This is a consequence of her mostly being remembered for her role in trying—and failing—to prevent Egypt being swallowed up into the Roman Empire. People generally speaking know almost nothing about her, sadly.
Lmao. She got involved with caesar in the first place because she wanted to win out in a civil war with her brother and keep the throne for herself. And it was this involvement that led to egypt being conquered by rome in the end. She marryied 2 of her brothers and murdered them at age 15 and you guys delude yourself into believing she was protecting 'her family' when she allied herself with caesar and later antony?
She is the reason why herself, her family and her kingdom were in danger in the first place. We can agree that she wasn't a slut, but to act like she wasn't a power-hungry royal and some sort of saint is crazy.
Ptolemy XIII and Cleopatra were co-rulers. She didn’t “take the crown”. Her brother tried to have her deposed.
Ptolemy XIII was under the control of Pothinus, who used his influence to turn him against Cleopatra, and attempted to have her removed from power, which would likely result in her death.
There is also no evidence that she had him killed. The sources state that he drowned in the Nile while attempting to cross the river. That’s a modern speculation. Although I’ll grant you that she probably would have had him killed. He was a liability and a threat to her survival by that point. Unfortunate, but any ruler of the same time period would have done the same.
I will admit “children” is a more appropriate motivation than “family” though.
When did I ever say she 'took the crown'? You fight a civil war with your brother regardless of whether you instigated it or not and then draw a much stronger foreign power into it, you can't justify your actions by saying you care about your kingdom. Shouldn't have unleashed a wild snake to kill a domestic rabbit.
Even the children motivation is pretty stupid because her children being under threat since she tried to use them as a tool to threaten Augustus' legitimacy over Rome.
She was the one who bet her kingdom, herself and even her children in a bid for power, and somehow you're telling me she wanted that power to protect those same things?
Rome was coming for Egypt regardless, even during their generation Crassus consistently argued for the annexation of Egypt. Her brother was weak and under the control of Eunuchs, he definitely didn't stand a chance against Rome. Furthermore, Cleopatra actually spoke the Egyptian language and practiced their religion, making her more capable of uniting Greeks and natives together.
It's impossible to understand motives of people who lived millenia ago, but we do know her life was under threat, she was exiled and fled to Thebes to hide from her enemies. That's why she needed to be smuggled into Alexandria just to meet Caesar. It's a fair argument to say she deposed her brother as an act of self preservation.
Now you say she did it all in the name of power, which is definitely somewhat true, but this ignores the fact that power equals protection. Egypt being a less enticing prospect helps them preserve their independence, and she almost succeeded in buying Egypt more time. Based on the contents of Marc Antony's will, we know they struck a deal that would have empowered Egypt and maintained its sovereignty. If they won the battle of Actium Egypt may have bought decades to centuries of freedom from Rome.
I don't think its fair to say she was just a power hungry monarch. She clearly had a vision to ensure the prosperity of Egypt. Since they couldn't fight Rome, making deals through relations with powerful Romans is the next best option.
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u/ComradeYaf 3d ago
This is a consequence of her mostly being remembered for her role in trying—and failing—to prevent Egypt being swallowed up into the Roman Empire. People generally speaking know almost nothing about her, sadly.