For discussion of the life of Gaius Julius Caesar, 100-44 BC, and Rome in his time.
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Welcome Cleopatra
- Ah yes, Cleopatra
One of my favorite subjects. Here is a woman who captivated two Caesars and made one tremble. Not a bad days work at all. LOL
Her brother....Ptolemy XIII was 10 years old at the time of their accession to the throne of Egypt. The 10 year old king had been provided with a council of guardians made up of the dioiketes Pothinus, a eunuch in charge of finance and administration, the tropheus Theodotus, the king's tutor, and the army commander Achillas. Ptolemaic law, regarding co rulers, had always given kings precedence over queens. If the guardians wished to advance their own ambitions through the manipulation of a child king, they had a keen interest in limiting and controlling this determined queen.
In Alexandria, the strains of joint rule, made worse by the impending Roman civil war, had destroyed the already fragile harmony within the royal family. Alexandrians had always detested signs of subservience to Rome; the Gabinians resisted the break up of their community. Pothinus and the council acting (as Caesar wrote) through the king's 'friends and relatives', fastened the blame on Cleopatra as the senior of the co-rulers and the dominating figure in government. By the end of 49 BCE, the sentiment of the people of Alexandria had turned against her and she was driven from the capital. Decrees began to be issued in the name of Ptolemy XIII alone.
Caesar forced a reconciliation between the two monarchs but his continued presence in Egypt and obvious favoritism toward Cleopatra ultimately produced a war with her brother that literally came to the palace door in Alexandria. Her defeated brother drowned in the Nile while trying to escape.
She then married her younger brother, Ptolemy XIV. After her notorious visit to Rome (during which Julius Caesar was murdered), she returned to Egypt. Shortly after her return, this brother is heard of no more. There really is no evidence she killed him or had him killed though she had the best motive. Shortly after his disappearance, Caesarion (her son with Caesar) was elevated to joint monarch.
She was a remarkable woman who proved herself to be a match for the men of her times both in intellect and in her ability to rule.....which, I think, was her greatest charm. She rebuilt Egypt's economy which had suffered greatly because of the civil war with her brother and because of the lack of the Nile floods over a 3 year period.
More to come on Cleopatra's relationship with Antony (whom she married) and her actions at Actium.
- Cleopatra~What shall one say about the Queen?
Cleopatra was certainly an enigmatical character. She could easily be construed as the Queen trying to save her country, or either as being evil. (I believe it was Euripedes who made Medea out to be a loving mother who just *had* to kill her two children?) I'm wondering what everyone thinks about Cleopatra. She appears as a very bright woman, but who thinks nothing except for herself. My proofs for this is as follows: having her brother murdered in order for her to seize control; deserting her Antony at Actium; playing foolish games in her younger years with Antony, games such as dressing up and scaring the poor people--I never really understood that.
Anyhow, if I am wrong in any of these details, please correct me. She was an extraordinarily powerful woman--but does she deserve to be admired in the sense that she was brave, or just evil?
- Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator
It is important to speak about Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator because from 48 b.C. until 31 b.C. she has a great role in the roman republic history.
Created by: * Heraklia Aelius, subeditdate
There are already individual threads for Pompey, Cicero, and others of Caesar's important contemporaries, but now we add Cleopatra!
Cleopatra, by rights, deserves her own thread, but she is particularly vital in considering Caesar the politician, the general, and the man.
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