Cleopatra Research Paper

Cleopatra VII, most commonly known as Cleopatra, was the last series of rulers called Ptolemies; this family ruled Egypt for nearly 300 years. Cleopatra ruled not only Egypt, but also Cyprus, parts of modern-day Libya, and other territories in the middle East. Cleopatra was born into an insane family with deranged beliefs, beginning with having to marry her brother, Ptolemy XIII, which ended with a war. Cleopatra’s life didn't get much better afterwards, she fell in love with Julius Caesar, and watched him get stabbed to death. When she married Mark Antony, she had three kids and lived as a family in Alexandria; however things didn't turn out so smoothly since she ended up committing suicide.

Cleopatra’s ancestors descened from a macedonian general, Ptolemy I Soter, who was born in 367 BC. Ptolemy I, fought for Alexander the Great as his General. When Alexander the Great died in 323 BC, Ptolemy I, siezed Egypt as his share

Ptolemy I, was a respectable Pharaoh and ruled Egypt fiercly, but when he died in 283bc, he left behind a law that his children had to keep pure macedonian blood by marrying siblings. This system not only led to a leak lot of ruler, who died young, but also to terrible feuds within the family itself. Fathers’ would kill their own children and children would kill each other; just so they could have a chance to rule (Hornblow,7). Cleopatra’s father, Ptolemy XII Auletes was born in 117 BC, and her mother, Cleopatra V, was born in 95 BC; when they had cleopatra VII in 69 BC, she was one of five siblings: Ptolemy XIII Theos, Ptolemy XIV of Egypt, Arisinoe IV, and Berenice IV. Cleopatra had always looked forward to being the queen of Egypt but she had also known from early childhood that it was not going to be easy to accomplish, for she had jealous enimies (Hornblow, 5). Cleopatra lived in the palace of Alexandria,with her father, Ptolemy XII Auletes, and Ptolemy XIII, her husband and