What did Cleopatra and Alexander the Great have in common?

The point in common between Alexander the Great and Cleopatra is that the former was the one who gave rise to the Ptolemaic Period in Egypt when he became pharaoh in 332 BC. C. and founded the city of Alexandria on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. Cleopatra, on the other hand, was the last ruler of Egypt in this period, which later came under the power of the Roman Empire.

Who was Alexander the Great

Alexander III of Macedonia (356 – 323 BC), better known as Alexander the Great, was the king of Macedonia, Greece, Egypt, and Persia. He is considered as one of the greatest conquerors of the world. He was the son of Olympias of Epirus and Philip II of Macedonia.

During his youth he was educated by the philosopher and scientist Aristotle, and also received extensive military training. After his father’s death, he became the king of Macedonia. During his rule, he consolidated his power in the nearby territories and managed to gain control of most of the territories of Ancient Greece. Later, he began his conquest of Asia and the Near East, becoming king of Persia and Egypt, and reaching India.

Throughout his life he founded different cities, several of which he named after him. The most famous was Alexandria, in Egypt. This became one of the most flourishing cities of the time, the cradle of knowledge and the central axis of trade in the Mediterranean Sea.

Although there are records of his great conquests and exploits, such as his visit to the Oracle of Siwa, the details of his death are unknown. Even, it is not known where his remains or his grave are. Alexander the Great is believed to have been killed, probably with poison. After his demise, power over all the regions he had conquered remained in the hands of the generals of his army and became a matter of dispute between them.

who was cleopatra

Cleopatra Thea Philopator (69-30 BC), better known as Cleopatra VII, was the last queen of the Ptolemaic dynasty of Egypt, founded by Ptolemy I Soter, the general of Alexander the Great.

Cleopatra is the most famous of the Egyptian queens, and stood out for her intelligence and cunning. She was also a great strategist and diplomat. Like her ancestors, her native language was Koine Greek, but she was the first of the Ptolemies to learn the Egyptian language. Also, she adopted Egyptian customs and traditions. She also spoke Latin, Arabic, Hebrew, Syrian, Ethiopian, Medo, and Parthian.

Cleopatra ascended to the throne after the death of her father, Ptolemy XII Auletes, and after marrying her little brother, Ptolemy XIII. She with this she fought for power, until she finally defeated him, with the support of Julius Caesar, a Roman soldier, politician, consul, triumvir and dictator. Legends tell that Cleopatra secretly communicated with Julius Caesar and captivated him with his wit. With him Cleopatra began an intimate relationship and had her son Caesarion.

Years later, Cleopatra married her other brother, Ptolemy XIV, to remain in power, and she met Mark Antony, another Roman soldier and politician, once a follower of Julius Caesar, and whom she intended to replace after his assassination. The love story between Cleopatra and Mark Antony was epic in very special circumstances in the history of Rome, the end of the Republic and the beginning of the Empire, and served as an inspiration to several writers, including Shakespeare, who recounted the romance for centuries. after.

With Marco Antonio, Cleopatra had the twins Alexander Helios and Cleopatra Selene II, and Ptolemy Philadelphus.

With the advent of the Roman Empire, ruled by Octavian, Cleopatra lost her allies and Egypt entered a period of decline.

Finally, after the defeat of Marco Antonio, Cleopatra committed suicide in the year 30 a. C., when she was 39 years old, to avoid being exhibited in Rome as a war trophy. Her son Cesarión, considered Ptolemy XV, was executed by order of Octavio. After Cleopatra’s death, Egypt became a province of the Roman Empire. In this way, the Hellenistic or Greek period, which had begun with the conquest of Alexander the Great, ended.

The Ptolemaic dynasty

Both Alexander the Great and Cleopatra were important leaders in antiquity. As mentioned before, Alexander the Great, was king of Egypt until his death, and began the Ptolemaic period of Egypt. Cleopatra was the last queen of that period. Both were of Macedonian Greek origin and were characterized by their strong personality, their ability to command and their ambition.

The Ptolemies were the rulers of the last dynasty of Ancient Egypt. This dynasty began after the death of Alexander the Great, when one of his generals, Ptolemy I Soter, became king of Egypt. After him, his descendants continued to rule the Egyptian territory and kept the same dynastic name.

List of kings of the Ptolemaic Dynasty

Below is a list of the rulers of the Ptolemaic dynasty, in chronological order. Some of them had more than one period of government and others were co-regents with their partners.

Some of the most important characteristics of the different Ptolemaic kings were:

