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Cleopatra
Ptolemy XIII
Cleopatra was a strong, political women who was a co-pharoah of Egypt with her brother, Ptolemy XIII. Her father decided to leave Egypt in the hands of Rome, for he didn't feel like settling the conflict between Cleopatra and her brother. Eventually Ptolemy XIII drove Cleopatra out of Alexandria and into hiding but Cleopatra wasn's going down without a fight! Soon afterwards, Pompey (Caesar's enemy) traveled to Egypt for protection after he was defeated by Caesar but met an ugly end. Ptolemy XIII tried to get on Caesar's good side by killing Pompey and giving his severed, pickled head to him as a gift. Caesar was given this gift by Ptolemy in Egypt but was enraged by the poor treatment of a Roman general. Caesar stayed in th castle for awhile and on one of those nights Cleopatra had one of her servents sneek her into Caesar's room. They fell in love and had a child named Ceasarian. Caesar would later have Ptolemy XIII drowned in the Nile for his cruel act against Pompey.
Four Pharoahs and a Funeral The Ptolemaic Dynasty
click here for page two!
click here for bibliography!
After Caesar's murder and the second triumpherent, Mark Antony travels to Alexandria and "shackes up" with Cleopatra because he was in need of a navy, for he new there was a battle to come between him and Octavian over the control of Rome. A major battle between Cleopatra and Mark Antony vs. Octavian took place off the coast of Actium and this was a great victory for Octavian. After the battle Octavian chased them back to Egypt but couldn't catch them before Mark Antony stabbed himself and Cleopatra let two asps bite her (venomous snake).
Caesar and Cleopatra's victory was assured when Roman reinforcements arrived. This forced Arsinoe and Ptolemy to flee the city. It was reported that Ptolemy drowned while trying to cross the Nile but no one knows whether he was fleeing or seeking negotiations.
Ptolemy XIII's story is very similair to Cleopatra's because of their close relation. Ptolemy XIII took joint power of Egypt when he was twelve with his wife and sister Cleopatra. He also had a regent, or head of state, Pothinus who was a major influence on Ptolemy's decisions. Later, Ptolemy and Pothinus would try to despose of Cleopatra due to her increasing status as Queen. For example, her face was on all the coins and Ptolemy's name was omitted from legal documents. They were able to force her out of Alexandria and into Syria, but she organized an army and began a civil war. I have already written about the piece of history when Caesar appears in Alexandria so I wont bore you with his innacceptance of the pickled head of Pompey, but I will tell u that Caesar had Pothinus executed. Ptolemy wasn's plesed though, so he allied himself with Arsinoe (his sister) to take down Cleopatra and Caesar. These battles took place in Alexandria, which sustained serious damage! This evidently was the cause of the burning of the Library of Alexandria.
