Cleopatra

CLEOPATRA'S LOVE TRIANGLE

Eroticism and Egoism in Egypt

48 TO 31 BCE

Even as a teenager, Cleopatra knew how to wield her wit and beauty. Aged 18, she ascended to the Egyptian throne with her ten-year-old brother, Ptolemy XIII, but wanted it all to herself. Julius Caesar happened to be in Alexandria at the time, and Cleopatra believed getting the Roman leader on side before her brother would be key to her success. The Greek historian Plutarch writes that the young woman "stretched herself at full length inside a bed-sack", and her servant carried her into the palace.

What happened between the two is uncertain, but once Ptolemy XIII found out his sister had gone behind his back, he besieged the palace the power couple were in. In the nick of time, Caesar's reinforcements arrived from Syria, and Cleopatra's power was secured. In 47 BCE, she gave birth to their son Caesarion: but when the (illegitimate) new family arrived in Rome, Cleopatra found herself very unpopular with the Roman people.

Things went downhill fast. Caesar named his grandnephew Octavian as his successor, before being assassinated in 44 BCE. A power struggle ensued between Octavian and the powerful general Mark Antony, and Cleopatra returned to Egypt.

Mark Antony went to meet her, as he needed money from wealthy Egypt to fund a campaign in the Parthian Empire. But clever Cleopatra had her own agenda - to expand her empire. Playing on Antony's penchant for Greek culture, she sailed up the Tarsus River dressed as Aphrodite, a vision Antony could not resist.

The two lived relatively happily until 40 BCE, when Antony's influential wife started challenging Octavian back in Rome. Antony returned to plead his innocence of the plot, but couldn't stay away from Cleopatra, and went back to Egypt in 37 BE. Octavian saw a chance to be rid of his rival for good, and sent ships to fight Antony and Cleopatra's forces at the Battle of Actium in 31 BCE. The pair were defeated, their dreams of dominance in the eastern Mediterranean shattered. The two took their own lives - together in the afterlife, at least, if not on the earthly plane.