There is hardly a person who has not heard of Cleopatra, one of the most famous women in history. Remembered as a seductive temptress, not only the mistress of Julius Caesar but also the wife of Mark Antony, her suicide marked the famous annexation of Egypt to the Roman Empire. But did you know that there was more than one Cleopatra in Ancient Egypt? Under the Ptolemaic dynasty, the last independent Egyptian dynasty, Cleopatra was a popular name among female royalty. All members of the dynasty are descendants of Ptolemy I Soter, one of Alexander the Great’s generals, who incorporated Egypt into his empire in 332 BC, Ancient Origins said.
Like many royal families in history, they were so obsessed with the idea of purity that they tended to intermarry to maintain a pure bloodline. A quick look at their family tree shows that Ptolemaic pharaohs often married their sisters and that they were very fond of the names Ptolemy, meaning “warlike,” and Cleopatra, meaning “father’s glory.” There were actually seven Cleopatras. The one we know of is Cleopatra VII, the last Ptolemaic queen. An expert at using propaganda to her advantage, Cleopatra VII followed suit and, to the horror of the Romans, when she gave birth to a son by Julius Caesar, she named him Ptolemy Caesar, nicknamed Caesarion or Little Caesar.
Cleopatra I, known as the Syrian, was the daughter of Antiochus III, a king of the Seleucid dynasty. She married Ptolemy V in 193 BC, and after he died in 180 BC, she became the first queen to rule without a husband as co-regent for her son, innovatively named ( wait) Ptolemy VI. Her other two children were named Cleopatra II and Ptolemy VIII. Although many of them shared the same name, the clan of the Cleopatras and the Ptolemies was quite vicious and their dynasty was marked by constant inter-family power struggles. In one gruesome example, Ptolemy VIII killed his son by his older sister Cleopatra II, also named Ptolemy, and then sent his dismembered body parts to Cleopatra II as a birthday present. He also married Cleopatra III (his niece and his wife’s daughter) to prevent anyone else from gaining access to the throne. The situation ended in war, with Cleopatra II gaining the upper hand, forcing Ptolemy VIII to flee to Cyprus and then become the first female sole ruler. When Ptolemy VIII returned in 126 BC, he undertook a so-called blood purge of all those who had supported his older sister in his absence. If you’re starting to feel a little confused, you’re not alone. Cleopatra VII’s reign continued the barbaric trend, as she is said to have participated in the murder of three of her siblings; her brother-in-law Ptolemy XIII, her younger brother Ptolemy XIV, and her sister Arsinoe.
Photo: John William Waterhouse / Public Domain
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