Cleopatra VII Philopator, known to history simply as Cleopatra, was a Ptolemaic queen of Egypt. She reigned from 51 BC until her death in 30 BC. A member of the Ptolemaic dynasty, she was the daughter of Ptolemy XII Auletes and Cleopatra V Tryphaena, and the sister of Ptolemy XIII. She married two of the most powerful men in Rome: Julius Caesar and Mark Antony.
She was the last pharaoh of Ancient Egypt’s Ptolemaic dynasty, and the first ruler of Egypt to be taken seriously by the Roman Empire.
Cleopatra was known for her beauty and is said to have been one of the most beautiful women in history. She also had an excellent reputation as a scholar, mathematician, strategist, diplomat, politician and administrator; however these claims are disputed by modern historians who think that these accounts were exaggerated by ancient writers who wanted to make their subjects appear more impressive than they were in reality. According to Plutarch, she spoke nine languages (Greek being her first language).
As a military leader, she was able to outwit her Roman adversaries, led by Julius Caesar, Octavian (Caesar Augustus), Mark Antony and even Marc Antony’s son Lucius Antonius (Mark Antony’s grandson). She managed to defeat them all in battle at different points in her life.
Her propaganda campaigns were so effective that they helped to spread her fame throughout the Mediterranean world and beyond its borders.
