Was Cleopatra Responsible For The Political Collapse Of Egypt

Introduction.

Cleopatra was the last pharaoh of Egypt before its political collapse and has been immortalized by her legend of great beauty and wit. However, did Egypt actually fall into the hands of the Roman’s because of Cleopatra? To what extent was Cleopatra personally responsible for the political collapse of Egypt during the years 41BC-30BC, due to her close and personal involvement in Roman politics?

Cleopatra is also famous for her affairs with the powerful Romans, Julius Caesar and Marc Antony. This is why it is interesting that Cleopatra ended up committing suicide and letting Egypt fall into the hands of the Roman’s. That is why this essay with investigate the significance of Cleopatra’s involvement with these Romans considering

that it may be the cause for the political collapse of Egypt.
Why is this important?

Egypt had a great agricultural value, which was important to Rome because Egypt could (and did) supply Rome with grain. Egypt also exported other valuables to Rome such as, papyrus, glass, minor crafted arts, minerals, ores, fine stones which could be used for sculptures and architecture. Not only was Egypt important because of the goods it produced, but it also opened a gateway for Rome to trade with central Africa, India, Arabian Peninsula, and sea routes through the Red Sea. Above all Egypt was rich in culture and goods, and its influences traveled through Alexandria to Rome. This made Rome "the first city of the civilized world" in the first century B.C as described by Greek historian Diodorus of Sicily. Both Cultures were evolving with the influence of each other and we can still see today the effects of it

today.
After taking over Egypt, Caesarion, became the first emperor of Rome and expanded the borders of the Empire throughout Europe and the Mediterranean. No matter how other people have tried to imitate them, no one has truly succeeded. Rome was able to bring together and unite vast and diverse cultures across the Mediterranean and Europe. The Roman Empire left behind a legacy that Modern Europe depends on, Rome the opportunity it needed to build that legacy by getting involved in their politics, in return she lost her life and Egypt lost its own political power.

Chapter 1. Background
Cleopatra was the daughter of Ptolemy XII the king of Egypt. In the year 51 BC she inherited the throne when at the age of 18 when her father died. However due to Egyptian law Cleopatra had to have a consort and she therefore forced to marry her 12 year old brother Ptolemy XIII. She was quick to put her brother aside and removed her brothers name from any and all official documents. She also ignored her brother when she went ahead and printed her name and face on the currency. This was the beginning in of Cleopatra’s dream for greatness and power. To gain the trust of the egyptian people, Cleopatra was the first and only of the Ptolemy’s to learn the Egyptian language and religion. This was ruined three years later when the protectors of Ptolemy XIII were appalled by her actions of putting aside her brother and taking over the country, and expelled Cleopatra out of Alexandria. Cleopatra saw her chance to get back into power when Caesar came into Egypt in 48 BC.
During this time Caesar is pursuing his enemy Pompey who was fleeing to Egypt to seek refuge with Ptolemy XIII. The moment Pompey stepped foot on Egypt, he was assassinated, so when Caesar arrived he had time to spare and wanted to meet Ptolemy. Cleopatra sees Julius Caesar as her chance for a bigger role in the world. 21 year-old Cleopatra had herself rolled up in a in a carpet and presented before Caesar. By the time Ptolemy meet with Caesar, Cleopatra and Caesar were already lovers. Ptolemy realized this and Alexandria became a battlefield when Caesar tried to put Cleopatra back into power. Ptolemy’s life was lost in the confusion when he drowned while trying to flee. This is how Cleopatra first came into direct contact with Roman politics and was able to regain her power.

