Cleopatra wasn’t Egyptian.
While Cleopatra was born in Egypt, she was trace her family origins to Macedonian Greece and Ptolemy I Soter, one of Alexander the Great’s generals. Ptolemy reigned Egypt after Alexander’s death in 323B.C., and he launched a dynasty of Greek- speaking autocrats that lasted for nearly three centuries. Despite not being ethnically Egyptian, Cleopatra embraced numerous of her country’s ancient customs and was the first member of the Ptolemaic line to learn the Egyptian language

She was the product of incest.
Like numerous royal houses, members of the Ptolemaic dynasty frequently married within the family to save the chastity of their birth. further than a dozen of Cleopatra’s ancestors tied the knot with relatives or siblings, and it’s likely that her own parents were family and family. In keeping with this custom, Cleopatra ultimately married both of her adolescent sisters, each of whom served as her conventional partner andco-regent at different times during her reign

Cleopatra’s beauty was not her biggest asset.
Roman propaganda painted Cleopatra as a debased seductress who used her coitus appeal as a political armament, but she may have been more famed for her intellect than her appearance. She spoke as numerous as a dozen languages and was educated in mathematics, gospel, oratory and astronomy, and Egyptian sources latterly described her as a sovereign, who elevated the species of scholars and enjoyed their company. There’s also substantiation that Cleopatra was not as physically striking as formerly believed. Coins with her portrayal show her with virile features and a large, hooked nose, though some chroniclers contend that she designedly portrayed herself as mannish as a display of strength. For his part, the ancient pen Plutarch claimed that Cleopatra’s beauty was “ not altogether inimitable, ” and that it was rather her musical speaking voice and “ infectious charm ” that made her so desirable

They had a hand in the deaths of three of their siblings
Power heists and murder plots were as much a Ptolemaic tradition as family marriage, and Cleopatra and her sisters and sisters were no different. Her first stock- hubby, Ptolemy XIII, ran her out of Egypt after she tried to take sole possession of the throne, and the brace latterly faced off in a civil war. Cleopatra recaptured the upper hand by teaming with Julius Caesar, and Ptolemy drowned in the Nile River after being defeated in battle. Following the war, Cleopatra married to her youngish family Ptolemy XIV, but she’s believed to have had him boggled in a shot to make her son herco-ruler. In 41B.C., she also finagled the prosecution of her family, Arsinoe, who she considered a rival to throne

Cleopatra knew the way to create Associate in Nursing entrance.
Cleopatra believed herself to be a living god, and she or he typically used clever craftsmanship to woo potential allies and reinforce her divine standing. A known example of her aptitude for the dramatic came in forty eight B.C., once Caesar arrived in Alexandria throughout her feud along with her brother Ptolemy XIII. Knowing Ptolemy’s forces would thwart her makes an attempt to satisfy with the Roman general, queen had herself wrapped in an exceedingly carpet—some sources say it had been a linen sack—and bootleg into his personal quarters. Caesar was dazzled by the sight of the young queen in her royal garb, and therefore the 2 shortly became allies and lovers queen later used the same little bit of theater in her forty one B.C. encounter with Antonius. once summoned to satisfy the Roman executive in skeletal structure, she is claimed to own arrived on a golden barge adorned with purple sails and rowed by oars product of silver. queen had been created up to appear just like the god Greek deity, and she or he Sabbatum at a lower place a gilded cover whereas attendants dressed as cupids spread-out her and burned odorous incense. Antony—who thought-about himself the embodiment of the Greek god Dionysus—was instantly hypnotized.

She was live in Rome at the time of Caesar’s assassination.
Cleopatra joined Caesar in Rome starting in forty six B.C., and her presence appears to own caused quite stir. Caesar didn’t hide that she was his mistress—she even came to the town with their lovechild, Caesarion, in tow—and several Romans were scandalized once he erected a gilded sculpture of her within the temple of Venus Genetrix. queen was forced to escape Rome once Caesar was injured to death within the Roman senate in forty four B.C., however by then she had created her mark on the town. Her exotic hairstyle and pearl jewellery became a fashion trend, and in step with the scholarly person Joann playwright, “so several Roman ladies adopted the ‘Cleopatra look’ that their statuary has typically been mistaken for queen herself.

Cleopatra and Antonius fashioned their own drinking club.
Cleopatra 1st began her legendary relationship with the Roman general Antonius in forty one B.C. Their relationship had a political component—Cleopatra required Mark Anthony to safeguard her crown and maintain Egypt’s independence, whereas Mark Anthony required access to Egypt’s wealth and resources—but they were additionally magnificently keen on every other’s company. in step with ancient sources, they spent the winter of 41-40 B.C. living a lifetime of leisure and excess in Egypt, and even fashioned their own drinking society referred to as the “Inimitable Livers.” The cluster engaged in nightly feasts and wine-binges, and its members often took half in elaborate games and contests. one in all Mark Anthony and Cleopatra’s favorite activities purportedly concerned wandering the streets of Alexandria in disguise and taking part in pranks on its residents.

She semiconductor diode a fleet in an exceedingly battle.
Cleopatra eventually married Antonius and had 3 kids with him, however their relationship additionally spawned a huge scandal in Rome. Antony’s rival Octavian used information to portray him as a traitor below the sway of a scheming seductress, and in thirty two B.C., the Roman Senate declared war on queen. The conflict reached its climax the subsequent year in an exceedingly known battle at Actium. queen in person semiconductor diode many dozen Egyptian warships into the fray aboard Antony’s fleet, however they were no match for Octavian’s navy. The battle shortly devolved into a rout, and queen and Mark Anthony were forced to interrupt through the Roman line and fly to Egypt

Cleopatra might not have died from Associate in Nursing asp bite.
Cleopatra and Mark Anthony magnificently took their own lives in thirty B.C., once Octavian’s forces pursued them to Alexandria. whereas Mark Anthony is claimed to own fatally injured himself within the abdomen, Cleopatra’s technique of suicide is a smaller amount bound. Legend has it that she died by engaging Associate in Nursing asp most doubtless a snake or Egyptian cobra—to bite her arm, however the traditional historiographer Plutarch admits that what very came about is understood to nobody.” He says queen was additionally known to hide a deadly poison in one in all her hair combs, and therefore the scholarly person Strabo notes that she might have applied a fatal “ointment.” With this in mind, several students currently suspect she used a pin lordotic in some type of potent toxin—snake venom or otherwise

A 1963 film concerning her was one in all the foremost pricey movies of all time.
The Queen of the Nile has been represented on the silver screen by the likes of Claudette Colbert butter and actress, however she was most magnificently contend by Taylor within the 1963 sword-and-sandal epic “Cleopatra.” The film was stricken by production issues and script problems, and its budget eventually soared from $2 million to $44 million—including some $200,000 simply to hide the value of Taylor’s costumes. it had been the foremost pricey moving picture ever created at the time of its unharness, and nearly bankrupted its studio despite raking in an exceedingly fortune at the box workplace. If inflation is taken into consideration, “Cleopatra” remains one in all the priciest movies in history even these days