Cleopatra, The Twilight Of The Pharaohs

Many experts have considered Augustus, the first emperor of Rome, as the father of political propaganda. It was not the first, the Greeks or Egyptians had already practiced it, but nobody did it with its power and effectiveness until that moment.

The circle of writers of Mecenas, a friend of the emperor, had many victims, but none as famous as Queen Cleopatra. The legend of the exotic tyrant, with almost magical gifts of seduction, permeated Roman historiography. Faced with this vision has arisen another, more modern, of his supposed romantic relationship with Marco Antonio.

Even today it is not clear which part of the legend is true and which part is exaggeration. In any case, Cleopatra managed to become a central figure in Roman politics using all the weapons at her disposal.

In a twilight Roman Republic, at the mercy of its internal crises, external successes, and power struggles between great men, political opportunities presented themselves to whoever had the audacity to seek them. Her beauty, her intelligence, her power and the wealth of her lands were the four aces that Cleopatra had.

The Mediterranean under Rome

Almost three hundred years before the life of Cleopatra, the Macedonians took over the country of the Nile. From this fact a syncretic Greco-Egyptian culture and a dynasty, the Lagidas, to which our protagonist belongs, will be born.

Thus,  the centuries passed and in the Mare Nostrum a new power rose: Rome. In 69 a. Cleopatra will be born to a pharaoh, Ptolemy XII, who had reached the throne despite being a bastard. Rome allowed this situation to contain the ambitions of neighboring Syria, which desired Egyptian wheat.

However, the famous Pompey the Great, a Roman general, conquered Syria. During Cleopatra’s childhood, her father could only stay on the throne through bribes, including Julius Caesar.

As the rivalry between Pompey and Caesar grew, the rest of the political personalities of the moment were positioning themselves towards one or the other. Cleopatra and her husband-brother, following the Egyptian tradition, Ptolemy XIII joined Pompey after the death of their father.

Cleopatra and Caesar

The confrontation, first political and then military, was won by Caesar and the once Egyptian allies betrayed and killed Pompey.

When the victor arrived in Alexandria, he decided to mediate the treacherous palace politics. The court had been divided among the supporters of each husband, and despite Caesar’s equanimity, those of Ptolemy tried to kill him. The defeat of the Egyptians was absolute. The king died, Cleopatra married her next brother, also Ptolemy, in this case XIV.

The truth is that since his arrival, the Roman general had spent every night with the intriguing queen. The next three months they spent together touring the country. The danger of losing Rome to the hands of its rivals, the followers of Pompey, was then secondary.

There has been talk of love for the queen, but what she should have loved the most was the grain she gathered in her barges after the harvest. Likewise, the main attraction of the old Roman man to the girl must have been his growing power in the Republic. At this time they had a child, Caesarion.

Cleopatra and Mark Antony

On the death of Caesar, stabbed by Brutus and other senators, the heir chosen by him will be Octavian Augustus and not Caesarion. Along with Marco Antonio and Lepido, the three followers of Caesar avenged his death and shared Rome and its influences.

A new lord appeared in the eastern Mediterranean and, therefore, a new challenge for Cleopatra if she was to maintain her influence. Under the rule of Cleopatra, Egypt had prospered enormously. If it wasn’t the queen’s beauty or her ability to seduce, it would be her riches that made Marco Antonio fall in love.

Unlike in austere Rome, in the East luxury and pomp were essential to rule the plebs. Cleopatra and Marco Antonio practiced it with enthusiasm.

Appealing not only to the tradition of the Lagids, but also to that of the ancient pharaohs, they established a court in Alexandria where they formed a deified couple, Isis and Dionysus. As Antony gained the East, Rome lost. Octavian’s propaganda was unleashed, the Egyptian witch would have clouded the upright Roman mind of the once great Roman general.

The bitter end

Augustus’s message caught on and he was soon able to declare war for the absolute power of Rome. First Antonio committed suicide, later the already captive Cleopatra. Caesarion was assassinated, there were no more heirs; the children of the suicidal couple were raised by Octavio’s family to serve their ends.

After a lifetime of political affairs, politics engulfed the queen. In spite of everything, in her life she would manage to rise from the progressive irrelevance of her family to almost become the most powerful woman in the world. Contrary to what he has wanted to draw, his true objective has always been the survival of his family and his country.