Photographs By KENNETH GARRETT, Nat Geo Image Collection How did she come to rule Egypt? Coins found bearing her image tell conflicting stories of what Cleopatra might have looked like. Right: A bronze coin with the profile of Cleopatra wearing a diadem. Her life would be inextricably bound to unrest in Egypt-and the politics of the Roman Empire. As a result, Cleopatra grew up speaking Koine Greek, though she was reportedly the only one of her lineage to also learn Egyptian. Though the Ptolemaic Kingdom had adopted some Egyptian religious traditions, it ruled from the largely Greek city of Alexandria. ( Should women rule the world? The queens of ancient Egypt say yes.) Who was Cleopatra?īorn to Egyptian king Ptolemy XII Auletes and an unknown mother in 69 B.C., Cleopatra was a member of an ancient Greek dynasty that had taken over Egypt in 305 B.C.
Here’s what is known about the legendary, yet mysterious, queen. Destined to be the last of her dynasty, the Egyptian pharaoh used seduction and political savvy to further the interests of ancient Egypt in the face of Roman expansion.īut though she is one of the best-known women in history, there’s little that historians and archaeologists can say for sure about Cleopatra.
Perhaps no historical figure has so enflamed passions-and debates-than Cleopatra VII. Was she politically astute and bent on using both her gender and her outsized power to further her needs? Certainly.
