She is the largest selling brand in the
world of beauty and wellness. Her name attracts the attention of women all
across the globe and is found on labels of aromatic oils, beauty products,
clothing and accessories. Her name adorns the brand names of beauty salons
world wide. New revelations about her beauty secrets still make tabloid
headlines. Pop stars make hit songs dressed as her. She is the ultimate symbol
of seduction and glamour in popular culture and has been even before
Shakespeare wrote a play about her. She is the eternal Cleopatra.
The name itself means ‘Glory of the father’
in Greek and indeed she was the most famous and most able of the Ptolemaic
dynasty that ruled Egypt for over 300 years. She was also the one who had to
face challenges greater that any of her predecessors.
Ptolemy Aulteus, Cleopatra’s father died in
the Spring of 51 BC, leaving behind a turbulent empire to his 18 year old
daughter and her 12 year old younger brother Ptolemy XIII whom he had chosen as
successors in a written will. The youngest brother, Ptolemy XIV was barely a
child. At this point, the Egyptian strength had been on the decline for the
past century and was on a downward slide, while Romans were conquering the
continent. It was inevitable that they would take over Egypt sooner than later.
Aulteus Ptolemy had tried all he could by having a pact with the Romans and
paying tributes to keep them away from Egypt but he died with a heavy heart for
he knew that the Egypt that his children had inherited could not be safe for
long. Like the dying captain of a sinking ship, he felt helpless against the
waves of destiny. His only option was to leave the ship in the hands of his
ablest lieutenant and hope for a miracle. That lieutenant was Cleopatra, his
intelligent and patriotic princess who was fluent in nine languages, had a
scientific temperament and was an astute businesswoman. She did work
miracles.
The law in Egypt did not allow a single
woman to be ruler, and custom dictated she had to marry a member of the royal
family and have him as official consort. Thus she publicly married her
younger brother which was the most acceptable option according to customs of
the time. It was a ceremonial affair only and everyone knew that Cleopatra
would be on the throne as the sole ruler in practice. She dropped her brother’s
name from all official records and had only her own name and portrait on the
coins.
When Cleopatra sat on the throne, she
immediately saw that the empire was crumbling around her. Cyprus, Coele-Syria and Cyrenaica were gone.
There was anarchy abroad and famine at home. To make matters more difficult,
some of her own courtiers and powerful officials began plotting against her
when they realized she would not toe their line and had a mind of her own. Soon
she was overthrown by them in favour of her younger brother whom they felt
would be easier to manipulate. They formed a ‘Council of Regency’ and
influenced the helpless child king.
Cleopatra was forced to flee to Thebaid and
watch helplessly as Egypt suffered from severe famine. The ruler signed a
decree on October 27, 50 BC which banned any shipments of grain to anywhere but
Alexandria. It is thought that this was to deprive Cleopatra and her supporters
who were not in Alexandria. Not one to be cowed down, Cleopatra started an
army, recruiting men from the Arab tribes. She was forced to shift base many
times and remain in hiding for the court officials would have liked her dead.
Meanwhile, Egypt became embroiled in Roman
conflict between Julius Caesar and Pompey. Pompey fled to the Egyptian capital
Alexandria for refuge, where he was murdered on the orders of the counsellors
in the name of the Pharaoh. Caesar reached Alexandria soon after, along with thirty-two
hundred legionaries and eight hundred cavalry. Egypt could not hope to stand in
his way.
There were riots that followed in
Alexandria. Ptolemy XIII fled from Alexandria as Caesar placed himself in the
royal palace and started giving out orders. The court officials who were the
real power centre were busy in negotiations to convince Caesar to keep them as advisers and leave Egypt in their hands for safekeeping when he returned to
Rome. Cleopatra knew this was her chance to make a re-entry into her rightful
domain of ruling Egypt. Her enemies were all over Alexandria and there was no
chance of her making it into the palace alive. So she had herself smuggled in
through enemy lines rolled in a carpet. It was a dramatic entry as the carpet
was unrolled before Caesar and out came the beautiful Cleopatra. He was
intrigued and enamored. Her influence on him was clear and It was thought that
Caesar planned to make Cleopatra the sole ruler of Alexandria.
The ousted court officials could not bear
to see all their power snatched away and be placed at the mercy of the woman
they had tried to kill. They organised an army against Caesar and thus started
the Alexandrian wars. Caesar was superior in ability as well as resources and
he triumphed. His first act thereafter was to have all opposition leaders
executed. Ptolemy XIII drowned in the Nile while he was trying to flee. Thus,
Cleopatra became the sole ruler officially. The times and circumstances had
change but the Egyptian law and customs had not. To gain acceptance of the people
and avoid the censure of the influential priestly class, Cleopatra had to have
a male consort of Egyptian royal blood. Caesar did not qualify so she was
forces to have a ceremonial marriage with her youngest brother Ptolemy XIV who
was then only eleven years old. Caesar played along because after the charade he
was being handed on a platter the resource rich Egyptian land and its beautiful
and witty queen. He also dreamt of having his heir sit on the throne of Egypt
for Cleopatra soon bore him a son, Caesarion.
