Female heads of state are few and far between throughout history, but when a woman rises to power, she leaves her mark. Cleopatra, arguably the most famous woman of the ancient world, was Queen of Egypt and lived from 70 or 69 B.C.E. to 30 B.C.E. Her legacy extends through history and legend, and she remains firmly entrenched as an icon of brilliance, seduction, and tragedy.
It is her tragic death that has mesmerized historians and inspired artists through the ages. Supposedly by inflicting the bite of an asp or cobra, Cleopatra committed suicide after the death of her last lover Mark Antony of Rome and the defeat of their armies. The dramatic image of the beautiful queen withering beneath the fangs of a snake has long symbolized the anguish of total defeat after losing a bid for power.
The stakes had always been high for Cleopatra. She was a daughter of the long established Ptolemy Dynasty that had ruled Egypt since the death of Alexander the Great in 323 B.C.E. The Ptolemies were Macedonian Greeks, and Cleopatra would have described herself as Greek. Despite being an Egyptian Queen, she was not of Egyptian blood.
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Through diplomacy and her long affair with Julius Caesar, Cleopatra worked to maintain a measure of independence for Egypt and power for herself and her dynasty. After the death of Caesar, her romantic alliance switched to his supporter Mark Antony. Together, Cleopatra and Antony challenged Rome, now under the leadership of Octavian, for control of the eastern Mediterranean. Their disastrous defeat at the Battle of Actium sent them retreating to Egypt to await the final wrath of Octavian as he pursued his