The Rise and Fall of Cleopatra

I was happily watching an old TV quiz show when a question involving Cleopatra came up. The contestant guessed the date of her death at something like 1500BC. Do people really not know when Cleopatra lived! Cleopatra had a very exciting life using her sexual prowess to captivate both Julius Caesar and Mark Antony. Here is a brief summary of her life (credit to AI for writing this).

Cleopatra VII Philopator (c. 69–30 BCE) was the last active ruler of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt, a Macedonian Greek dynasty founded after Alexander the Great’s conquests.
Born around 69 BCE in Alexandria, Cleopatra ascended to the throne in 51 BC at age 18, co-ruling with her younger brother Ptolemy XIII. She was also married to Ptolemy! Their joint reign quickly descended into civil war due to power struggles and court factions. In 48 BC, during Rome’s civil war between Julius Caesar and Pompey, Pompey fled to Egypt and was murdered by Ptolemy XIII prompting Caesar to travel to Alexandria to intervene.

Cleopatra famously arranged a secret meeting with Caesar who was besieged in the palace at Alexandria waiting for reinforcements. According to ancient sources like Plutarch, she had herself smuggled into his presence wrapped in bedding (often popularized later as a rug or carpet). Her boldness, charm, and political astuteness won Caesar’s support. He helped her defeat Ptolemy XIII and assume absolute power.

Cleopatra and Caesar became lovers, and in 47 BC she gave birth to a son, Ptolemy XV Caesarion whom she later declared Caesar’s son and co-ruler. In 46–44 BC, she visited Rome with Caesarion, where Caesar honored her publicly (though his official heir was his adopted nephew Octavian). Caesar’s assassination on the Ides of March (44 BC) forced her return to Egypt, where she consolidated power by elevating Caesarion.

After Caesar’s assassination Rome fell into further turmoil ending in civil war between Caesar’s adopted heir Octavian and his principle general Mark Antony. Antony’s military power was based in Egypt and he summoned Cleopatra to question her loyalties. She arrived dramatically on a golden barge, captivating him with her intelligence, wealth, and presence. They became lovers and political allies and she provided crucial resources for his campaigns.

Octavian declared war on Antony and Cleopatra in 32 BC. Their combined fleets were decisively defeated by Octavian at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC off Greece. Antony and Cleopatra fled to Alexandria. In 30 BC, Octavian invaded Egypt. Believing Cleopatra dead (due to a false report), Antony fell on his sword. Cleopatra, captured but unwilling to be paraded in a Roman triumph, committed suicide in 30 BC according to legend by the bite of an asp.

Given the use of her sexual charms to achieve her ends I thought she would be a great subject for a AI image. So here you are:


It doesn’t look much like her facially, but contemporary portraits do show her as fair skinned with red hair. Remember she was Macedonian not Egyptian and the Ptolemys married each other, not the locals!.

Here is a contemporary portrait showing her red hair worn up.



I thought she would be a good subject for series of images depicting her life. So I’ve created them using an AI image generator and put them in a photo album. You can see them


https://similarworlds.com/JoAnon/photos?album=414220