reigning Cleopatra II or her mother Cleopatra VI, Cleopatra and Antony’s tomb was never found. Despite extensive searching, and almost every other tomb of note of Egyptian leaders having been uncovered in some capacity, the elusive last pharaoh of Egypt and her untold riches have remained hidden. Believed to be somewhere near Alexandria, the search for this legendary tomb continues to this day, and will most likely continue for years and decades to come, should it ever even be found at all.
Will the Cleopatra tomb ever be found?
Ultimately, a difficult question to answer is how much effort is even worth putting into finding Cleopatra’s tomb. With advancements in archaeological technology, there is always going to be more that can be done to find the tomb, and it is certainly of great archaeological significance. However, given how long the search has been going on, even though many claims to be very close to finding it, it ultimately seems increasingly likely the tomb may simply never be found.
Are Cleopatra’s eggs real?
Of course, while many of the stories told about the last pharaoh of Egypt are true, there are bound to be some propagated through popular culture that are not. One of the more prominent recent examples of this is the myth of the Cleopatra eggs, a supposed gift of undying love from Mark Antony to Cleopatra. Unfortunately, these eggs are entirely fictitious, and the culprit is the 2021 film “Red Notice”. While it is a fun film with Ryan Reynolds, the Rock, and Gal Gadot, it is nothing more than exactly that: a film. The story is entirely fictional, without even the slightest roots in the already almost movie-like life of Cleopatra.
An extraordinary woman who led a more than an extraordinary life, the tale of Cleopatra from her strange political marriages and love affairs to her death and her elusive tomb has fascinated the hearts and minds of millions across the world for years gone by, and will surely do so for years to come. With the tomb yet to be found, there may still be more to her unique story, but for now, while there may still be questions, we know more about the life of the infamous last Pharaoh of Egypt than ever before.
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