Empires: Cleopatra and the Romans Part Four

In one of the many great ironies of history, it was Cleopatra who supported Pompey the Great in his war with Julius Caesar when she began her political alliance with Rome. Caesar pursued Pompey and attacked Ptolemy XIII (Cleopatra's brother) for harboring him. Ptolemy expelled his sister, Cleopatra, because his position was made more fragile by these attacks and he did not want to give Cleopatra a chance to take advantage of his weakened position. Cleopatra tried to raise an army during her exile in Arabia and Palestine. Contemporary coins minted at Ascalon (a coastal city in what is now modern Israel) show this. However, before anything could happen, a clash between Caesar and Pompey became the focus of attention. Caesar defeated Pompey at Pharsalus in Thessaly in 48 B.C. Caesar then restored Cleopatra to Egypt's throne. By this time they were already lovers. Cleopatra, very smartly, used this personal and political alliance with Julius Caesar and Rome to expand her sphere of influence outside of Egypt. Cleopatra's power was greatly reinforced when she became the mother of Caesar's only son, Caesarion, in 47 B.C.

When Caesar was assassinated in 44 B.C., Cleopatra then entered into a political alliance with Mark Antony that had even greater consequences. Again she extended her power by becoming the mother of Mark Antony's twins, Cleopatra Selene and Alexander Helios in 41 B.C. and whom he recognized in 37 B.C. Yet a third child, Ptolemy Philadelphus was born in 36 B.C. During this personal and political alliance Mark Antony returned part of the old Ptolemaic empire, including Cyrenaica (the eastern coastal region of Libya) to Egyptian rule. In 34 B.C., Antony and Cleopatra received additional 'donations', which consisted of all the lands once ruled by Alexander the Great. Antony appointed Cleopatra and her children to rule over them. This made Cleopatra "Queen of Kings" and her son Ptolemy Caesar (Caesarion) "King of Kings". Their domain now included not only Egypt, but also the entire empire east and west of the Euphrates, including Cyrenaica.

These generous 'gifts' to Cleopatra put Mark Antony's loyalty to Rome in doubt. The Roman Senate even refused to approve of them. Octavian (Augustus Caesar) was able to make use of Antony's autocratic style and a vicious propaganda war ensued between them. Perhaps the couple thought that Cleopatra's vast wealth, army and naval fleet would protect them. Antony also had a few senatorial friends left in Rome. However, when the contents of Antony's will were made known, first by former allies, then read by Octavian to the Senate himself, the balance of power shifted greatly in favor of Ocatvian. It is not known if the contents of the will were even true and may have been fabricated by Antony's enemies. The Roman people already had suspicions about Mark Antony. Yet when they heard about the will giving Roman land to Egypt, Antony recognizing Caesarion as Caesar's son and that Mark Antony intended to be buried in Alexandria rather than Rome, they claimed to be shocked and demanded war. When the populace demanded war this played right into Octavian's hands. The result of this was Octavian meeting Mark Antony and Cleopatra on the seas near Actium. This led to a great victory for Octavian and the double suicides of Antony and Cleopatra in Alexandria. These are the broad facts of the story. Now I want to go a little further by examining Cleopatra, Julius Caesar, Mark Antony and Octavian's personalities and interactions in a little more depth. I hope anyone stopping by has enjoyed this small series. I hope to have the next post about it here very soon. Peace and be well to anyone stopping by!