Cleopatra: More than just a lover When you hear the name “Cleopatra”, most likely the first thought that comes to mind is her erotic romances with Marc Antony not how she played the “game”. Cleopatra was extremely intelligent and obviously did not need the love of Roman leaders to obtain power. Queen Cleopatra had qualities that made her a powerful leader of Egypt not just a lover to the leaders in Rome. The facts are here to show us that we need to change our outlook on Cleopatra and see her as a clever and powerful leader. Cleopatra was very intelligent for a woman. “She knew many languages”, as Duane Roller states in “Cleopatra’s Ancestry and Background.” Cleopatra: A Biography, “She was really good at arithmetic, music, equestrian, …show more content…
Marc Antony was part of the 2nd tribune along with Octavian. At the time, Antony was married to Octavian’s sister, Octavia. When Antony and Octavian divide up the empire and Antony was sent to Egypt, that’s about the time that he meet the beautiful, intelligent and seductive Queen of Egypt: Cleopatra. They fall in love and Marc Antony soon divorced Octavia over mail. Of course it made Octavian very angry and full of rage. (Adams, Margaret. "Antony and Cleopatra." Honors World History 1. Virginia, Prince George. 2014. Lecture.) As quoted in EyeWitness to History’s article; “The romance between Antony and Cleopatra might have changed the world.” Sadly, their love did not last for long. Octavian being blinded with anger, went to the Senates claiming that Antony and Cleopatra were planning on taking over the Roman Empire. No one today can say if Octavian was lying or if he actually was telling the truth. Either way, Antony was killed. When Cleopatra heard of this she killed herself. Some say she was dumb for it, others would believe that she would not have lived much longer since her love for Antony was so strong and the pain would have been too much to bear. This love scandal had resulted in the playwright of the brilliant William Shakespeare called “Antony and Cleopatra”. This tragic romance should be used to show what love can do to a person no matter how low they are regarded