Cleopatra VII and her children, the last of the Ptolemies

Cleopatra was not only the last queen to rule over Egypt before the country fell into Roman hands; she also was the last of the Ptolemaic Dynasty founded by Ptolemy I, a prominent general in the army of Alexander the Great.

After Alexander died in 323 BC, his empire was divided among his generals after a long feud and endless wars that lasted for forty years. From the onset, Ptolemy had his eyes set on Egypt, and apparently, none of his competitors contested his territory. The Ptolemies ruled Egypt for about three hundred years, putting Alexandria as its glorious new capital on the world map.

 

In 53 BC, the 17-year-old Cleopatra VII co-reigned with her brothers Ptolemy XIII Theos Philopator and Ptolemy XIV, whom she married following the Egyptian tradition and desperately tried to keep Egypt out of Roman grip. It is known that Cleopatra was ambitious, and she arranged for her brothers to be eliminated to become the sole ruler.

So, Cleopatra significantly sought his support when Julius Cesar arrived in Alexandria in 48 BC. They became lovers, and she bore him a son, Caesarion, in 47 BC. Three years later, she left for Rome with her son, but Caesar was murdered by a group of Roman senators within a year. Rome was divided by Octavian and Marc Antony supporters, and since the latter was more popular, Cleopatra concentrated on gaining Marc Antony’s favors. This chagrined the Romans, especially when Marc Antony gave away parts of his empire to Cleopatra in 34 BC. 

Meanwhile, they became lovers, and Cleopatra gave birth to twins, a boy, and a girl, Alexander and Cleopatra, in 40 BC. Their names were changed to Alexander Helios (Sun) and Cleopatra Selene (Moon) three years later when the queen joined Marc Antony in Antioch (modern Turkey). This name-giving happened on the day of an eclipse. This may have led to choosing of a mythological name for the twins. Another son was born in 36 BC and received the name Ptolemy Philadelphus.

Meanwhile, Octavian declared war on this foreign queen in Rome, and he won the Battle of Actium over Marc Antony. A year later, in 30 BC, Octavian landed in Alexandria to face Marc Antony personally, but rather than being killed by his adversary Marc Antony committed suicide. With Cleopatra at his mercy, Octavian refused negotiation of any kind, and Cleopatra, feeling that there was no way out, killed herself – allegedly using poisonous snakes. With her death, the Ptolemaic Dynasty ended.

Caesarion, or Ptolemy Caesar, was then 17 years of age, and he was killed by Octavian only ten days after his own mother. Egypt became a province of the Roman Empire ruled by Octavian, who promoted himself to Emperor Augustus. 

The three children of Cleopatra and Marc Antony were spared by Octavian and taken to Rome instead. The twins were 10 years old, and the little brother was four by then. Their care was entrusted to Octavia, Octavian’s sister, who was, ironically, the widow of Marc Antony. A few years later, the boys disappeared from history, but the girl, Cleopatra Selene, married King Juba II of Mauretania. As far as we know, she had at least one son whom she called Ptolemy Philadelphus, probably in memory of her little brother. It seems she ruled as an equal with her husband since both their images were minted on the local coins.

Fate has added a little twist of its own. Recently an Italian Egyptologist has dusted off a statue from the Egyptian Museum in Cairo portraying Alexander Helios and Cleopatra Selene as small children. The sculpture was discovered in 1918 near the temple of Dendera on the banks of the Nile. It was stored away in the museum. The ten-meter-high statue shows two naked children of identical size, one male and one female, standing within the coils of two snakes. They are holding each other with one arm around the shoulder of the other while they are grasping the snake with their other hand. They have identified thanks to the sun disc around the boy's head and the lunar disc and crescent held by the girl. We also find the Horus eye on each disc, a typical symbol in Egyptian art. The faces are not very clear, but the boy appears with curly hair and a braid on the right side of his head, as was customary. The girl’s hair is cut according to the fashion of the Ptolemaic dynasty and of Cleopatra in particular. 

It is nice to see that at least a picture of these poor children has survived for 2,100 years. What history they could have written!

[Picture of Ceasarion is from Wikipedia]

[Picture of Cleopatra and Ceasarion at de Temple of Dendera is from Wikipedia] 

[Picture of Cleopatra's twins is from Discovery News]