Cassius Dio once said Cleopatra “captivated the two greatest Romans in her day, and because of the third she destroyed herself” (Biography.com Editors). Cleopatra ruled Egypt with such confidence and maturity for her age. She lost the throne and managed to reclaim it, eliminated the threat of her siblings taking the throne from her, and fell in love not once, but twice. Cleopatra’s ending captivated the hearts of the people of her time, and still continues to capture the hearts of people today. Her perseverance and confidence inspires women all over the globe. The life of Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator, struck with tragedy more than once, remains a well known story that no one can forget; however, she strongly and intelligently proved she could …show more content…
She was born in 69 B.C. to her father, Ptolemy XII, and her mother, whose identity is unknown, but some believe her identity is Cleopatra V. Cleopatra’s family, founded by Ptolemy, ruled Egypt for about 300 years before she came into power. Egypt had difficulties with the royal line around the time Cleopatra took over. Not only did Egypt have problem’s with its economy, but it had troubles with the increasing power of Rome and being overshadowed. Egypt relied greatly on its alliance with Rome, so Egypt did not have much control before Cleopatra arrived. Cleopatra’s bloodlines go back to Greek descent or possibly even black African. While little is known about them, Cleopatra’s parents, most likely siblings, married to conserve pure bloodlines. Cleopatra had many siblings; however, history shows that Cleopatra “had a hand in the deaths of three of her siblings”(Andrews), including the brothers she …show more content…
Mark Antony caught word that Cleopatra had killed herself and decided he could not live without her. Antony stabbed himself, but the wound did not kill him right away (Jarus). Antony, wounded and dying, was taken to Cleopatra, where he would later die with her. Cleopatra, heartbroken and grief-stricken, met Octavian when he came into the city. Cleopatra attempted to negotiate with him, but he “was impervious to her charm” (Haywood).Octavian implied that Cleopatra would return with him to Rome as a “sort of war trophy” (Jarus). After her second attempt to commit suicide, Florus wrote in the second century A.D. “she dressed herself in her richest attire, as was her custom, and settled herself next to Antony in a sarcophagus filled with aromatic perfumes. She then put snakes to her veins and slipped into death as if into sleep” (Jarus); however, no one knows exactly how Cleopatra died. Some historians say that she locked herself in a room with two of her servants and used an asp to bite her. Other historians say she used a type of hair comb filled with venom to commit suicide. It is said that Cleopatra and Antony were buried next to each other, as they wished, but the tomb of Cleopatra and Antony has never been found and still remains a