Cleopatra

Cleopatra — page 3
INTRODUCTION C leopatra is one of the most famous women from ancient history and for good reason As the queen of Egypt she ruled the richest nation that bordered the Mediterranean Sea But she lost that throne at age twenty-one when she was driven into exile by her brother’s supporters and forced to flee Egypt for Syria She only regained the throne through an alliance to a powerful Roman named Julius Caesar Once she was restored to her throne however the drama did not end It continued with the murder of one and pos sibly two of her brothers clever plotting by Cleopatra to increase Egypt’s fortunes and armed conflict that ended in her death At a time when Egypt’s rulers distanced themselves from their subjects Cleopatra did not She was the only member of her family to learn the Egyptian language In her portraits she appeared wearing Egyptian dress One of her titles was Philopatris a word that means she who loves her coun try This love was returned by the Egyptian people among whom she was greatly popular As a woman ruler she made full use of all her gifts as a person and a descendant of her royal family Plutarch a biographer from antiquity described her as charming irre sistible and bewitching She was not a great beauty he said but her presence alone impressed everyone When she spoke It was a pleasure merely to hear the sound of her voice with which like an instrument of many strings she could pass from one language to another In fact Cleopatra spoke nine languages in all 6