Random Fascinating Facts About Cleopatra, the Last Queen of Egypt (15 items)

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  (#6) In Order to Fund Her Treasury, Cleopatra Stole Gold from Alexander the Great's Grave

  Alexander the Great's tomb was located in Alexandria, and it was a major tourist attraction into late antiquity (whether or not the king was actually buried in a giant vat of honey). The first Ptolemaic king had brought it there, but successive generations looted Alex's grave. Cleopatra was no different. After the Battle of Actium that pretty much wiped out her forces, Cleo raided Alexander's mausoleum and her own ancestors' resting places to get precious metals to fund her continuing campaign against Rome. She took gold from Alex's grave, in particular, for her mission. Ironically, it wasn't until the Roman Octavian, Cleopatra's mortal enemy, conquered Alexandria that Alexander got a gold crown again.
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  (#9) She Kept Mark Antony Flattered, Charmed, and Entertained

  Sure, they had sex, but Cleopatra and Antony did other things together, too. She lured him to Alexandria with promises of gambling and debauchery (so said the Roman Plutarch). Antony had a supper club called the Inimitable Livers, and "every day they feasted one another, making their expenditures of incredible profusion." The royal chef had to make a lot of meals!

  Cleopatra was always keeping Antony entertained, "ever contributing some fresh delight and charm to Antony's hours of seriousness or mirth, kept him in constant tutelage," according to Plutarch. They played dice games, got drunk, hunted together, she watched him work out, and when he went out drinking, she went with him, dressed up as a commoner.

  Once, when he went fishing, Antony couldn't catch anything, so he ordered someone to hook a pre-caught fish to his line. Cleopatra was clued in and brought a crowd the next day, so when he hooked a "salted Pontic herring," he was terribly embarrassed. She mocked him lovingly, saying he should give up his fishing rod. His sport, she said, was "the hunting of cities, realms, and continents."
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  (#4) Cleopatra Made Herself a Goddess

  In true Egyptian fashion, Cleopatra declared herself a goddess. Although her Ptolemaic predecessors had done the same, often assuming the roles of Greek deities, she went one step further and echoed previous Ptolemaic queens by associating herself with Isis, the mother goddess. Isis was the mother of Horus, the first pharaoh-god of Egypt. 

  By making herself Isis incarnate, Cleopatra was declaring she was the divine mother and protectress of the Two Lands and her people. She also tied herself to her subjects and solidified her rule. Like Isis and other mortal queens, Cleopatra married her brother(s). She wore sacred robes at a festival and had herself portrayed as Isis in statuary. She was dubbed "Nea Isis," or "new Isis." In fact, her consort Mark Antony became Osiris in these depictions, to show that a divine pair was once again ruling Egypt.
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  (#5) She Was Married to Two of Her Own Brothers (And May Have Killed One of Them)

  In true royal Egyptian fashion, members of the Ptolemaic dynasty married their siblings and immediate relatives. Cleopatra was no different. Upon the death of her father, Ptolemy XII, this 18-year-old began to rule Egypt alongside her 10-year-old brother, the inventively named Ptolemy XIII. The two probably got married; he exiled her from Egypt, and she went to Rome to get Julius Caesar's help in retaking her kingdom. When the Romans invaded Alexandria, Ptolemy XIII drowned in the Nile, probably due to the weight of his armor. To maintain dynastic face, Cleopatra then wed her other surviving brother, Ptolemy XIV, whom she may well have murdered after she had a son of her own, a son she named Ptolemy XV Caesarion and claimed was fathered by the Roman general.
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  (#7) She Journeyed to Rome with Her Illegitimate Son to Put Pressure on Caesar

  Our fave queen visited Rome twice: in 46 and 44 BC. The Romans saw her as a scandalous foreign temptress (arriving with her incestuous her brother-husband) who was in their city to seduce their leader. She stayed at one of Caesar's villas outside the immediate city, along with her son by Caesar, little Caesarion. Perhaps she was not-so-subtly hinting that her kid should be Julius's heir? 

  Some have suggested Cleopatra was just hanging out in Rome on Caesar's dime, but that was far from the case. In reality, she was working to make alliances and secure her own throne back home; she'd learned from her father's example that rulers of independent kingdoms needed Roman support to thrive. This was a state visit, not a pleasurable one.
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  (#12) Unlike Her Greek Ancestors, Cleopatra Learned Egyptian and May Have Been Part Egyptian

  The Ptolemaic dynasty of Egypt, founded by Pharaoh Ptolemy I Soter ("Savior"), was of primarily Macedonian Greek descent. Greek-born Ptolemy was one of Alexander the Great's BFFs. After Alexander's death, Ptolemy and Alexander's other generals carved up his empire; Ptolemy got Egypt, along with a few other, tinier territories. He kept his Greek name, but modeled himself after Egyptian rulers by making himself pharaoh. His successors went one further by marrying their siblings, a hallmark of many ancient kings, Egyptians in particular. So a lot of Cleopatra's family was Macedonian Greek and not native Egyptian.

  But unlike her predecessors, Cleo actually took the time to learn the Egyptian language, meaning she could effectively communicate with her subjects. She may actually have been of part-Egyptian descent herself. Her dad, Ptolemy XII, was mostly Greek, but we don't know the identity of either his own mother or Cleopatra's mother. Perhaps Cleo's grandmother or mother were Egyptian and instilled a love of their native country in the young princess.

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