Queen Cleopatra VII of all Egypt ruled from 51 – 30 BC after the parlous reign of her father Ptolemy XII with whom she co-ruled for a short while. She was the last Pharaoh of Egypt’s Hellenistic or Greek period, prior to Egypt becoming a Roman province, upon her demise. Known for her stunning beauty, she entranced and entrapped Julius Caesar and his General, Mark Anthony, bearing one child to the former and two to the latter. Her stunning life was dramatised by Elizabeth Taylor, in a movie bearing her name, in 1963.

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Debt and Pain Across the Land

During the rule of her father, Ptolemy XII, much strife beset Egypt. The Nile refused to give up its soothing waters for abundant crops, conflicts skirted the Kingdom and quarrels were common in the Royal House. It was into this scene that the Pharaoh Ptolemy XII died, leaving His Kingdom to his children Ptolemy XIII and Cleopatra VII, as co-rulers. The pair were to inherit a donkey, so riddled with strife and famine was their beloved home, and Cleopatra made it quite clear she was to be the one who was to rule the land, striking her brother Ptolemy XIII’s name from all official documentation.

Cast Out

When the co-monarch Ptolemy XIII saw his sister’s disastrous engagement with the Roman Gabiniani Legions who had been placed in Egypt to protect her father, Ptolemy XII, a plot was hatched to rid Egypt of Cleopatra. Cleopatra then fled into exile, to Rome. Now – her brother Ptolemy XIII was Pharaoh – Cleopatra’s greedy grasp for sole ruler-ship had failed her. Not to worry, she simply bided her time.

Pompey Assassinated

Pompey, an upstart who inflamed a civil war upon Rome whilst Cleopatra was in exile, was caught by Pharaoh Ptolemy XIII and beheaded. The Egyptian Pharaoh then presented Pompey’s head to Julius Caesar, assuming that Caesar would be glad his enemy was now dead. Egypt was in deep debt to Rome, anyway, and Ptolemy thought it would please Caesar. In fact, it had just the opposite effect. Pompey, although Julius Caesar’s enemy, was still a Roman Consul and linked to Caesar’s daughter. So, Julius Caesar immediately sent legions to Egypt overthrowing Ptolemy XIII. This was Cleopatra’s chance to return to her beloved Nile Kingdom.