Chapter 2. Cleopatra with Julius Caesar
Cleopatra was already born into an Egypt that was slowing losing the great power it once held in its grasp. Using this knowledge Cleopatra probably knew that the only way for her to protect Egyptian sovereignty and the Ptolemaic Dynasty was by making use of powerful men around her. During the years 41 BC - 30 BC Egypt was ‘political center of gravity in the East’. making Cleopatra the richest women in the world. This only made Cleopatra more attractive to someone like Caesar who had many debts. Amused by her presentation to him, they became lovers and had a son named Caesarion. By simply befriending Caesar, Cleopatra was able to simultaneously regain her position as the Queen of Egypt and get rid of one her brothers, but this was only the beginning.
Upon hearing the news of Caesar’s arrival in Egypt, Cleopatra did not want to be left out of any deals the Caesar would have made with her brother. Going to go see Caesar without going through the normal formalities was a risk, but Cleopatra was willing to take this risk if it meant that it would be part of her path to greatness. This is how Cleopatra starts to lead Egypt down the path to political collapse. At the time Cleopatra took this risk she didn’t have power because she was in exile. But by regaining her place of power through Julius Caesar, he saw her and her family as a war prize and paraded Cleopatra’s sister through the streets of Rome. Cleopatra was also in Rome at the time of Caesar’s assassination, and quickly returned to Egypt with her infant son in 44 BC.
To ensure her rule on the throne, Cleopatra killed her other brother Ptolemy XIV so that she could rule alone. Instead, Cleopatra placed her infant son as consort. Now Cleopatra was Queen of Egypt once again and had a tremendous amount of power. She began to call herself the incarnation of the Egyptian goddess ‘Isis’, and because of her affiliation with Rome she was internationally recognized as such. This only gave her even more political power and this time it was on a much bigger and global scale. However this power didn’t come without a price. Because Julius Caesar didn’t mention Casarion and Cleopatra in his will, Cleopatra and her son were left without protection. Cleopatra had the power but now she needed protection. When Marc Antony called Cleopatra to meet him in Tartus, Cleopatra saw the opportunity to have both the protected she need and the power she wanted. However, there is no true way to know what and how Cleopatra thought. According to the Encyclopedia of Ancient History this was just another opportunity for Cleopatra to gain more power in Egypt and Rome.

Chapter 3. Fate with Marc Antony.
After the assassination of Caesar there were many candidates for who would succeed, and Marc Antony was one of them. Marc Antony already defeated two of his rivals for power and was about to go to war with the Persian Empire, but he needed financial support. Thanks to Caesar having restored Cleopatra into power, she was once again the richest women in the world. This is the most likely the reason why Marc Antony arranged to meet with her in Tarsus 41 BC.
Cleopatra was looking for another powerful man who could offer her power and protection. She most likely picked Antony because he had already been able to defeat some of his rivals and Octavian (the adoptive son of Caesar and another candidate to succeed Rome), was ill. She kept a close eye on Antony, she knew about his vulgarity, drinking, womanizing, and maybe most importantly, his ambition. She needed to put on a show that no one could top, “She sailed with silver oars, purple sails with her Erotes fanning her and the Nereid handmaids steering and she was dressed as Aphrodite, the goddess of love. This was a very calculated entrance; considered vulgar by many. It was a vulgar display to attract the attention of a vulgar man”. Luckily her efforts were not in vain, Marc Antony was so captivated they spent all winter together in the city and he pushed aside his plans for while. Cleopatra was taking another risk, but this time the stakes were higher. By getting involved with Marc Antony, Cleopatra was putting the riches of her kingdom on the line and the absolute power she had over Egypt. If she were to get married to Marc Antony, he would become the King. And if he were also to succeed in becoming the ruler of Rome, then Egypt would become another part of the Roman Empire. Yes, Cleopatra would likely rule beside him, but either way Egypt’s independence would be gone and would no longer have any political power. An example of this was during the winter they spent together in 41 to 40 BC. Although Marc Antony didn’t take any money for the war he had planned with the Persian Empire, but he did end up taking the city of Cyprus from Cleopatra.
Although at this point Egypt still has political power, by losing the city of Cyprus, Cleopatra also lost a bit of her political power. She was paying a heavy toll for the risk she took, but she was probably looking at the long run of being able to achieve her ambition of greatness. Hans Volkmann argues in his book Cleopatra: A Study in Politics and Propaganda that “Cleopatra understood that her path to greatness laid in her ability to influence world leaders” such as Julius Caesar and Marc Antony. Having said that, it is important to note that this source has it limitations. It is bias to the opinion of the author and he could have been influenced by experience, politics, or context. It is also important to notice that since this is something that happened thousands of years ago, there is no personal diary written by any of these people that has survived and it is impossible to know how what they were thinking or how they felt. By analyzing the evidence that has survived historians have been able to make an educated guess, because of this each historian interprets the evidence differently and thus there are many different assumptions being said.
In the spring of 40 BC, Marc Antony leaves Cleopatra’s bedside to go and aid his wife who got involved in a movement against Octavian. The issue ends with the death of Antony’s wife. After his wife’s death, Antony reconciled with Octavian by marrying his sister, Octavia. During this time Cleopatra gave birth to Marc Antony’s twins Alexander Helios and Cleopatra Selene. When Cleopatra and Antony were reunited 4 years later in 37 BC, he recognized the twins and gave Egypt important pieces of land. This land included the Cilician coast, Judea, Phoenicia, Arabia, and the return of Cyprus. All this land was important to Egypt because with this land they could build ships using the lumber from the coast. This would become necessary when Marc Antony fought against the Persian Empire, and this time he did receive the financial needs from Cleopatra. The war ends badly and Antony ended up losing and had an extreme debt towards Cleopatra.
Even though Cleopatra lost a large sum of money by working with Antony, she stays with him and they get married in 37 BC. By this time, Egypt is still an independent country but its slowly losing its power and most importantly, its losing its political power. Without formally divorcing Octavia, Antony married Cleopatra and caused huge disagreements in Rome which lead up to the inevitable war between Egypt and Rome.