During July of the year 46 BC, Caesar
returned to Rome as a grand victor. He became very popular and was given many honours
along with a ten-year dictatorship. He brought Cleopatra to Rome soon after but
she was not accepted by the conservative Republicans who were upset. Caesar
already had a Roman wife and bringing in a foreign unwed mother of his child as
mistress was extremely scandalous. Many were upset that he was planning to
marry Cleopatra regardless of the laws against bigamy and marriages to
foreigners. In truth the Senators were deeply threatened by the growing
popularity of Caesar and his ability to bend laws and have his way. They feared
that he would become an absolute authoritarian and put an end to the republican
system. The conspiracy that had been brewing against him ended it all on the
infamous Ides of March in 44 BC, when Caesar was assassinated outside the
Senate Building in Rome. Cleopatra’s own life was in danger and she immediately
fled to Alexandria.
Meanwhile in Rome, the conspirators Brutus
and Cassius were killed and Antony, Octavian and Lepidus were triumphant.
Cleopatra observed the turn of tide from a distance. She knew she would have to
deal with Rome again for whosoever came to power would want to ensure they had
control of Eqypt by putting their own man on the throne. Rome went to Mark
Antony. He invited Cleopatra to meet him in 41 BC. Even though Egypt was on the
verge of economic collapse, Cleopatra put on a show for Mark Antony, sailing
into view with silver oars, purple sails, dressed as Aphrodite, the goddess of
love.
Cleopatra bore Mark Antony three children,
the twins Alexander Helios and Cleopatra Selene and the youngest Ptolemy
Philadelphos. Ptolemy XV (Caesarion) was made the co-ruler with his mother. Mark
Antony gave her much land which was very essential to Egypt. He gave her
Cyprus, the Cilician coast, Phoenicia, Coele-Syria, Judea and Arabia. This
allowed Egypt to build a large fleet of ships from the lumber from Cilician
coast. For Antony, it Egypt was a great resource for its crops, its ships and
its revenue from trade.
Meanwhile Antony divorced his wife Octavia
who was sister of Octavian. He also put Cleopatra’s name and face on the Roman
coin, the silver denarii. These moves completely alienated Antony from the
Roman allegiance of which he had been a part. Propaganda in Rome was targeted
at besmirching Cleopatra’s reputation by calling her an Oriental Harlot, thus
indirectly hitting Mark Antony’s own acceptance within Rome. Octavian declared
war against Antony and deployed his navy, defeating Antony in Greece. Mark
Antony and Cleopatra combined armies to take on Octavian's forces in a great
sea battle at Actium, on the west coast of Greece. Octavian was victorious and
Cleopatra and Mark Antony fled to Egypt. Octavian pursued them and captured
Alexandria in 30 BC. With his soldiers deserting him, Mark Antony took his own
life.
After Antony's death, Cleopatra was taken
to Octavian where her role in Octavian's triumph was carefully explained to
her. He had no interest in any relationship, negotiation or reconciliation with
the Queen of Egypt. She would be displayed as a slave in the cities she had
ruled over. She would not live this way, so she had an asp, which was an
Egyptian cobra, brought to her hidden in a basket of figs. She died on August
12, 30 BC at the age of 39. The Egyptian religion declared that death by
snakebite would secure immortality. With this, she achieved her dying wish, to
not be forgotten. After Cleopatra's death, Caesarion was strangled and the
other children of Cleopatra were raised by Antony's wife, Octavia.
Cleopatra
was the last Pharaoh of Egypt. She was a highly intelligent woman and an astute
politician, who brought prosperity and peace to a country that was bankrupt and
split by civil war. She has often been depicted as a seductress who used her
beauty to get the throne. Had circumstances been different, would she have chosen
a different route to power?
Cleopatra was not the first female to rule
Egypt. That honour goes to Hatshepsut, the first female Pharaoh. Hatshepsut also
faced the problem of acceptance by the patriarchal society. She chose to
overcome it in a different way. She took on a masculine appearance while at
court and even wore a fake beard, just like the male Pharaohs. Cleopatra
however emphasised her feminity and beauty, taking special care of her appearance,
inventing perfumes and methods of beautifying herself. She advertised her
beauty and had it widely spoken of. She chose to use her feminity as a route to
power. These are excellent examples of the polarised approaches taken by women
leaders in the past, both rejected by modern feminists.
In today’s world,
thankfully the modern women neither have to ‘be a man’, nor be ‘a man’s woman’
to succeed. They have the option of choosing a professional expression that that
lets them be seen as just a person who is evaluated solely on the basis of
capability. All that they need to be successful is the courage to be themselves
and do their best.
