Cleopatra VII The Last Queen of Egypt

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Cleopatra VII The Last Queen of Egypt

• By Saguna Shankar

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Cleopatra VII

• Cleopatra VII became ruler of Egypt when
• she was seventeen years of age. She ruled from
• fifty one BC to thirty BC and died when she was
• thirty nine years old . While Cleopatra was
  alive,
• she was a clever queen who used her charm to
• get what she wanted. Cleopatra made powerful
• friends who she could trust, which aided her
  greatly in her reign of power over the Egyptians.

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Cleopatras Childhood

• As a child ,Cleopatra was burdened with the
• circumstances of being a future ruler.
  Cleopatra had five siblings, three of which were
• younger than Cleopatra. Ptolemy XII, had four
• daughters. Cleopatras younger brothers were
• called Ptolemy XIII and Ptolemy XIV. Her eldest
• sibling was named Cleopatra Tryphaena, the second
  eldest was Berenice IV and Cleopatras
• younger sister Arsinoe was the youngest daughter.

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Ptolemy XII, the father of Cleopatra

• Ptolemy XII, was Cleopatras father. The
• people of Alexandria disliked Ptolemy XII because
• he collected heavy taxes of money and sent the
• money to Rome. He gave the money to the
• Romans hoping to make friends with the powerful
• leaders so they wouldnt invade his land. He was
• chased out of Egypt in 58 BC, by the angry
• Alexandrian people.

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Berenices short reign of power

• After Ptolemy XII fled from Egypt,
• his second oldest daughter crowned herself queen.
  
• Berenice IV was Cleopatras older sister and now
• the ruler of Egypt. After a reign of three years,
• Berenice had to give the throne back to her
  father.
• Ptolemy XII was back in Alexandria in 55BC.
• Helped by general Pompey ,he regained power as
• leader and gave orders for Berenice to be killed.

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Cleopatra VII, Queen of Egypt.

• After Ptolemy XII died, Cleopatra succeeded
• in her wish to become queen. Cleopatra VII was
• crowned queen officially when she was only
• seventeen years of age. She married her brother,
• Ptolemy XIII who was only twelve at the time.
• Ptolemy XIII had the right to rule, because
  legally
• he now was her husband. Cleopatra VII knew
• that she would have to use her prowess to remain
• queen.

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Enemies of the Queen

• During the first two years of Cleopatras reign ,
• she kept control over Egypt, but maintained many
• enemies. One of Queen Cleopatras enemies was
• her brother and husbands chief advisor,
  Pothinus.
• Pothinus disliked that Cleopatra VII decided
• many important decisions without consulting him.
• Ptolemy XIII was now old enough to rule and
• demanding the right from Cleopatra.

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Pothinus and Ptolemys plot!

• Cleopatra soon discovered a plot for her death.
• Her brother, Ptolemy XIII had planned with
• his chief advisor for the murder of Cleopatra
  VII.
• Cleopatra knew why they wanted her dead, they
• wanted power over Egypt. She had to leave Egypt
• before their plan was carried out. She set sail
  for
• Syria. Cleopatra went in hopes of recruiting an
• army to help her win back her place as ruler,
• which her brother now occupied.

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Caesar and Cleopatra

• When Caesar was visiting Egypt in 48 BC, she
• devised a clever plan to win his trust, security,
• and support. With the help of a faithful servant,
• she was smuggled into his room in a woven carpet.
• After succeeding in gaining his support,
  Cleopatra
• became pregnant with Caesars child. The child
• was named Caesarion, after his father. Upon
• leaving Alexandria, Caesar left 15,000 to guard
• the queen.

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The Death of Julius Caesar

• After achieving so many victories, Caesar was
• made sole dictator for 10 years in 46 BC. After
• two years, he was again promoted to be made
• dictator for life. Some Romans assumed that
• Caesar wanted to be king, and were not happy
• at all the power he was given. So, a group of 60
• plotters murdered him after a meeting of Senate
• in 44 BC.

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Antony and Cleopatra VII

• Cleopatra made a deal with Marcus Antony.
• The deal was that if Cleopatra gave money to
• Antony for his armies, in return, he would give
• her protection. Antony and Cleopatra spent the
• winter of 41 BC with each other in Alexandria,
• Cleopatras home city. Cleopatra had three
• children with Antony, their names were Ptolemy
  Philadelphus, Cleopatra Selene, and Alexander
  Helios.

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The Death of Marcus and Cleopatra

• Marcus stabbed himself with a sword, after
• hearing false news of Cleopatras death. Hearing
• this, Cleopatra ordered her slaves to carry her
• husband to her. He died lying in Cleopatras
• outstretched arms. After weeks of grieving,
• Cleopatra knew she had no will to live left.
• Many people believe that she purposefully
• poisoned herself with snake venom. Egypts
• loss was great, they had lost their last and best
  queen of Egypt.

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Images of the queen
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Bibliography

• -Gregory, Kristiana, Cleopatra VII Daughter
• of the Nile, Scholastic 1999
• Macdonald, Fiona, Cleopatra Queen of Kings,
• Dorling Kindersley,2001
• -Stanley ,Diane, Cleopatra, Morrow Junior
• Books, 1994