Chapter 4. The Lead Up
With Cleopatra and Marc Antony were openly together; the two were a team against Octavian because he was Antony’s rival in the struggle for Rome. Cleopatra identified herself as the Greek goddess Aphrodite and her Egyptian counterpart was Isis, she was lover to Antony the Greek god Dionysus and his own Egyptian counterpart Osiris. If Cleopatra was once again internationally identified as both Aphrodite and Isis, it would give her more political power than just being recognized as Isis. Being together with Antony also gave her more power because of his powerful standing and influence in Rome, but it also meant that he would also take a share of the influence she had over Egypt. She may have thought she was gaining more political power but in truth she was losing just as much power as she was gaining. She may have even been losing more power than what she was gaining. This is because the Romans were appalled by Cleopatra due to the laws against marriage to a foreigner, and against bigamy. So Cleopatra ended up sharing the political power of Egypt but not receiving any in return. Her foremost concern needed to be the defence of the Egyptian sovereignty and of the 300 year long Ptolemaic Dynasty.
Octavian used Cleopatra and Antony’s ambition to his advantage in his campaign against them. He claimed that Cleopatra was actually trying to take over Rome and she was using Antony to help her. Octavian then got a hold of Antony’s will and shared it with the general public. Inside the will, Antony made provisions for Cleopatra and leaves her portions of the Roman empire and have the capital to be moved from Rome to Alexandria. This made the people furious, causing more and more people to side with octavian in the struggle for power.
As if to try and make tensions worse, in 34 BC Antony hold a celebration known as the Donations of Alexandria. Antony and Cleopatra held a celebration to give lands to their children. Caesarion (son of Julius Caesar), was named the ‘King of Kings’ and he received jointed rule over Egypt, Cyprus, and the kingdoms of his siblings. Alexander (the eldest son of Antony), received the territories east of the Euphrates. His twin Cleopatra Selene (the eldest daughter of Antony), was presented with Libya and Tunisia. The youngest son, Ptolemy Philadelphus, was awarded Syria and Antonia. This was a serious offence because this type of huge celebration was supposed to be held in the capital of Rome, but instead it was held in Alexandria.
Antony was losing support and this meant that Cleopatra was losing more and more power. In other words, Egypt was slowly going down the road of a political collapse. Of course, there is no true way of knowing what would have happened to Egypt if Cleopatra hadn’t gotten involved with the Roman politics. Even by looking at various sources it is difficult to tell if Cleopatra was really personally responsible for the political collapse of Egypt. Every source claims a slightly different fact. This creates a limitation because the sources can be influenced by context and generally give an overview of the situation. However it does benefit from hindsight, making it easier to analyze how Cleopatra’s choices and come to a conclusion of how she personally lead Egypt down the road of political breakdown.
The last strike was taken in about 32 to 31 BC, Antony finally divorced Octavia, forcing the Western powers to recognize Cleopatra as his one and only true wife. This act ended the alliance between Antony and Octavian and so Octavian had Antony deprived of his powers in Rome. Despite this, Octavian purposely left Marc Antony out of his declaration of war in order to avoid another civil war. In the end it made no difference because Antony went against him either way. On September 2, 31 BC, Octavian went to war against Cleopatra.

