The Enigma Of Cleopatra, The Last Pharaoh Of Egypt

January happens to be the birth month of Cleopatra, who arguably tops the list of the most fascinating women in history. She was not the first queen or power figure in Egypt—there were Sobekneferu, Nefertiti, Nefertari, and Hatshepsut before her. But it is about her that reams have been written, historians and scholars study her reign and her legacy; many documentaries have been made on her; Hollywood has produced a grand spectacle (in 1963) with Elizabeth Taylor in the title role; and a new film starring Gal Gadot is in the works. George Bernard Shaw wrote Caesar and Cleopatra, Shakespeare wrote Anthony and Cleopatra. It was about her that the Bard wrote these famous lines:

Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale
Her infinite variety: other women cloy
The appetites they feed: but she makes hungry
Where most she satisfies

Though many centuries have gone by and the perceptions of women in power have undergone multiple changes, Cleopatra is still seen as a historical femme fatale, a seductive witch, who turned the heads of two great Romans — Julius Caesar and Mark Antony. It is also true that under her rule, marked as it was with strife and wars, Egypt became prosperous and remained independent of the powerful Roman Empire. She was educated, a scholar and a linguist. Her beauty added to her appeal, but it was not her sole asset.

Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator was born in 69 BC into the Ptolemaic dynasty, founded by Ptolemy I, a Macedonian Greek, a part of the army of Alexander the Great, who had conquered Egypt and founded the city of Alexandria. She was of mixed race. Her mother was possibly Egyptian, so she was not the white beauty as portrayed by Elizabeth Taylor, or even black, as portrayed by Jada Pinkett Smith in the historically informative (because of the experts interviewed) but laughably bad mini-series, Queen Cleopatra.

When her father, Ptolemy Xll, died, he willed her to be co-pharaoh of Egypt, along with her younger brother, Ptolemy XllI, whom she married, according to the Egyptian custom of the time. Back then, under dynastic rule, women were accepted as leaders if connected to a powerful male. Her father had expected her to look after the interests of the kingdom better than her brothers, and she did have the intelligence to become an astute ruler. The biggest thorn in her side was not her brother-husband, who forced her into exile, but her sister Arsenoe, who felt thwarted by her father’s wish to hand over the throne to Cleopatra and kept plotting against her.

In 48 BC, when Rome was torn by a civil war between Julius Caesar and Pompey, Egypt took the side of the latter. Pompey fled to Egypt, where he was murdered on the orders of Pothinus, advisor to Ptolemy Xlll. Pompey may have been an adversary, but he was also Caesar’s son-in-law. Caesar was enraged by the assassination and arrived in Egypt, ensconcing himself in the royal palace. 

Legend, or rather an embellished account by Greek historian Plutarch, has it that Cleopatra had herself smuggled into the palace wrapped in a carpet, and with one glimpse of her, the mighty and much older, Caesar was smitten. When Caesar returned to Rome, she bore his son Caesarion, though Caesar did not marry her or acknowledge the son. Cleopatra visited Caesar in Rome, but her presence enraged members of the senate, who were not used to women in power. In Rome, women stayed at home.

In 44 BC, Julius Caesar was assassinated by the senate, and Cleopatra returned to Egypt. She felt betrayed by Caesar, who, instead of naming her son as his heir, picked his adopted son, Octavian. Roman General Mark Antony, disputing Octavian’s right to leadership, formed a romantic and political alliance with Cleopatra. However, he abandoned her and the twins she bore him to marry Octavian’s sister, Octavia, hoping for some kind of truce. Meanwhile, Cleopatra became a popular ruler and saw herself as Goddess Isis.

When he wanted to increase his power base by invading Parthia, Mark Antony reconnected with Cleopatra, seeking her help for his campaign with funds and soldiers. She had great wealth by then as her country flourished. Arriving to meet him in her golden barge, she dazzled him with her power. From him, she wanted legitimacy for her children and Caesarion named Caesar’s heir.

The beginning of the end came when Mark Antony and Cleopatra combined forces to fight Octavian in the Battle of Actium, in which he defeated them. Mark Antony’s men as well as high-placed Egyptians defected to Octavian’s side. Octavian sent Cleopatra a message that he would spare her and her children if she killed Mark Antony, an offer she refused. With no other option left, Mark Antony took his own life. Knowing that Octavian would parade her through the streets of Rome and kill her children, Cleopatra chose to die by suicide too, not by getting bitten by an asp, as per the legend, but by consuming poison. What she had passionately fought against came to pass as Egypt became a province of the Roman Empire, and she went down in history as the last pharaoh.

History, art and literature have been enamoured of the complex life of Cleopatra, but the attempt is to portray her as a temptress because she supposedly charmed into submission two powerful men. But she also proved to be a distinguished ruler. She took the trouble to learn the language of the people she ruled over, went out to meet them, and participated in their rituals. If she had affairs with Julius Caesar and Mark Antony, it was as much a political move as a romantic one — she wanted to be Pharaoh of Egypt, not just a Ptolemaic queen.

Coins with her face on them, paintings and sculptures of Cleopatra portray a woman with strong features but not of great beauty. According to historyextra.com, “The snake-draped image of Cleopatra familiar today is actually based on descriptions of the wax effigy of her that Octavian paraded around Rome, the snakes around its forearms symbolising the creature associated with Cleopatra’s alter ego, Isis. By taking the effigy literally, most sources suggest that a snake must have been smuggled in to her, though less-known accounts claim that Cleopatra ‘carried poison in a hollow hairpin about which she wound her hair.’ ”

Gal Gadot is quoted as having said, “This woman was so ahead of her time. Egypt and what Egypt was back then, was still futuristic to where we are today. I can’t say much. But to me, I’m so passionate to tell her story and to bring justice to this character, and her legacy and celebrate her and her legacy. We have a beautiful script, and I cannot wait to share this story with the world and change the narrative of Cleopatra simply being a seductor.”

For any generation, when given a choice to slot a woman as an able administrator or a beautiful, bejewelled seductress, it is evident which one they’d choose. That Cleopatra has not been erased by history is an achievement enough for a woman who loved and lost an empire.

Deepa Gahlot is a Mumbai-based columnist, critic and author