ROME GLORIED IN CLEOPATRA'S TALE OF DECADENCE, LUST AND DEATH

Joyce Tyldesley on an Egyptian queen’s ill-fated entanglements with three Roman generals

- Joyce Tyldesley

It is the autumn of 34 BC and Cleopatra VII, queen of Egypt, is hosting a lavish celebration in her capital city, Alexandria. Seated on a golden throne, wearing flowing robes and an intricate crown decorated with a sun disk and cow horns, she is the living incarnation of the goddess Isis. Beside her sits her consort, the Roman general Mark Antony, dressed as the god Dionysus. Nearby, four lesser thrones have been provided for her son Caesarion – co-ruler of Egypt and, it is rumoured, son of Julius Caesar – and her three children by Antony: the twins Alexander Helios and Cleopatra Selene and the young Ptolemy Philadelphus.

At the climax of the ceremony Antony gives an astonishing speech that makes his ambitions clear. Cleopatra is recognised as queen of Egypt, Caesarion is both king of Egypt and the legitimate heir to Julius Caesar in Rome, and the younger children are destined to rule a vast expanse of lands. Antony, as patriarch, will effectively rule the world. Nothing could have been designed to annoy the watching Romans more.

Rome was never far from Cleopatra’s thoughts. And, as a forthcoming film about the Egyptian queen (starring Gal Gadot of Wonder Woman fame) is likely to relate, Cleopatra’s life was inextricably linked with the dominant power in the Mediterranean world. Her relationships and rivalries with three of Rome’s greatest men – Julius Caesar, his great-nephew and heir Octavian (who would go on to become Augustus, Rome’s first emperor), and great friend Mark Antony – would bring her immense riches and influence. But they would also bring about her downfall.