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History > Ancient Civilizations
Cleopatra: the Last Queen of Egypt Elena Kosolobova Myths For more than two thousand years, the passions around the famous queen, who became one of the odious figures of history, have not subsided.
Even the ancient classics mentioned her in their works, later her image was sung by Shakespeare, Pushkin and Bernard Shaw, and today many stories, novels and, especially, notes in the press are dedicated to Cleopatra.
To be honest, after reading the reviews of modern authors about Cleopatra, it becomes a little insulting for the queen... and for the poverty of our thinking.
It seems that our contemporary is not interested in anything except questions of appearance and intimate life – these topics are most popular.
It's a shame that the image of Cleopatra the queen and Cleopatra the politician somehow got lost behind all this.
It is difficult to judge what the Egyptian queen was really like after all these years.
The real woman has long disappeared under the mountains of rumors and speculation.
Unfortunately, first of all we learn about her as a great courtesan, about a woman of rare cunning and promiscuity, about whole legions of her lovers who are ready to give their lives for a night spent with the queen (the concept of "Cleopatra's night" has even become a household name).
We are recommended exotic cosmetics that the queen used (probably, this increases their popularity), and so on and so on.
We are dealing with the Cleopatra myth.
And as it happens with every myth, it changes over time, "adapting" to the views of society.
Recently, an exhibition dedicated to Cleopatra was held in Rome.
Its organizer, Susan Walker, an employee of the British Museum, expressed the opinion that the beginning of the "legends" about the queen was laid by none other than the Emperor Octavian Augustus himself, who hated her and not only greatly inflated rumors about her promiscuity, but could influence the opinion of Roman authors and historians.
But, for example, in the Renaissance, with its ideals of sublime love and chivalry, Cleopatra became a kind of standard of virtue, because she preferred death to life without a lover.
Love and honor are the ideals of a true lady, and the queen avoids the dishonor and captivity that Octavian threatens her with at the cost of her own life.
Regarding the appearance of the queen, the opinions of modern authors are divided.
Some of them claim that Cleopatra was as beautiful as the Trojan Helen (as well as "smart as Aspasia" and "passionate as Sappho").
However, to great surprise, there are opinions that the queen was not only ugly, but very ugly (some even mention a long hooked nose).
The funny thing about this is that there is no reliable description of Cleopatra's appearance.
Ancient authors only mention that she had an extraordinary charm and attractiveness, intelligence, talent of a true diplomat, and also had an unusually beautiful fascinating voice.
Therefore, the source of information of modern authors is, apparently, fiction or some images of the queen preserved on reliefs, coins and statues, which are striking in their diversity and lack of similarity to each other.
In the XVII century, paintings depicted her in the image of a lush blonde, dressed in a dress with figmas.
Bernard Shaw's Cleopatra becomes a sweet and capricious dummy.
In the XX century, she is both a vamp woman (who, if not her?..), and the first decadent, and a symbol of tyrannoclasm: after all, passions and pleasures can become a way of fighting against imperial rule no worse than armies.
Today, Cleopatra has become a kind of ideal of a modern woman who skillfully combines the management of the state with the upbringing of four children, who at the same time has enough time for her personal life and for maintaining her own attractiveness.
A symbol of female luck and success!
It is curious who she will become, say, in 50 years?..
What does history say about Cleopatra?
History Cleopatra VII Philopatra was the last queen of Ancient Egypt.
After a galaxy of weak and weak willed kings (one of them, Cleopatra's father, for example, was famous only for playing the flute well), a strong ruler finally reigned on the throne of Egypt.
However, Cleopatra came to power when the star of Egypt had actually set.
Rome played a decisive role in the world, which captured neighboring states and turned them into its provinces.
The days of Egypt's freedom were numbered, but Cleopatra, realizing this, nevertheless fought, using every opportunity, for her throne and for the independence of her state.
