Cleopatra had been made up to look like the goddess Aphrodite, and she sat beneath a gilded canopy while attendants dressed as cupids fanned her and burned sweet-smelling incense. All those of you born on February 29 who only get to celebrate their birthday once every four years have her to thank. Nevertheless, in 34 bce Antony celebrated a triumphal return to Alexandria. Alexandria was a place of star-studded luxury, laid out with parkland, colonnades, and wide thoroughfares (according to Schiff, its main street could accommodate eight chariots driving abreast). Updates? For Plutarch claims to have heard the story, embellished or not, from his grandfather Lamprias, who had been a friend of Philotas himself. To view it, confirm your age. He goes on to compliment the Alexandrians on the spectacular beauty of their city, tactfully including a passing tribute to Alexander the Great, who had founded it (the hero who is your founder, as Germanicus put it). For all the mark she made on the world, Cleopatra only lived 39 years. Did Caesar really give Cleopatra the nickname "golden mouth" for her oral sex skills? In 47 BC, Cleopatra gave birth to his son, Ptolemy Caesar, who was nicknamed Caesarion, or little Caesar. And now I want pizza. Poison, however, was most likely her method of choice. Is it OK for a 13 year old to shave their legs? One of the most generally accepted stories is that she induced an asp (an Egyptian cobra) to bite her. Maybe its the power, or the racy love life, or her striking looks (bangs, after all, are not easy to carry off). Like most men, women, and even children of Egypt at the time, Cleopatra shaved her head. In fact, Germanicus took an antiquarian cruise up the Nile, visiting the vast ruins of Thebes and the Valley of the Kings, just as his great- grandfather Julius Caesar had done in the company of Cleopatra herself in 47 BC. Its a good thing that Cleopatra had this experience under her belt because when her father Pharaoh Ptolemy XII died, she was more than prepared. The era of the Pharaohs was almost incomprehensibly longthe first dynasty of Egypt began in 3100 BCover 5,000 years ago. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons [Public Domain]). We have here, in other words, a direct connection right back to an eyewitness in Cleopatras kitchens, more than two thousand years ago. Ancient writer Plutarch claimed that while Cleopatras beauty was not altogether incomparable, it was her charisma (or, as he put it, irresistible charm) that made her desirable. Many of Cleopatras ancestors partnered with cousins or siblings, and its likely that her own parents were brother and sister. . Who was nicknamed the Golden Mouth? In his will, he made 18-year-old Cleopatra and her 10-year-old brother joint rulers. Twice a week we compile our most fascinating features and deliver them straight to you. which seemed like something of a habit for her. One of the most expensive beauty secrets of Cleopatra was that she slept with a golden mask on her face. However, despite our best efforts, we sometimes miss the mark. Ordered to appear before the general in Tarsus (in modern day Turkey), Cleopatra took her sweet time to get there, then arrived on a golden barge. Cleopatrasmeeting Mark Antony was truly dramatic. Cleopatra, dressed as the goddess Aphrodite, arrived to meet Mark Antony. In the end, we should probably resist the allure of biography and stick with the Augustan myth and Horaces demented queen.. How long can a foreign object stay in your ear? Frankly, we shall never know. Even today, no one knows exactly where the tomb that houses the bodies of Cleopatra and Mark Antony is. Ouch, man. Cleopatra was of Macedonian descent and had little, if any, Egyptian blood, although the Classical author Plutarch wrote that she alone of her house took the trouble to learn Egyptian and, for political reasons, styled herself as the new Isis, a title that distinguished her from the earlier Ptolemaic queen Cleopatra III, who had also claimed to be the living embodiment of the goddess Isis. Receive our Weekly Newsletter. Octavian (Romes first emperor, later known by the name Augustus) is said to have visited the tomb in 30 BC after he had finally defeated Cleopatra and Mark Antony, her partner and his Roman rival: in his enthusiasm to touch the mummified body, Octavian actually broke off a piece of Alexanders noseor so one Roman historian alleged. The boys sister, Cleopatra Selene, was to be ruler of Cyrene. Omissions? Or sheer fantasy? But this much is clear: Cleopatra is one historical figure that we just cant see to get enough of. Even without a turbulent queen, Egypt was always liable to be trouble. In addition to the affair setting tongues wagging, Cleopatra became a fashion and beauty icon amongst Roman women. Factinate is a fact website that is dedicated to finding and sharing fun facts about science, history, animals, films, people, and much more. Cleopatra not only adopted the Egyptian religion and worshiped traditional Egyptian gods, she actually believed she was one of them. In fact, she wore elaborate wigs made by slaves. In short, Antony was a goner. In 44 BC, Julius Caesar was assassinated by a group of conspirators on the steps of the Senate. Cleopatra's family, the Ptolemies, migrated to Egypt from Greece. