Who was Cleopatra?
Cleopatra VII was the last active ruler of ancient Egypt's Ptolemaic kingdom. She ruled from 51 to 30 BC and was famous for her alliances with Julius Caesar and Mark Antony.
Cleopatra belonged to a Greek-speaking dynasty founded by Ptolemy, one of Alexander the Great's generals. Unlike earlier rulers of her family, she learned to speak Egyptian. Ancient writers describe her as intelligent, multilingual and a skilled politician.
She formed a political and romantic alliance with Julius Caesar and had a son, Caesarion. After Caesar's murder, she allied with Mark Antony, with whom she had three children. Their forces were defeated by Octavian at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC.
Her death
In 30 BC, as Octavian's army entered Alexandria, Antony and then Cleopatra died by suicide. According to tradition, she used an asp, a venomous snake, but historians are not certain how she died. Egypt then became a Roman province.
Did You Know?
Cleopatra lived closer in time to the Moon landing than to the building of the Great Pyramid of Giza.