Dozens of Hollywood films have been shot about her and at least a million books have been written from biographies to historical novels and science fiction. Always beautiful, always exotic, always with a bunch of beads in her hair and black eyeliner, Cleopatra achieved a kind of immortality that is inaccessible to most of her contemporaries, except perhaps Julius Caesar, who has achieved a particularly strange kind of immortality now that he shares the name with obstetric surgery and cooking.
More than 1,500 years before the reign of Elizabeth I of England, Cleopatra proved that women can rule nations, and that they can do it with intelligence, grace, and sometimes cruelty. But much of what we know - and don't know - about the Queen of the Nile comes from a story that has been fictionalized, reworked, and fictionalized a little more, so much so that fictional facts are sometimes better known than real ones. Meanwhile, the reliable historical facts about her are simply amazing.
Cleopatra was not an Egyptian
If someone asked you to name an Egyptian from ancient history, you would probably think of Pharaoh Tutankhamun and Cleopatra first. For many people, these are two historical figures, personifying Ancient Egypt, gilded, with their eyes down, and walking in their luxurious palaces with their arms at an angle of 90 degrees. But here's the funny thing: one of these two people was not actually Egyptian.
According to the history of Macedonia, Cleopatra was a member of the Ptolemaic dynasty, which descended from one of the generals of Alexander the Great, a man named Ptolemy I. This means that not only was she of Greek descent, but she also spoke Greek and followed Greek customs. The Ptolemies ruled Egypt for 300 years after the people were handed over to Ptolemy I after Alexander's death in 323 BC. e.
So how did Egypt end up in the hands of a bunch of helmeted guys from another continent? They conquered it, which the ancient Greeks often did when they were bored. The good news is that the Egyptians were mostly loyal to the non-Egyptian pharaoh because they were fed up with the Persians, who captured them even before the arrival of the Alexandrian troops. In fact, they were quite happy that the new conquerors were better than the old ones.
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Incestuous marriage
Incest, as it turns out, is not only practiced by the nasty Lannister queen. It was somewhat of a tradition in almost every royal family from Europe to the Middle East, but the Egyptians practically turned it into a competitive sport.
In Egyptian mythology, the god Osiris married his sister Isis to maintain the purity of the royal lineage. They were gods, so apparently genetic disorders weren't a problem for them. Unfortunately for the Egyptian pharaohs, who saw the Egyptian gods as amazing role models, genetic disorders are a problem, but no one understood this thousands of years ago.
In any case, when the Ptolemies came to power, they consistently adhered to this tradition. By the time Cleopatra became queen a few hundred years later, she was a descendant of the Ptolemies, who married the Ptolemies who descended from the Ptolemies.
Cleopatra's father was King Ptolemy XII. Little is known about her mother, but the biography states that it is probably her father's sister, or possibly the niece of her father's cousin's mother's sister. In keeping with family tradition, Cleopatra married not one, but both of her younger brothers.
Her mind was superior to her beauty
Nearly every modern and semi-modern depiction of Cleopatra tells us that she was stunningly beautiful, which, frankly, seems inconsistent with generations of incest, but perhaps it was an accident. In February 2007, a coin with a portrait of Cleopatra was discovered, which apparently confirms that the queen was actually quite ordinary. The fact that ancient historians didn't say much about her appearance also suggests that she was not a dazzling beauty. But it didn't really matter. The life of Antony, described by Plutarch in 75 AD, made the following observation about Cleopatra: “Her true beauty … was not so wonderful that no one could compare with her, or that no one could see her without being amazed by her. But the effect of her presence … was irresistible. All,what she said or did was simply mesmerizing."
Cleopatra was not only a shrewd diplomat, she also studied mathematics, medicine, alchemy, economics, history, geography and other general education disciplines. She also spoke nine languages, surpassing anyone who ever ruled the White House. The last multilingual president was Franklin Roosevelt, who was elected in 1932 and spoke French and German.