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. Her codename, "Miss Golden Mouth" stems from a nickname of . Impressively, Cleopatra spoke as many as a dozen languages and was educated in mathematics, philosophy, oratory, and astronomy. News about upcoming issues, contributors, special events, online features, and more. The mummy with the golden tongue was highly unusual, but it is only one of the fascinating relics that have been found in the 16 new burial shafts recently discovered by Kathleen Martinez and her Dominican-Egyptian team. The name Cleopatra is a girl's name of Greek origin meaning "glory of the father". In Rome, determined excavation in the ground can give us a clue to the character of the ancient city, and to how it changed from the rabbit warrens of the first century BC to the much more impressive (or aggressive) imperial capital of the first century AD. A heartbroken Mark Antony immediately took his own life by stabbing himself in the stomach. Native Tongue Cleopatra was the first Ptolemaic ruler who learned to speak and write in Egyptian. Soon after, Cleopatra was forced to flee Egypt for Syria, where she raised an army and in 48 bce returned to face her brother at Pelusium, on Egypts eastern border. Cleopatra joined Julius Caesar in Rome beginning in 46 B.C., and her presence seems to have caused quite a stir. In 41 BCE, the beguiling empress employed similar theatrics when she was summoned to meet Mark Antony, the Roman triumvir in Tarsus. When her father, Ptolemy XII, died in 51 BCE, Cleopatra and her brother, Ptolemy XIII, coruled until she was forced to flee, about 50 BCE. The name Cleopatra (in Greek ) means she who comes from glorious father.. But unlike the rest of the Ptolemaic family, the young queen embraced many of Egypts ancient customs and was the first ruler to learn the Egyptian language. . She likely made herself appear more masculine in looks and in manner in order to project a more powerful demeanor. After graduating with a BA in Fashion and Textile Design in 2013, Emma decided to combine her love of art with her passion for writing. She spoke as many as a dozen languages and was educated in mathematics, philosophy, oratory and astronomy, and Egyptian sources later described her as a ruler who elevated the ranks of scholars and enjoyed their company. Theres also evidence that Cleopatra wasnt as physically striking as once believed. This included worshipping traditional Egyptian gods rather than those of the Greek religion Cleopatra was never one to be casual about anything, and she took this practice to extreme lengths. When, at the Battle of Philippi in 42 bce, Caesars assassins were routed, Mark Antony became the heir apparent of Caesars authorityor so it seemed, for Caesars great-nephew and personal heir, Octavian, was but a sickly boy. Cleopatras time in Rome was officially up. This is partly because, despite some sharp flashes of insight, her grip on the history, culture, and law of the Greco-Roman world is not always as firm as it might be. Just because Cleopatra and Mark Antony were the life of the party doesnt mean they didnt have their fair share of problems. HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. In 50 BC, only a year after she ascended to the throne, Cleopatra became embroiled in a dispute between Roman troops and a Syrian governor. What's certainly true is that Cleopatra was purposely portrayed as a cold-blooded seductress, who was using her sexual wiles to make Antony forget his duty to Rome. Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors. But what of the myth? Anyone sailing from Alexandria to Rome in 46 BC (when Cleopatra herself made that journey to visit Julius Caesar) would have felt, to use Schiffs apt comparison, rather as if they were going from eighteenth-century Versailles to eighteenth- century Philadelphia. Even today, no one knows exactly where the tomb that houses the bodies of Cleopatra and Mark Antony is. Never the shrinking violet, Cleopatra was presented with her own fleet of warships during the Battle of Actium in 31 BC. The Queen of the Nile has been portrayed on the silver screen by the likes of Claudette Colbert and Sophia Loren, but she was most famously played by Elizabeth Taylor in the 1963 sword-and-sandal epic Cleopatra. The film was plagued by production problems and script issues, and its budget eventually soared from $2 million to $44 millionincluding some $200,000 just to cover the cost of Taylors costumes. The life of Cleopatra VII, the last monarch of the Ptolemaic dynasty, is even more mythical than the story of Alexandria, and the real queen is even harder to excavate than the remains of her capital. Legend has it that she died by enticing an aspmost likely a viper or Egyptian cobrato bite her arm, but the ancient chronicler Plutarch admits that what really took place is known to no one. He says Cleopatra was also known to conceal a deadly poison in one of her hair combs, and the historian Strabo notes that she may have applied a fatal ointment. With this in mind, many scholars now suspect she used a pin dipped in some form of potent toxinsnake venom or otherwise. She was born in 69 BC and died by suicide in August of 30 BCbut more on that later. Cleopatra is often portrayed as an elegant temptress in art and film, but theres evidence that she wasnt as physically striking as you might think. The Egyptian Queen commanded her own army, enamored not one but two Roman rulers, and inspired countless works of art, literature, and film. She was even something of a feminist, giving Egyptian women rights, unlike other women of the day. Who was Cleopatras Last Lover before her death? Cleopatra dressed up as the goddess Aphrodite and sat beneath a gilded canopy while servants dressed as cupids fanned her and burned sweet-smelling incense. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Warren William, as Julius Caesar, and Claudette Colbert in Cleopatra, 1934. Ptolemy XIIIs reign and life ended when he drowned in the Nile River during a battle with Cleopatras and Caesars army. Get immediate access to the current issue and over 25,000 articles from the archives, plus the NYR App. One of its most famous librarians, in the early third century BC, was the poet Callimachus, originally from Cyrene (in modern Libya). 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