An Orphaned eighteen year old Cleopatra, along with her 10 year old brother, was left to rule over Egypt. Born in 69 BC to the Macedonian Greek Ptolemy XII, Cleopatra was the second of the five children, three daughters followed by two sons. Cleopatra, a member of the Ptolemaic dynasty, never put anything in her mouth that had not been tested for poison to ensure her forthcoming of the throne. She learned to read by chanting the Greek alphabet, once she passed pronunciation she then traced the letters on a wooden tablet. Egyptians took their schooling seriously by studying for long hours, doing endless drills, learning infinite rules, and taking no time off for weekends. Included in their hard studies were arithmetic, geometry, music, literature, astrology, and astronomy. Knowing when …show more content…
“She was naturally a ruler, with a rich, velvety voice, a dominant presence and a tendency to interact with her citizens. Co-reigning with her father, Ptolemy XII, for a limited amount of time before he died was the most effective thing Cleopatra did in her life. From that experience she learned how to build a fleet, control, change, and improve a currency, keep a stable government through a famine, and do more than anyone else to unite the eastern and western mediterranean countries. Along with building a fleet, she knew how to pick her relationships wisely, Caesar and Mark Antony knew that she had the money for their military needs and that they could help secure her time and safety in the throne. Cleopatra knew how to make a profit, she taxed everything from salt, to pastures, to dikes, to oil, and kept the economy strong when she resold products, helping her with Caesar and Antony’s military needs. Since Cleopatra taxed fifty percent to everything, which means that she owned half of what Egypt produced according to