Chapter 5. The War and The End
Unfortunately the war didn’t last very long. Since the war was actually a naval battle, Cleopatra big stayed in the rear on a ship with the treasures of Egypt which were important in the need to pay for the army and ships. Less than a year later in 30 BC when Antony was defeated by Octavian's forces, he fled away on Cleopatra’s ship. Realizing that Antony no longer provided power and protection, she tried to cut a deal with Octavian. Cleopatra was once again taking another risk, but this risk would be by far the greatest. She was risking both her own life and the little political power Egypt had left over. Octavian agreed that if she could kill Antony, he would protect her and Egypt. And so Cleopatra tricked Antony into committing suicide and he died by falling on his own sword in 30 BC. This shows that even if Cleopatra did have romantic feeling for Antony, the most important thing to her was her own ambition. However, did Cleopatra know that by trying to achieve greatness, he was going to end up giving up Egypt? Octavian made it clear that he never really had any plans to keep his side of the bargain. He took Cleopatra as his prisoner as well as her children, even though she tired her best to hide them. Octavian killed Caesarion since he was the recognized son of Julius Caesar and therefore ‘King of Kings’. The other children Cleopatra had with Antony were paraded in the streets of Rome as a war prize. He then takes Egypt as part of Rome and the standard interest rate in Rome actually fell from 12 percent to 4 because of the riches that came in from Egypt. Everything happens so quickly, Cleopatra is kept prisoner in her own palace unable to do anything. Although Egypt has at this point lost all of its power, its not officially gone until her death.
Octavian had plans for the Queen of Egypt, he was going to display her as a slave throughout all of her cities in complete and utter humiliation. Cleopatra did not want to go down in humiliation, she wanted to be remembered in a way that was significant to her people. Since she learned the Egyptian language and religion, she knew how to orchestrate a suicide that would be remembered by her people for generations and generations even if they belonged to Rome. She arranged for an Asp (Egyptian Cobra) to be snuck into her room where she applied it to her body. The Asp signified the protection of the Royal house and the worship of whomever it bit. Being bitten by an Asp represented that Cleopatra was a God and she had gained immortality. She was born as a blue-blooded royalty and died as royalty. Egypt officially fell into the hands of the Romans.
Chapter 6. The Debate
The exact relationship of Cleopatra and Marc Antony is still well debated among historians. While some argue that they both got together because of a common goal, there is also an argument that says they were in it for their own self interest. If Cleopatra and Antony made their alliance because of a common goal in mind then this would mean that Cleopatra was a catalyst because of the way she attracted people. By attracting people to herself, she was able to get what she wanted, whether it was power, fame, or love. When she attracted someone like Marc Antony, who already had plenty of problems, she brought those problems upon herself and her people. Or was she just a beautiful women? It can also be argued that she was just beautiful women and it was the men who were attracted to her, that are to blame for the downfall of Egypt. For example, Julius Caesar was amused by her

Conclusion.
To what extent was Cleopatra personally responsible for the political collapse of Egypt during the years 41BC-30BC, due to her close and personal involvement in Roman politics?

Cleopatra took a risk when she got herself involved with Rome and she paid a heavy price, her life, and the political power of Egypt. There is no true way to know how much of it is Cleopatra’s fault, but through looking at sources it was clear that her choice of interacting with the Romans played a significant role in the political collapse of Egypt. It started when she used Julius Caesar to regain her position as the Queen of Egypt. When he paraded her family in the streets of Rome as war prizes, it was a clear sign that Cleopatra ended up giving up some of Egypt’s power. However, by being internationally recognized as the Egyptian goddess ‘Isis’ she was actually able to recover political power and gain more influence. With the power also came the danger, when Caesar was assassinated Cleopatra needed someone with power to protect her. This is where Marc Antony comes in as one of the most powerful Roman’s. By getting involved with Antony, Egypt loses money, power, influence, sovereignty, and end up belonging to Rome. Nonetheless, Egypt was also able to gain valuable land that they could use for the construction of ships. Or course none of it made much of of difference when Antony and Cleopatra went to war with Octavian and lost. Regardless of how it's looked at, it is difficult to dispute that Egypt

started to lose a great amount of its political power once Cleopatra started getting involved in the politics of Rome. Even so, it is important to note that because of some distorted facts taken from various sources it is difficult to really point out exact facts that support the research question. In the end Cleopatra goes down in history as the last pharaoh of Egypt and Egypt falls into the hands of the Roman Empire.