The first in the dynasty to support authentic Egyptian culture
In addition to Greek, which was the mother tongue of the Ptolemaic dynasty, Cleopatra spoke the languages of most of the neighboring peoples, including Arabs, Jews, Parthians, Syrians, Ethiopians, and Medes. She was also the only member of the Ptolemaic dynasty who bothered to learn the language of Egypt - until her reign, the Ptolemies showed no interest in Egyptian culture or religion and basically just isolated themselves in the city of Alexandria. During their reign, Greek became the language of trade and government in Egypt.
Cleopatra could speak her native Coptic language as well as read hieroglyphs. Moreover, she has been depicted as an Egyptian woman, dressed in traditional clothing and attending traditional Egyptian festivals and ceremonies. She was hailed as a patriot and became a popular leader among the Egyptian people, although she was not a descendant of the true Egyptian pharaohs. Cleopatra, unlike her predecessors, recognized the value of addressing the cultural identity of the people she ruled, which is a fairly developed idea even for many modern politicians.
She killed her sister and two brothers with whom she was married
Now let's get back to the incestuous marriage. In Egypt, pharaohs usually ruled in pairs: each regent needed a co-regent of the opposite sex. Cleopatra briefly ruled with her father Ptolemy XII until his death in 51 BC. In his will, Ptolemy XII decreed that Cleopatra should marry her 11-year-old brother, which was probably only a tribute to tradition. They clearly did not love each other, and the relationship ended with Ptolemy XIII trying to take control of the throne from Cleopatra, and she turned to Julius Caesar for help in curbing her husband.
Caesar and Cleopatra became lovers, while Ptolemy XIII was unhappy with Caesar's decision that he should rule with his sister. Ultimately Caesar defeated Ptolemy at the Battle of the Nile, and Ptolemy drowned in the river trying to escape. Thus, Cleopatra was indeed only partially responsible for the death of this brother, but this is not the end of the story.
According to the rules, Cleopatra still could not rule alone, and she had to marry another brother, who later died under mysterious circumstances. It is no secret that Cleopatra actually poisoned him.
Then she ordered the execution of her sister Arsinoe, who sided with Ptolemy during a family feud and at some point even declared herself queen.
Her famous makeup actually protected her eyes from infection
There's hardly an image of Cleopatra that doesn't include the signature eye makeup - black eyeliner. According to the New York Times, antimony was made from four different lead-based materials and was not actually intended to enhance beauty, but to prevent eye infections. They were very common in ancient Egypt, especially after the flooding of the Nile. Lead-based makeup was toxic to the bacteria that caused these infections, so it had a preventative effect. But nobody canceled lead poisoning, of course.
Cleopatra was educated enough to understand the healing properties of eye dye, but most Egyptians thought it was magic.
She and Mark Antony had their own drinking club
Cleopatra was smart, shrewd, capable, and loved to have fun. But you probably would love too if you had absolute power and Roman general Mark Antony as your boyfriend.
Antony became Cleopatra's lover after the death of Caesar and the "completely accidental" death of her two brothers-husbands. They created their own drinking club and named it "Inimitable Liver". It was officially dedicated to Dionysus, the god of wine. And unofficially, it was just an excuse for organizing unbridled parties. The club arranged nightly feasts and drunks, and then Antony and Cleopatra wandered around the city in a drunken stupor and played simple Alexandrians.
She owned a perfume factory
We've already established that Cleopatra was interested in alchemy, but she also understood a little real chemistry. She believed in the power of scent not only as a cosmetic, but also as a means of persuasion. Cleopatra doused the sails of her ship with perfume before heading out on her first date with Mark Antony to make sure he sensed her before he saw her. She also owned her own perfume factory.
The ruins of Cleopatra's perfume factory are located at the Dead Sea near Ein Gedi, and there is evidence that it also functioned as a kind of day spa.
Cleopatra once spent the modern equivalent of $ 20 million on a cocktail
According to legend, Cleopatra once had an argument with Mark Antony that she could spend 10 million sesterces in one meal. She then asked for a modest meal and a cup of vinegar. She took off one of her earrings, removed the pearl, tossed it in the vinegar and watched it dissolve. She then drank a cup of vinegar, proving that she would do anything to win the bet.
Author: Anastasia Khvostova