egyptbc.com

After Antony’s death, Cleopatra was brought before Octavian where her role in Octavian’s triumph was carefully explained to her. He had no interest in any relationship, negotiation or reconciliation with the Queen of Egypt. Instead, she would be displayed as a slave, dragged through all the cities she had ruled over. She must have had memories of her sister, Arsinoe, being humiliated in this way.

Cleopatra could not bear to live in this fashion, so she had an Egyptian cobra, an asp, brought to her hidden in a basket of figs. She died on August 12, 30 BC at the age of 39. The Egyptian religion recognised that death by snakebite would secure immortality, allowing Cleopatra to achieve her lasting wish, to not be forgotten. After Cleopatra’s death, Caesarion was strangled and the other children of Cleopatra were raised by Antony’s wife, Octavia.

Her death was the mark of the end of the Egyptian Monarchs. Succesive Roman Emperors came to rule in Egypt. The Ptolemies may have been Macedonian in decent, but ruled as Egyptians, as Pharaohs. Cleopatra was the last ever Pharaoh of Egypt.

What is often not associated with Cleopatra was her brilliance and her devotion to her country. She was a quick-witted woman who was fluent in nine languages, however, Latin was not one of them. She was a mathematician and a very good businesswoman.She had a genuine respect for Caesar, whose intelligence and wit matched her own. Antony on the other hand almost drove her insane with his lack of intelligence and his excesses. She dealt with him and made the most of what he could offer her. She fought for her country, she had a charismatic personality, was a born leader and an ambitious monarch who perhaps deserved much better than a suicidal ending to her story.