Cleopatra's Reign And Accomplishments

Cleopatra: Her Reign and Accomplishments

During the Macedonian dynasty, Cleopatra took her reign in Egypt and became a powerful and successful leader. During her reign, she faced many problems, but worked it through and soon it was resolved. When Cleopatra first became ruler of Egypt many believed she wouldn’t be able to do it because she was a woman, was weak, and that she “wasn’t smart.” Her full name was Cleopatar VII Thea Philopator. According to Biography.com, “Cleopatra was born in about 69 BC and died around 30 BC.” Also according to HISTORY.com, “ Cleopatra’s parents were Ptolemy VII and Cleopatra V Tryphaena.” She had many siblings, but some unknown. Some of Cleopatra’s siblings are supposedly Ptomely XIII and Ptomely XIV.

Cleopatra’s Reign

According to Live Science, “Cleopatra was the last series of rulers called the Ptolemies who ruled Egypt for nearly 300 years.” In the text in Biography.com, Cleopatra’s family ruled Egypt for more than 100 years before

she was born in 69 BC.” So here’s how Cleopatra came to power in Egypt. When Alexander the Great died, his general, Ptolemy became ruler of Egypt. Over the next few centuries, his descendants would follow his footstep of ruling Egypt. As the decades passed it was Ptolemy XIII (Cleopatra’s father) turn to rule Egypt. Then in 51 BC he died and left his throne to his daughter, Cleopatra and his son, Ptolemy XIII. “Cleopatra was 18 years old and her brother was only 10 years old when they took the throne”, according to HISTORY.com.
Cleopatra and Julius Caesar
After Cleopatra and Ptolemy XIII ’s ascension to throne they were facing problems about who gets what and who gets more power.

According to biography.com, “complications arose between Cleopatra and Ptolemy XIII.’ So Cleopatra fled to Syria. In Syria, she formed her own army of soldiers to attack her brother and take back the throne for herself only. In 48 BC, Cleopatra came back to Egypt and faced her brother at Pelusium. While Cleopatra was facing her problems, the famous, Julius Caesar was battling Pompey to see who takes over Rome. So Pompey went to Egypt to recover and Caesar followed him there. In Egypt Julius Caesar met Cleopatra and according to text, “ he eventually fell in love with Cleopatra.” So Caesar helped Cleopatra to beat her brother and she did. According to the article, “ Ptolemy XIII fled and drowned in the Nile River.” Around 47 BC, Cleopatra and Caesar had a son, named “ Caesarion”. When Julius Caesar died, Cleopatra and her son went back to Egypt to

rule.
Cleopatra and Marc Antony
So another civil war came about in Rome between Marc Antony and Octavian for power in Rome. In the end, Antony ruled the empire in the east hemisphere and Octavian ruled the empire in the west. Marc Antony meet with Cleopatra in Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey). He asked her why she wasn’t helping him by sending soldiers to help and Cleopatra didn’t know what to say. So Antony came up with a compromise with Cleopatra. The compromise was that if Cleopatra supports Antony with soldiers, supplies, food, etc, if he wins the war, he will give back Egypt the land they lose. Those lands were Cyprus, Crete, Cyrenaica (Libya), Jericho, and parts of Lebanon and Syria. Cleopatra took the deal and soon were partners. They soon defeated Octavian.
During the time that Antony and Cleopatra, “he fell in love with her by her beauty and personality”, according to the text in Biography.com. Over the years, Cleopatra and Antony were really close and formed a bond. They had thee children around 40 BC. Once again, Antony and Octavian broke into another civil war.