Being Cleopatra: Putting Misconceptions to Rest

I've read two out of three of the Antonius Trilogy by Brook Allen and I've been keenly awaiting the third instalment. I wrote 5* reviews of Books 1 and 2 which gives an idea of how much I enjoyed them. Inevitably, Book 3 will take us to Egypt, and so I'm delighted to welcome Brook to the blog as she explains just who Cleopatra really was. Take it away Brook!

Being Cleopatra: Putting Misconceptions to Rest

Egyptianized Statue

There are some real misconceptions regarding Cleopatra VII, Philopater—the last and most famous of a string of royal Eastern women bearing that name. To really KNOW her, to grasp what she believed; what life was like in her time, and to gain more understanding on the risks she took is to better understand Hellenism’s end and the rise of the Roman Empire.

First and foremost, many people in the present day have clung to the notion that Cleopatra was native Egyptian or that she possessed  sub-Saharan African blood. Indeed, there are statues identified as Cleopatra, depicting her in a traditional pharaonic art-style, complete with a wig, hieroglyphics, and Egyptian attire. It’s likely that she did wear such dress in state ceremonies or during religious rites—particularly in Upper Egypt, where the old religion was still preferred over Hellenistic deities and Egypto-Greco gods, which were adapted by the Queen’s forebears. 

So let’s put one fallacy to rest: Cleopatra was not Egyptian. Nor was she of any sub-Saharan African descent. 

Her ancestry was the same as that of Alexander the Great, whose famous general, Ptolemy Soter (savior) founded the Ptolemaic dynasty. Adding to this was the fact that (aside from a few exceptions along the way), the Ptolemies had adopted incest, as had other Egyptian dynasties before them, as a means of keeping their ruling line pure. Cleopatra herself was expected to marry her own brothers, and I often ponder whether this was a practice that she herself despised. Her brothers (both named Ptolemy) preceded her in death, one during the Alexandrian War in 47 BC. The second died shortly after her return from Rome in 44 BC. Their deaths prevented her from any sexual unions with them. Her choices for marriage and/or political alliances were then wide open.

The second misconception that needs revisiting is one started by the man who conquered Cleopatra: Octavian Caesar. Octavian became the first Roman Emperor, declared “Augustus” (exalted one) by the Roman Senate in 27 BC. As history’s original spin-doctor, Octavian’s own propaganda is what has been passed down through history’s many works of art, plays, novels, and screenplays. 

Cleopatra was portrayed as a sex-symbol and femme fatale. 

But what was her motivation? And why did she and Marcus Antonius risk literally everything by creating their own “empire”—if indeed, that’s what they did?

To begin, let’s address the first misconception I mentioned. . . Who was Cleopatra?

Born around 69 BC, she was the third daughter to King Ptolemy Auletes, who is vividly portrayed in the Temple of Horus in Edfu as a spear-wielding, slender waisted warrior king. When I visited Upper Egypt while doing research on the Ptolemies, I laughed aloud! Auletes was nothing like this heroic depiction, but he used artistic propaganda to continue a power that was failing in his capital of Alexandria, along the Mediterranean coast. The use of propaganda was a lesson not lost on his daughter.

The author, with Sphinx!

Auletes—meaning “flute-player”—had to flee his city and escape to Rome after his daughter Berenice seized power and secured tentative support from the people. Her rule was brief, since Auletes managed to pay the Roman Senate off enough so they’d seek armed assistance to restore him to his throne. The proconsul of Syria at the time, Aulus Gabinius took interest in the task and he, along with a young and courageous cavalry commander, placed the wavering monarch back upon his throne. Berenice probably killed one of her sisters, and once Auletes was on his throne again, he in turn, had Berenice beheaded.

Those actions left a pubescent Cleopatra in line for the throne. Her brothers were young boys at the time. Oh! And don’t let me forget a tantalizing detail! Though we have no recorded proof that Cleopatra officially met him during his stay in Alexandria, most scholars believe it was highly possible. That young cavalry officer fighting for Auletes’s restoration was by the name of Marcus Antonius—the youthful Marc Antony.

So, long story short, Cleopatra inherited an unstable kingdom at her father’s death. It was a kingdom that was near bankruptcy. Yet, Romans were so occupied with their own internal problems, they didn’t bother marching in to seize Egypt. 

Cleopatra ascended the Horus throne.

