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 Mark Antony, combining personal partnership, dynastic ambition, and the defence of Egypt’s political independence.
Actium and the end of the Ptolemies
Octavian defeated Antony and Cleopatra at Actium in 31 BCE and captured Alexandria the following year. Antony 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 Antony, the Donations of Alexandria, Actium, and the deaths of Antony and Cleopatra.
Cassius Dio, Roman History 49–51
The eastern settlements, the final war, and the conquest of Egypt.