Free «Ancient History Cleopatra» Essay Paper

Introduction

Cleopatra VII is among the most famous Queens of Egypt for more than one reason.  She was the last queen of Egypt.  Cleopatra had two elder sisters, named Cleopatra VI and Berenice. She also had two younger brothers; Ptolemy XIII and Ptolemy XIV.  After her father’s death, Pompeii was pointed to be in charge of children, and this happened between the two centuries that preceded Ptolemy (Bernstein, 2008).

Thesis

It was the time when Roman Empire was rising and Egyptian empire was declining.  Clinton experienced the worst times during her reign as Egyptian Queen. On the one hand, she had to cope with the internal and external disturbances that were going on in her country, and secondly, she had to face the challenge of rising of Roman Empire, which was growing stronger and stronger with every passing day.

 Therefore, in such situation, she had to gather her military strength in the city of Alexandria.  In the meantime, the seas are each fillet Alexandria.  Caesar was appalled by Pompeii’s brutal murder, he further acted by marching into the city and two of the control of the palace that were once his friends haven.  He began to initiate orders immediately.

 

Type of service

Type of assignment

Title of your paper *

Academic level

Pages

Timeframe

Spacing

Currency

  Order now

In the meantime, Cleopatra was compelled to meet the Caesar. Among other issues, she was also holding to settle down all disputes between the two rivals, and according to her, it was the time to move on.  Cesar also seized the opportunity to pave the way of reconciliation between the two forces.  Releasing her brother was a part of this process.  By the time he released her brother, the Egyptian forces had prepared for the war that seemed inevitable. The battle of Alexandria continued for a span of six months, were Caesar emerged as the victor, and Cleopatra’s Glory was all but gone.  The way events turned up was that reconciliation trusses began.  Caesar and Cleopatra celebrated this day going in their own way (Flemington, 2008). 

The surprising thing was that Caesar commanded the restoration of her appointment as the queen of Egypt, despite that her forces were suffering the defeat.  This was more than acceptable to Cleopatra, who eagerly took the chance, and it was during this time when she married her younger brother who was about 12 years old at that time.  Incest was a common practice among Egyptian pharaohs, so that the throne must not be slipped out of the hands of the royal elite; they practiced incest for many generations. 

After the battle, Caesar returned home. He left legions for the sake of Cleopatra’s protection.  Cleopatra lived with Caesar and their love lasted for almost two years, when Caesar showered her with gifts and presents for the sake of her pleasure. He had even a statue of Cleopatra erected near the temple for Venus.  Caesar was a married man and his act of liking the Egyptian queen was not welcome by his compatriots.  It was believed that Caesar intended to make an amendment in the Roman law to accommodate Cleopatra as his queen, and if she bore a son, he would be the crowned prince of Rome (Foss, 2009). 

This was a dangerous thought and would have had severe consequences on the Roman monarch. This made his wife go to senators, and they were equally disturbed when they heard the idea of what their Caesar was about to commit.  In 44 BC, a large crowd of opposing senators surrounded Caesar, while he was present in the senate chamber, and stabbed him to death.  After the demise of Cesar, Cleopatra quickly realized that her life was also in danger, because the Roman Senate members, people, considered her to be that reason why Caesar was killed, and she understood the consequences; if she had stayed back in Rome, she would have been killed too. 

Stay Connected

Live Chat Order now

Cleopatra quickly escaped from Rome back to Egypt, along with her entourage.  Surprising event turned out immediately after her arrival to Egypt, because in a matter of two days, her brother was found dead, possibly poisoned, so there was a possibility that he was poisoned on Cleopatra’s orders (Volkmann, 2010).

Antony & Cleopatra

Caesar’s death caused a great deal of panic and disturbance throughout the Roman Empire. On the other hand, the chaos and anarchy spread like a wildfire throughout Rome.  The empire was now divided between three rulers who were Octavian, Markus Lepidus, who was commonly known as Mark Antony. He was also having a keen look on the Roman Empire and its chaos, looking to enter the great empire and consolidate his Kingdom from the Roman Empire and Greece at the same time was his ultimate goal,  while Caesar’s nephew Octavian became the emperor of Augustus.

Cleopatra was a cunny woman, so that the Greek philosopher Plato, who mentioned for forms of flattery, maintained that Cleopatra had thousands of such.  She was masterful and dynamic in creating new charms and attractions towards others.  They started helping her to survive the toughest times.  Beat Mark Antony or Octavian, none of the two was smart enough to do with Cleopatra, who was under the Roman rule, and her survival instinct was much powerful. It was something that prolonged her rule over Egypt.  Six months later, Cleopatra became the mother of two kids; a son and a daughter, both were from Antony who enjoyed as rendezvous over Cleopatra in the year 37 BC, while he was going to invade Parthia.

In the meantime, Roman people were simply disgusted by the way the ruler had ruled for many years, and the pattern continued with the arrival of Antony who did not change anything, says the departure of Caesar.  Conspiracy could be heard all over the empire, people were restless, and they had a lot to hate their ruler for, the one who had nothing to do with the Roman Empire or its fate.  People were also angry, because Octavia was treated harshly by Anthony.  Adding to their rage was the declaration by Anthony and Cleopatra that were both elevated to the level of god.

This outrage was quickly turning into an event that was about to replace Mark Antony as the ruler of Rome, in doing so, nominating Octavian as the next Roman Ruler.  It was the year 30 BC when Octavian and Anthony confronted one another.   The year’s battle occurred between the two forces and ended in Octavian’s favor that emerged as the victor, leaving Anthony as the loser, and in the process he had to leave the Roman Empire forever.  He fled to Egypt with Cleopatra standing by her side, and were also worried due to the fact that, if Octavian killed Anthony, he would not leave Cleopatra live as well (Walker, 2010). 

Death and Impact on Mediterranean Rule

At the time when Anthony comforted a huge surprise, he marched his army out of the city, observing the naval fleet of Romans and Egyptians hoping that both fleet were about to fight each other. However, surprisingly, he found his fleet saluting the Romans, but in the meantime, his troops desolated him.  After witnessing a dismal defeat in the hands of Romans, Anthony returned to the city, shouting in desperation that Cleopatra betrayed him.

Cleopatra ran to the monument that housed her treasures to seek to refuse from the raging and Anthony, and instructing her guard to tell Anthony that Cleopatra is dead.  Believing the guard, Anthony shouted that he would soon be with his princess.  Antony ordered his guards to stab him, so that he might be free to see his queen again.  One of the obedient guards stabbed and killed himself, instead of following his master’s command.  Cleopatra’s death marked the end of Egyptian dynasty, and its authority over the Mediterranean region, and so, the Egyptian monarchy ended with Cleopatra. Anthony appreciated his effort and in doing so he stabbed himself in the stomach, and asked his guards to lay him down on the couch.  When he woke up, he ordered his servants to end his mystery by killing him with the refuse to do so; it was when Cleopatra’s secretary arrived only to inform him that Cleopatra was still alive. 

Conclusion

Overjoyed by hearing this, Anthony went to Cleopatra’s mausoleum.  After a while, Cleopatra poisoned herself, and pleaded Octavian to bury her in the Antony’s tomb.  Octavian has sent his guards to stop Cleopatra from committing suicide, but it was all too late, and Cleopatra had already poisoned herself to death.  According to her will, she was buried in Antony’s tomb.  On her couch near her dead body, a poisonous wasp was, found which gave the possibility that she might have been bitten by the wasp, which was smudged, with her fingers.