By the way, the last Ptolemies (Ptolemy XI and Ptolemy XII, Cleopatra's father) literally bought their right to power from Rome.
Egypt did not have a strong enough army to fight with the Roman one, and could only buy its independence (there were still legends about untold Egyptian treasures in Rome), as well as show loyalty to Roman politics by supplying its fleet and troops to Roman generals.
It is difficult to say what guided the actions of the queen – great love or sober calculation; rather, the latter is true.
However, she proved to be a very wise and subtle politician, betting on two of the greatest people of her time – first on Gaius Julius Caesar, and then on Mark Antony.
Rome at this time was experiencing a difficult transition from the republic to the empire, accompanied by a struggle in the Senate and between the consuls.
This was what the queen used to win back the independence of Egypt.
There was also unrest in Egypt itself, and Cleopatra had to fight a fierce struggle for the Egyptian throne with her brothers and younger sister.
According to Egyptian laws, Cleopatra could not rule alone – her younger brothers were her co rulers.
The acquaintance with Caesar occurred at the moment when the eldest of the brothers, Ptolemy XIII, expelled the queen and she was gathering opposition troops in Syria to regain the Egyptian throne.
When Caesar met Cleopatra, she was a little more than 20 years old, and Caesar was over 50, and he was reputed to be the greatest man of his time.
Apparently, his feelings for the young woman were really strong.
Historians testify that at a time when every day was dear to Caesar (just at that time he was fighting for autocracy in Rome), he allowed himself to spend several months with Cleopatra in Egypt, traveling to the upper reaches of the Nile, and later invited the Egyptian queen to Rome, where she lived in his villa.
The dictator hatched plans to become the ruler of Rome, and to make Cleopatra, a descendant of the true ancient kings, his wife and co ruler.
By the way, the young woman who charmed him so much was not only attractive, but also very educated for her time, she easily spoke many languages (despite the fact that most Greeks in Alexandria did not even know Egyptian) and was certainly an excellent psychologist.
If the dictator's plans had succeeded, the question of Egyptian sovereignty and royal power would not have stood for Cleopatra; moreover, Egypt could have become the cultural center of a huge Roman state.
At the same time, Caesar did not intend to divorce Calpurnia, his Roman wife.
There were rumors that he already had a draft law ready, according to which he – the ruler of the world monarchy – was allowed to take as many wives as he wanted for the birth of heirs.
Thanks to this law, he could adopt his child from Cleopatra (who would soon become Ptolemy XV Caesar, the mother's co ruler).
However, the Ides of March in 44 BC with the murder of the great Caesar put an end to the queen's hopes.
Then Cleopatra's choice fell on Mark Antony, the best Roman commander at that time.
After the death of Caesar, power in Rome was divided by his two "heirs": Octavian took control of the west, and Mark Antony - the east.
It should be noted that Mark Antony, judging by the descriptions, was a simple, rude man, a lover of drinking and smoking, which is why he was dubbed Dionysus in the east.
Taking advantage of this, Cleopatra managed to present her visit to the governor of the East in such a way that a rumor passed that "Aphrodite herself is marching to Dionysus for the benefit of Asia."
The stern was of gold, and the sail of purple.
There the aromas burned, and the wind froze with admiration.
To the sound of flutes, silver oars rose in harmony, and the current Followed the music with a rustle.
You canot describe her in words.
She was lying in a golden tent slimmer than Venus, and after all, the goddess is not an authenticity, but a fairy tale and a dream this is how Shakespeare describes the royal visit.
This alliance was beneficial to both Antony and Cleopatra.
Antony needed Egyptian wealth in his struggle for power in Rome, and for Cleopatra it was another chance to become the ruler of the Roman state.
There are even versions among historians that if Antony and Cleopatra won, not Rome, but Alexandria could become the center of a huge monarchy (or it would be an empire – who knows how the course of history would turn then?).
The world famous novel of the commander and the queen, in fact, served as a source of subsequent gossip.
