The Egyptian queen Cleopatra is often associated with glamorous beauty routines, deadly snake bites, lavish banquets and torrid affairs with some of the most notorious men in Roman history. One such (very public) affair was with Roman leader Julius Caesar . But their “situationship” was complex.
This doomed romance ended abruptly in 44 BCE when Caesar was quite literally stabbed in the back (and from all sides) by his enemies in Rome. And she pretty soon hooked up with one of his closest allies. Queen meets consul When Caesar met Cleopatra, he was was 52 and had a wife back in Rome.
But something about the 21-year-old Cleopatra caught his eye. Perhaps it was her charming banter and impressive mind. The ancient author Plutarch reports Cleopatra was an irresistible conversation partner , and fluent in nine languages.
Things really got started when Caesar got involved in a family feud involving Cleopatra and her royal relatives. Cleopatra came from a long line of dramatic and ruthless kings and queens, which we now call the Ptolemies. The Ptolemies had ruled Egypt since about 305 or 304 BCE.
They didn’t always get along but they were very close. As in, genetically close. The Ptolemies had practised brother-sister marriages (and other in-the-family marriages as well) for several generations .
According to this tradition, Cleopatra was probably married to her ten-year-old brother Ptolemy XIII when their father died and they became co-rulers of Egypt. So in pursuing Caesar, y.
