Cleopatra's Family

Cleopatra VII was born to Ptolemy XIII and an unknown woman in the winter of 69 BC. She was the oldest of four children and very interested in her future. Throughout her young life, Cleopatra remained apprehensive yet not to the point of paranoia when it came to political matters. She was always concerned about the food she ate or the wine she drank because many family members before her had been poisoned in order to obtain the throne at a faster rate. However, she never distracted herself from her dream of one day traveling down the Nile as Queen Cleopatra VII.

At age seventeen she married her brother Ptolemy XII. She succeeded to the throne jointly with him, as was the custom. She was driven into exile by his advisors, yet quickly gathered an army to help her gain her claim the throne until the arrival of Julius Caesar at Alexandria. They became lovers and fathered her son Caesarian. When her brother Ptolemy XII was killed, she married her younger brother Ptolemy XIII. Cleopatra traveled to Rome to be Caesar’s mistress until his death in 44 BC. She went back to Egypt and made her son Caesarian her co-regent. Mark Antony was a Roman general at the time he met Cleopatra. He fell in love with her almost immediately despite the fact that he was already married. He returned to Egypt with her and her son. They had a wonderful time together, but in order to keep his political stance, he returned to Rome. Shortly after, Cleopatra bore him twins. The called the boy her little sun god and the girl her little moon goddess. Antony sent for Cleopatra a few years later to meet him at Antioch. Here they were married and a third child was born.

	Archaeology of Egypt	History	Hieroglyphs
	Religion	Daily Life	Links