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With the death of Alexander the Great in
323 BC, one of his closest generals,
Ptolemy, was put in charge of one third
of the land Alexander had captured.
Ptolemy was in control of parts of Libya,
Lebanon, Greece and Egypt, where he made
Alexandria his capital city. In 305 BC,
Ptolemy broke off his ties with Macedonia
then declared himself King of Egypt, this
begining the Ptolemy Dynasty in
Egypt.
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Cleopatra was the daughter of
Ptolemy XII. The death of her
father in 51 BC saw Cleopatra
ascend the throne. In accordance
with Egyptian law, she had to have
a consort who was either a brother
or son, thus she was forced to
marry her twelve year old brother
Ptolemy XIII.
At that time, the Egyptian
economy was in decline. They had
lost control of other countries and
Egypt had been suffering droughts.
This led to a Civil War between
Cleopatra and her brother.
Cleopatra soon looked like loosing
everything as her brother took
control of the country.
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In 48 BC, the Roman Pompey had fled to
Egypt to evade Caesar. When he stepped
ashore at Alexandria, the young king
Ptolemy had Pompey killed. Caesar's
arrived in Alexandria soon after, saw him
presented with Pompey’s head.
Caesar arranged a meeting with Ptolemy
at that time, but the night before,
Cleopatra was smuggled into Alexandria
rolled in a carpet to meet Caesar. That
night, she seduced Caesar. When the young
king arrived the following morning, he
realised Caesar was going to help his
sister. The battle that followed saw the
young kings army defeated. It is thought
Ptolemy drowned in the Nile when fleeing.
Cleopatra was then the sole ruler of
Egypt.
To keep the Egyptian priests happy,
Cleopatra married her eleven year old
brother Ptolemy XIV, even though she was
expecting Caesar's child at that time.
Caesar returned to Rome soon after where
he was appointed Dictator for ten
years.
In the autumn of 46 BC, Cleopatra and
Caesar's son, Ptolemy Caesarion,
travelled to Rome to be with Caesar. They
stayed with Caesar until he was
assassinated in 44 BC. Cleopatra and her
son then fled from Rome to Alexandria. On
her return, she had her brother
assassinated so her son could be
appointed Co-Regent.
With the death of Caesar, two soldiers
who faithfully served under him, Mark
Antony and Lepidus, along with Caesars
adopted son Octavian, persuaded the
senate to hunt down the assassins led by
Brutus. By 42 BC, the last of the
assassins had been defeated, this leading
to the Roman world being divided into
three parts to be run by Antony, Lepidus
and Octavian.
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41 BC, Antony arranged a meeting
with Cleopatra at Tarsus in Turkey.
That meeting saw the pair fall in
love then travell to Alexandria to
be together.
Mark Antony was then torn
between his Roman wife and
Cleopatra. He made attempts to
carry on with his Roman duties, but
in 34 BC, he returned to Cleopatra
and their two sons in
Alexandria.
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Octavian saw that as his chance to
gain control of the Roman Empire for
himself. He persuaded Lepidus to retire
then met the combined forces of Cleopatra
and Mark Antony at Actium in Western
Greece for a decisive battle, 2nd
September 31 BC. That battle ended with
Mark Antony and Cleopatra defeated and
Antony’s army deserting him. After
the battle, an inaccurate report that
Cleopatra had died, lead to Mark Antony
committing suicide.
After Cleopatra was captured, she soon
realised Octavian was going to keep her
prisoner and parade her through the
streets of Rome. Cleopatra is thought to
have committed suicide by the bite of a
cobra, she died 12th August 30 BC.
After her death, Caesarion was
murdered and her two sons by Antony were
raised by his Roman wife. From that time,
Egypt was governed by Romans, Cleopatra
was the last Pharaoh. Octavian then
became the first Emperor of Rome.
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