DOMVS IVLIO–CLAVDIATHE IMPERIAL FAMILY ARCHIVE
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Queen of Ptolemaic Egypt

Cleopatra VII

Cleopatra VII

Cleopatra VII ruled Ptolemaic Egypt and allied herself first with Julius Caesar and later with Marcus Antonius. Her children connect the last generation of the Ptolemies to the civil wars from which Augustus emerged.

Marble portrait bust of Cleopatra VII, known as the Berlin Cleopatra, Altes Museum
Cleopatra VII, the "Berlin Cleopatra" · Marble portrait, Altes Museum, Berlin
Dynastic role
Queen of Ptolemaic Egypt
Life
69 – 30 BCE
Archive group
Founders and ancestors

Queen in an age of Roman expansion

Cleopatra VII became queen in 51 BCE and fought a dynastic struggle with her brother Ptolemy XIII. Julius Caesar’s intervention restored her position. She later allied herself with Marcus Antonius, combining personal partnership, dynastic ambition, and the defence of Egypt’s political independence.

Actium and the end of the Ptolemies

Octavian defeated Marcus Antonius and Cleopatra at Actium in 31 BCE and captured Alexandria the following year. Marcus Antonius and Cleopatra died in 30 BCE. Egypt became a Roman province, Caesarion was killed, and their surviving children were taken into Octavia Minor’s household in Rome.

Historical sources

Plutarch, Life of Antony 25–87
The alliance with Marcus Antonius, the Donations of Alexandria, Actium, and the deaths of Marcus Antonius and Cleopatra.

Cassius Dio, Roman History 49–51
The eastern settlements, the final war, and the conquest of Egypt.

Portrait: Richard Mortel / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0. Carved in Cleopatra's own lifetime. Cropped and resized for display.

About the sources and further reading