Of course, there was no nobility and sublimity that distinguished the relationship between Cleopatra and Julius Caesar.
But the queen, who perfectly understood human nature, could not help but see the cultural level and interests of her lover and willingly played along with him.
Historians also mention the magnificent feasts in which the royal couple spent their time (by the way, the myth of the pearl dissolved in vinegar and drunk is of later origin), and royal amusements, like walking in the clothes of commoners around the city at night.
The romance of Antony and Cleopatra lasted for almost 14 years and could have had a happy ending, but fate decreed otherwise.
Blinded by love, the triumvir made a series of rash steps, giving away to his Egyptian wife and children (Caesar's son and their own children, Alexander Helios and Cleopatra Selene) most of the Roman possessions in the East.
Octavian, who had long been looking for a reason to declare war on Egypt (and Cleopatra and Antony), published in the Senate the will of Mark Antony, where the Roman citizen and commander asked to bury himself in Egypt, next to the queen, named Cleopatra's son by Julius Caesar as his heir and recognized Cleopatra not only Egypt, but also many other possessions with which he endowed her.
This will was like an exploding bomb.
The Senate allowed Octavian to start military operations, but since the civil war in Rome was very unpopular, war was declared on Cleopatra.
The tragic ending of this story is well known to us.
After the death of Mark Antony, Cleopatra committed suicide to avoid the shame of being held in triumph, chained to the chariot of the winner.
Or maybe because she understood perfectly well: with the death of Mark Antony, the fate of her and Egypt is sealed.
Point of view Be that as it may, Cleopatra VII Philopatra was one of the most remarkable personalities in history.
A woman on the throne, you will agree, is not a very common phenomenon (for all its existence, Egypt has seen only a few queens, the most famous of which were Hatshepsut and Cleopatra).
Cleopatra is on a par with the most famous politicians of her time.
In modern terms, she was playing a "big game", the stake in which was the Egyptian throne and the freedom of her state (and, if successful, perhaps the entire Roman Empire – today we cannot know for sure).
Yes, she lost, but even the fact that for 20 years she managed to maintain the independence of Egypt from Rome meant a lot.
How pale the previous Ptolemies looked against its background, who groveled before Rome and actually made Egypt its province!
Judge for yourself: if you look at who from the Ptolemaic dynasty left a mark in the history of mankind, we will remember Ptolemy I, an associate of Alexander,
Ptolemy II, under whom the Library and the Museum were created – and Cleopatra, the last queen.
And finally, you must agree, it is not easy, being a queen and a strong politician, to remain at the same time a woman whose charm and intelligence have become a legend.
Perhaps this unusual combination caused a special protest from male politicians and the "world community", giving rise to gossip (and it is probably not necessary to explain how terrible evil tongues are).
Cleopatra, of course, was a famous woman and conducted her politics as a woman.
But what else could she do?
Gather a weakened army and go to war on Rome?
However, what the queen was definitely not going to do was to buy and beg for freedom and the Egyptian throne, as many of her predecessors did. ...Both Ancient Egypt and the Roman Empire have gone into the past, but man has not changed: both two thousand years ago and today, when faced with an outstanding person who does not fit into the generally accepted framework, he tries to belittle him, find some rational explanation, some hidden motives of his behavior, shortcomings and complexes.
How easy it is to say: "Augustus was, of course, a great man, but physically weak, it depressed him, and therefore he decided to become emperor" or "Cleopatra was one of the most famous women of antiquity, but she was famous mainly for her passionate character and immorality".
Why do we so readily believe gossip and speculation, but do not notice genuine selflessness, valor, love, mercy?
Sometimes the thought comes to mind: maybe if we had more spiritual nobility in us, many things would have presented themselves to us in a completely different way.
And maybe then the last Egyptian queen would have become an example of greatness, beauty, wisdom and strength of spirit for us.
The original article is available on the website of the New Acropolis magazine: www.newacropolis.ru
See also: Ancient Egypt
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