Cleopatra succeeded her father, Ptolemy XII (a.k.a. Auletes) as Pharaoh in 51 BC, having ruled jointly with him since the previous year. She married her brother, Ptolemy XIII (a.k.a. Theos Philopator), and ruled jointly with him, according to Pharaonic custom, but he was determined to depose her and take the throne in his own right. After Julius Caesar came to Egypt and became Cleopatra's lover, Philopater allied himself with his other sister, Arsinoe. It was during the ensuing civil war that the great library of Alexandria was burned to the ground.
Caesar and Cleopatra eventually defeated Ptolemy XIII, forcing him to flee the city. He reportedly drowned on 13 January 47 BC, while attempting to cross the Nile. Cleopatra VII remained the unchallenged ruler of Egypt, although she named their younger brother Ptolemy XIV as her new co–ruler.
Ptolemy XIV died in July 44 BC, following the assassination of Caesar four months earlier. It is commonly believed that Cleopatra had him poisoned, allowing her to replace him with her son, Ptolemy XV Caesarion.
In 41 BC Cleopatra met Mark Antony, with whom she subsequently had three sons. Antony became increasingly reliant on Cleopatra for financial and miltary support. In 32 BC, after Antony divorced his wife Octavia Minor (sister of Octavian, Antony's former ally in the Second Roman Triumvirate), Rome declared war on Egypt, scoring a decisive naval victory in the Battle of Actium (off the west coast of Greece) in the following year. Cleopatra fled to Egypt, and Antony followed her; they both committed suicide.
Cleopatra decided in her last moments to send Ptolemy XV (Caesarion) away to Upper Egypt. He returned to Alexandria some two weeks later, under the impression that he would be allowed to rule as king. But Octavian believed that there was room for only one Caesar in the world, and had him executed. Octavian was then able to make Egypt a Roman province. In 27 BC he became the first Emperor of Rome, taking the name Augustus ("the revered").
© Haydn Thompson 2021