She was intelligent, fluent in at least seven languages, articulate, and according to some Arab sources, an author of treatises concerning women’s cosmetics. At her fingertips was the world’s finest library and educational resources. She was no Helen of Troy—she was simply brilliant. By the time Cleopatra presented Julius Caesar with what was to be his only biological son, she had regained much of what her father had lost in revenue, and in the next few years, would steer Egypt through a drought crisis with wisdom and aplomb, earning the love of Upper Egyptians and taking up the reins of full power in Alexandria.

Still, she had a major problem. . . How did a single woman keep the Romans at bay? Her liaison with Caesar was successful, but such a risk became a nail in the coffin full of reasons why Brutus, Cassius, and over twenty other men plunged daggers into Caesar’s aging body on the Ides of March. 

Cleopatra needed a new champion. 

When Marcus Antonius, the new power-player in the East, called upon her to meet him in Tarsus, she did so, and their rendezvous became legend. Plutarch, who undoubtedly had more primary sources at his fingertips than are left us today, has told us that Cleopatra’s “beauty” wasn’t as impressive as her manner of speaking, her congeniality, and her savvy political ability. Coins and busts that portray her certainly add credence to this. She wasn’t completely UN-attractive, but was no Elizabeth Taylor, either!

But she was smart, and like Antonius, she was a risk-taker. 

Like Caesar, Antonius was a womanizer. But for Cleopatra, that didn’t matter. Egypt mattered. And she was willing to do anything to secure the continued freedom of her nation. And if she and Antonius came into sole power of the Roman state, then so much the better.

During the final decade of her life, Octavian became her most hated and lethal antagonist. And eventually, with or without her cajoling, he also became Antonius’s bitter enemy. Before there was ever the final, fated Battle of Actium and the end to Hellenistic rule with this illustrious Queen’s death, there were several years of Octavian’s propaganda—and it forever marred the reputations of both the Egyptian Queen and Antonius, considered one of Rome’s national heroes. 

Cleopatra was characterized as the whore of whores who brought down not one, but two noble Romans—a woman so depraved, she reduced Antonius to slave-like status, guided him to dress like an Easterner, and plotted to rule upon Rome’s Capitol. For two-thousand years, Antonius and Cleopatra have been immortalized as scandalous lovers, totally immersed in themselves. This, despite the fact that they had three children together and chose not to betray one another in the end, even when pathways to do so had been offered and were readily available. Sadly, whatever plans they had for their life together or to build some sort of Eastern empire have been lost to us, and any legacy they left was erased through damnatio memoriae and the slanderous mockery of the victor.

As Hollywood begins yet another retelling of the Queen’s incredible life, featuring actress Gal Gadot, I think it important for people to be aware of the real Cleopatra, not the one the Romans conjured up under Augustan rule, nor the one someone simply yearns to see portrayed. 

For once, let’s hope this upcoming film will be a retelling worthy of such an astounding woman.

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Thanks so much to Brook for the insights into the real Cleopatra.

Author Brook Allen has a passion for ancient history—especially 1st century BC Rome. Her Antonius Trilogy is a detailed account of the life of Marcus Antonius—Marc Antony, which she has worked on for the past fifteen years. The first installment, Antonius: Son of Rome was published in March 2019. It follows Antony as a young man, from the age of eleven, when his father died in disgrace, until he’s twenty-seven and meets Cleopatra for the first time. Brook’s second book is Antonius: Second in Command, dealing with Antony’s tumultuous rise to power at Caesar’s side and culminating with the civil war against Brutus and Cassius. Antonius: Soldier of Fate is the last book in the trilogy, spotlighting the romance between Antonius and Cleopatra and the historic war with Octavian Caesar.

In researching the Antonius Trilogy, Brook’s travels have led her to Italy, Egypt, Greece, and even Turkey to explore places where Antony once lived, fought, and eventually died. While researching abroad, she consulted with scholars and archaeologists well-versed in Hellenistic and Roman history, specifically pinpointing the late Republican Period in Rome. Brook belongs to the Historical Novel Society and attends conferences as often as possible to study craft and meet fellow authors. In 2019, Son of Rome won the Coffee Pot Book Club Book of the Year Award. In 2020, it was honored with a silver medal in the international Reader’s Favorite Book Reviewers Book Awards.

Though she graduated from Asbury University with a B.A. in Music Education, Brook has always loved writing. She completed a Masters program at Hollins University with an emphasis in Ancient Roman studies, which helped prepare her for authoring her present works. Brook teaches full-time as a Music Educator and works in a rural public-school district near Roanoke, Virginia. Her personal interests include travel, cycling, hiking in the woods, reading, and spending downtime with her husband and two amazing Labrador Retrievers. She lives in the heart of southwest Virginia in the scenic Blue Ridge Mountains.