HBICs of history » C l e o p a t r a

Cleopatra (69-30 AD) was an Egyptian queen, the last pharaoh of the Ptolomaic dynasty. She was daughter of Ptolemy XII and she ruled with her two brother-husbands, Ptolemy XIII and Ptolemy XIV, both of whom she had killed. She claimed her son Caesarion was fathered by Julius Caesar, who had become her lover after entering Egypt in 48  AD in pursuit of Pompey. She was with Caesar in Rome when he was assassinated; she then returned to Egypt to install her son on the throne. She lured Mark Antony, Caesar’s heir, into marriage, inviting the wrath of Octavian (later Augustus), whose sister Antony had earlier wed. Octavian declared war on Cleopatra and Antony and defeated their joint forces at the Battle of Actium (31 AD). Antony committed suicide and, after a failed attempt to beguile Octavian, so did Cleopatra, killing herself by means of an asp bite in 30 AD.