• Ptolemy I Soter: was the founder of the Ptolemaic dynasty. He adopted pharaonic iconography to be accepted by the Egyptians.
• Ptolemy II Filadelfo: he was the son of Ptolemy I and stood out for inaugurating the Library of Alexandria.
• Ptolemy III Evergetes: he ordered the construction of the temple of Edfu and carried out other cultural and commercial activities.
• Ptolemy IV Filopátor: during his rule there was Egypt lost control of Thebes at the hands of the Nubians.
• Ptolemy V Epiphanes: recovered Thebes, was crowned in Memphis and during his rule the famous Rosetta Stone was carved.
• Ptolemy VI Philometor: his government was characterized by some disturbances and the intervention of Rome.
• Ptolemy VII Neo Filopátor: reigned briefly with his mother Cleopatra II, but was assassinated by his successor, Ptolemy VIII Evergetes II.
• Ptolemy VIII Evergetes II: he was obese and married his sister Cleopatra II, as well as her daughter, his niece Cleopatra III.
• Ptolemy IX Soter: he was the son of Ptolemy VIII and Cleopatra II. He reigned for three periods that were characterized by great instability.
• Ptolemy X Alexander I: he was the brother of Ptolemy IX Soter and strengthened the alliance with Rome.
• Berenice III: she was the daughter of Ptolemy IX and wife of her uncle Ptolemy X.
• Ptolemy XI Alexander II: he was the son of Ptolemy X and, after marrying Berenice III, he murdered her.
• Ptolemy XII Neo-Dioniosio: he was another son of Ptolemy IX. He was characterized by his passion for music. He traveled to Rome to improve the alliance between them and during his trip his daughter Berenice IV took his place on the throne.
• Berenice IV: daughter of Ptolemy XII, who murdered her to regain his position.
• Cleopatra VII Philopator: daughter of Ptolemy XII. She was the daughter of Ptolemy XII and was co-regent with her brother Ptolemy XIII, whom she married.
• Ptolemy XIII: he was the son of Ptolemy XII and brother of Cleopatra. He fought against Julius Caesar and was defeated at the Battle of the Nile.
• Ptolemy XIV: he was the younger brother of Cleopatra VII, who became her coregent after the death of Ptolemy XIII.
• Ptolemy XV: he was the son of Cleopatra and the Roman military Julius Caesar, but he did not come to reign because he was assassinated by Octavio Augusto after Cleopatra’s death.

Brief history of the Ptolemaic dynasty

the greek conquest

The Ptolemies established the new city and port of Alexandria as the capital of the Egyptian empire in place of Thebes (present-day Luxor), which had been the capital for thousands of years.

When Alexander the Great arrived in Egypt in 332 BC, after conquering Persia, the land of the pharaohs was undergoing the Third Intermediate Period, a few years of conflict and decline under Persian rule. In order to legitimize his government in Egypt, Alexander had himself crowned as pharaoh in the Temple of Ptah, in the sacred city of Memphis. Years later, after his sudden death and due to the lack of suitable heirs to fill his position, power passed into the hands of his generals, who disputed the throne in the Wars of the Diadochi or succession wars. The different generals who tried to govern the empire left by Alexander were called “diadocos”.

Division of Alexander the Great’s empire

Starting from the struggle for power, the territories that Alexander the Great had conquered were divided into three great kingdoms. On one side, there was Macedonia and Greece; on the other hand Syria and Mesopotamia and the last kingdom included Egypt, the Sinai Peninsula and Cyrenaica (part of present-day Libya).

Thus, Ptolemy I, Alexander’s general and son of Lagos, became the first ruler of the Ptolemaic dynasty in 304 BC. C. This dynasty is also known as Lagida and reigned for almost 300 years.

the city of alexandria

Alexandria, in Arabic Iskandereya , which derives from the Greek Iskander , “Alexander”, was founded in 332 BC. C. by Alexander the Great.

Upon becoming the Ptolemaic capital, the city began to develop in all its splendor and quickly became the seat of knowledge and the arts. The creation of the famous Library of Alexandria, brought together numerous scholars and intellectuals from around the world. It had around 700,000 manuscripts and received numerous scholars, such as Eratosthenes of Cyrene (285-194 BC), Herophilus of Chalcedon (330-260 BC), and Aristarchus of Samothrace (217-145 BC), among others.

The city was designed from east to west, in the form of a chessboard, and had a main street and three ports. It is said that the street was aligned to mark Alejandro’s birthday, July 20. In addition to the ports, there was a necropolis, an Egyptian quarter called Rhakotis, a royal quarter, and a Jewish quarter.

Ptolemaic culture

Under the rule of the Ptolemaic dynasty some changes took place in Egyptian art and traditions. To stay in power, the Ptolemies sought to associate their Greek ancestry with Egyptian divinities, something that can be seen in different paintings and sculptures of the time. There are numerous works where the Ptolemies are represented with their Greek features or clothing but with Egyptian attributes, such as typical wigs or sceptres. Their names were also included in royal cartouches, as were those of the pharaonic dynasties.

In addition, among the cultural festivities a festival of Greek origin was included, which they called Ptolemaieia and was celebrated every four years.

During the Ptolemaic dynasty, different temples dedicated to the Egyptian gods were also built and existing ones were embellished. Some examples of temples from the Greco-Roman period are the temple of Horus in Edfu or the temple of Hathor in Dendera, which are in a perfect state of preservation.

Another of the great creations of this time, which would later be of fundamental importance for understanding the meaning of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, was the carving of the famous Rosetta Stone during the reign of Ptolemy V. This stone was written in Egyptian, demotic and ancient Greek, was discovered more than a thousand years later, at the end of the 18th century, by Napoleon’s army and served to decipher hieroglyphics.

The fight for the throne of Egypt

Ptolemaic kings maintained some of the ancient Egyptian customs, such as polygamy and incest to maintain the succession of power within the same family. In fact, most of them married their brothers, nephews or uncles.

Despite this, the successions between the Ptolemaic kings were plagued by plots and murders between relatives.

After a few years of wealth and opulence, the decline of the Ptolemaic dynasty began. This occurred due to different factors, including internal conflicts, famine, corruption, wars, and external threats, especially with the advance of the Roman Empire.

Rome began to intervene in the struggle for power of the Ptolemies, especially during the rule of Ptolemy VI, VII and VIII. The Ptolemaic dynasty ended with Cleopatra VII and hers his son Ptolemy XV, when they both died in 30 BC. c.

Bibliography

• egyptexclusive.com. Dynasties of Egypt. Available at: https://egiptoexclusivo.com/cultura/dinastias-de-egipto/
• Shaw, I. History of Ancient Egypt. (2010). Spain. The sphere of books. Oxford.
• Varas Mazagatos, A. Brief history of ancient Egypt. (2018). Spain. Nowtilus.