Anushka Bhatt
July 21th, 2024
Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator
Imagine your beauty was the main product of of roman propaganda, romans, the same people who were fighting for your place in the throne of Egypt. Not only that, but you used that same image as a poticial tool.Well, that is exactly what Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator did, more commonly known as just Cleopatra. Some background information about her include how she was the queen of the “ptolemic” kingdom of egypt throughout the years 51 B.C to 30 B.C. The way her name is stikk mentioned and known as one of the most influential women till this day shows how much of an impact she had on the entire world. Their’s various reasons why some say that she was the most powerful, greatest historical figure of her time, but their are three main reasons that exhibit how Cleopatra became this powerful and one of the greatest. These three reasons include; her youthlife and how she was raised, how she rose to power, and her accomplishments. Some may agree, while others may not, but without any futher wait, let’s state these reasons in more depth and description.
One of the most important and first reasons why Cleopatra is the greatest historical figure is because of how she was raised as a woman impacted her legacy. Although, some may say that her early life don’t really impact her and how that's the “greatest” historical figure, however it's the exact opposite. Cleopatra actually had to rule Egypt from the age of eighteen because of the natural death of Auletes. Not only that, but she also had to rule with her ten year old brother, Ptolemy XIII. This shows how powerful and responsible she had to be just add the age of 18, she was practically still a teenager and the weight of the entire country of Egypt was on her back, and most people think ruling with her brother might be a good thing, but for Cleopatra it wasn’t the case. Ptolemeny was immature and wanted to depose Cleopatra and ruled Egypt by himself since Cleopatas power and status as a queen was increasing, even despite her own brother being against her, Cleopatra still preserved. Cleopatra was also was born into the egyption life, meaning she got everything she wanted and it was served to her with a golden spoon. This definitely took a toll on Cleopatra because once you’re used to a specific lifestyle, many people would do everything they have to not lose it. Especially with Cleopatra since she was born into such a lavish, nice lifestyle with riches and everything she ever wanted. How could go from that, to a mediocre life where you’re actually supposed to do labor, it is after a lot of a pretty big step. This definitely boosted her determination to keep her country, but most of all her power and life style. However, this wasn’t the only that boosted her confidence and determination to rule and lead egypt. While Cleopatra was being raised egypt iself was also going through a politically ruff spot. If Cleopatra was seeing her parents struggle and everyone around her struggling it definitely boosted her confidence and determination to make sure egypt is never in the state her father was keeping it in. Not to mention, since cleopatra grew up with royals, she defintly adapted the way and learned some things throughout her years. This reason definitely thrived her need to make Egypt greater, and more powerful than ever, which is exactly what she did.
In addition to that, Cleopatra's to power also affected her legacy in many positive ways. For instance, Cleopatra lived during thame of change, according to brainpop, “hellenistic civilization a version of greek cukture spread by alexander the great had been the dominant force of the region for hundreds of years but when she was born it was in decline.” This quote shows that her birth was right after the ending of a great chapter in history that affected many, so when it ended it gave her the chance to become the, “new thing” or most talked about of her era. It’s like when someone resigns from their “perfect” (as some would see it) job and their a new opening, for this instance cleopatra filled in that gap by stepping up. This made it easier for cleopatra to rise to power and helped her become independent the way she was. It was more of right place, right time. To add on, another way she rose to power was using her charms to her advantage. Rome was rapidly gaining power and terrioty, due to the conquests of julius caesar (biggest army general for rome), and at 48 BC he decided he would come to egypt and settle the dispute between cleo and her brother while they were under a heated dispute. She did all this by using her charms on julius caesar
Furthermore and finally, cleopatras accomplishments are hard evidence of her being historically, one of the best. An accomplishment is something that someone achieved successfully, and for some it’s a very big deal. One humungous accomplishments Cleopatra did for herself is being known as a savy ruler and an amazing business woman Not to mention she was able to bring peace and prosperity to egypt right after it had gone through bankruptcy and it’s the civil war, which is an extremly hard thing to do for the population of two to four million
As a result, this is why and how Cleopatra was one of the greatest, all-power, and more influential person in all of history. She was all these adjectives because of the way she was raised/ killed, how she rose to power and lastly, her accomplishments. To summarize even more, Cleopatra' guide to power was based off of how she was raised as a child, how she gained power despite her brother trying to sabotage her and to conclude, what she did in her time as queen. Not to mention that Cleopatra did this all in a time where woman were barely allowed to get a proper education and go to school. So now, with all this information in mind, do you think Cleopatra made a solid impact on history?
Works Cited
“Cleopatra - BrainPOP.” Www.brainpop.com, www.brainpop.com/socialstudies/famoushistoricalfigures/cleopatra/movie/.
“Infobase Learning - Login.” Online.infobaselearning.com, online.infobase.com/Article/Details/242044?q=Cleopatra%20. Accessed 27 Mar. 2023.
Katie. “Cleopatra as a Child: The Real Story.” Girl Museum, 19 Jan. 2022, www.girlmuseum.org/cleopatra-as-a-child-the-real-story/.
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