Cleopatra’s Interactions with the Roman Empire and their Representation in Historical Sources

Cleopatra has been portrayed as seductress by men such as other Romans and Roman poets. This is because she was a powerful, wealthy and intelligent female leader who intimidated men, which placed certain ideas into their head. As a result of this, she did not receive the recognition and acknowledgment for her role in Egypt, as she ruled. Cleopatra was the queen of Egypt and the last of the Macedonian Greek dynasty that ruled Egypt from the time of Alexander the Great's death in 323 BCE to about 30 BCE. She was a talented and resourceful individual of great charm but ruthless when she felt she had to be. She knew a half dozen to a dozen other languages. She was an educated intellectual and a capable administrator. Despite her abilities and effort she failed and her life was one of sadness rather than glamour. Whilst Cleopatra was born in Egypt, she was not Egyptian. Her nationality was Macedonian. Despite not being ethnically Egyptian, Cleopatra embraced many of her country’s ancient customs and was the first member of the Ptolemaic line to learn the Egyptian language.

Cleopatra was called a 'whore queen' by Propertius, 'fatal monster' by Horace, and 'Egypt's shame' by Lucan. She was vilified by Augustan poets as a foreign seductress. Although it is has never been proven that the rumours about Cleopatra were false, nor could it be proven that they were true. However, it would seem that everyone around her had a lot to gain by trying to smear her reputation and take her power away. There were many materials published by males to create a slanderous and degrading image of Cleopatra. Materials such as textbooks, articles and propaganda were created to destroy her reputation.

It was while he was in Egypt that Mark Antony met Cleopatra. Like Julius Caesar before him, Mark Antony soon fell in love with the Queen of Egypt. Mark Antony decided to divorce his wife and marry Cleopatra. Octavian was furious that his sister should be treated in this way. The people of Rome were also angry because Mark Antony had married a foreigner. Her reasons for marrying Mark Antony could’ve been to expand her empire as he was ruler of Rome and she was ruler of Egypt. In ancient times, especially in Egypt and Rome, it was either kill or be killed. There were many rumours that Cleopatra was involved in the murder of her siblings, however, it is not known why she killed them or even if she did. For example, Cleopatra’s sister, Arsinoe, was taken as a prisoner of war to Rome by the Roman triumvir Julius Caesar following the defeat of Ptolemy XIII in the Battle of the Nile. Arsinoe was then exiled to the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus in Roman Anatolia, but she was executed there by orders of triumvir Mark Antony in 41 BC at the behest of his lover Cleopatra. If she did do this, her reasons could’ve been because everything and everyone was competitive and ruthless. She obviously wanted to be ruler. She might’ve thought that because she was the oldest child, she had the right to be new ruler to Egypt.

The relationship between Cleopatra and Mark Antony was sown with the murder of Julius Caesar in March 44 BC. Rome descended into anarchy and civil war. By 41 BC Antony and Octavian (who would later change his name to Augustus) shared the leadership of Rome and had divided the state into two regions - the western portion including Spain and Gaul ruled by Octavian, the eastern region including Greece and the Middle East ruled by Antony. Mark Antony was in Egypt with Cleopatra instead of his wife, Octavia, who also happened to be Octavian's sister. Octavian was scheming to find a way to sever ties with Antony, start a war to crush him, kill a potential rival (Caesar and Cleopatra’s son, Caesarion), and take control of the entire Roman world. He did this by cleverly exposing Antony’s will to the Senate, where he read out how Antony had left all his money to his children by Cleopatra, where they would reign as monarchs over kingdoms that he and Cleopatra would leave to them. Romans were scandalized by this type of behaviour. Then Antony divorced Octavia to marry Cleopatra. Octavian (who later became the emperor Augustus) convinced the Senate via a nasty propaganda campaign to start a war against Cleopatra, since they were reluctant to declare war on Antony, as he was a true Roman and the last thing Octavian or the senate needed was a mutiny. Eventually, Octavian chased Antony’s senatorial supporters from Rome, and in 32 BC, the Roman Senate declared war against Cleopatra. Because of Cleopatra’s relationship with Mark Antony, it allowed her to have full access to Rome as Antony was a Roman politician and general who played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic from an oligarchy into the autocratic Roman Empire.

On September 2, 31 B.C., Octavian’s forces soundly defeated those of Antony and Cleopatra in the Battle of Actium. Cleopatra’s ships deserted the battle and fled to Egypt, and Antony soon managed to break away and follow her with a few ships. With Alexandria under attack from Octavian’s forces, Antony heard a rumour that Cleopatra had committed suicide. He fell on his sword, and died just as news arrived that the rumour had been false. On August 12, 30 B.C., after burying Antony and meeting with the victorious Octavian, Cleopatra closed herself in her chamber with two of her female servants. The means of her death is uncertain, but Plutarch and other writers advanced the theory that she used a poisonous snake known as the asp, a symbol of divine royalty. According to her wishes, Cleopatra’s body was buried with Antony’s, leaving Octavian (later Emperor Augustus I) to celebrate his conquest of Egypt and his consolidation of power in Rome. In the centuries since her reign, the life of Cleopatra has captivated historians, storytellers and the general public. Her story resonates because of what she represented in such a male-dominated society; in an era when Egypt was roiled by internal and external battles, Cleopatra held the country together and proved to be as powerful a leader as any of her male counterparts. Cleopatra was a powerful, wealthy and intelligent female leader who intimidated men and because of this, her rise to power was hindered. Many were convinced she was a manipulative foreigner who was known as a seductress.