Effects Of Cleopatraii Philopator

Cleopatra, formally known as Cleopatra VII Philopator, was a prominent figure in both Roman and Egyptian history with substantial effects in both societies. In Rome specifically, she played a large part in ending the republic entirely, giving way to Rome’s political rebirth into an empire. Without her influence and involvement with two political leaders, the events after Caesar’s death undoubtedly would have resulted with a far different outcome.
Even before Caesar’s death, Cleopatra was in the Roman scene. Cleopatra was the daughter of Ptolemy XII and the sister of Ptolemy XIII who was actually involved in conflict with Roman General Pompey as well as Cleopatra herself. Her and her brother reigned together after their father’s death but,
By the springtime, Roman armies arrived, causing Ptolemy XIII to flee and drown in the Nile. This left Cleopatra’s next brother, Ptolemy XIV, the throne who Cleopatra proceeded to marry, thus recovering her crown. During this time, Cleopatra gave birth to a son named Caesarion, though it was debated whether or not Caesar was legitimately the father. Caesar’s business in Alexandria was finished by 46 BCE, so he returned to Rome where he would be murdered two years later. In fact, Cleopatra was in Rome during his assassination after the death of the brother she just married, but she retreated from any involvement with Rome until 42 BCE after the Battle of Philippi. In this battle, the conspirators against Caesar were finally defeated, and Mark Antony was favored to be the next ruler over Octavian, Caesar’s adopted son, who also sought the
This event was important for two reasons. The first being, during this celebration, Antony proclaimed that Caesarion was, in fact, Caesar’s son, making him the next heir instead of Octavian since he was adopted and Caesarion was directly related. The second reason is that the celebration was a mix of Antony’s Roman and Cleopatra’s Alexandrian and Egyptian culture. The growing syncretism of the two civilizations became a source of growing tensions. Octavian took advantage of this growing concern and added heat to the situation by supposedly stealing Antony’s will which read many Roman possessions were to be left to Cleopatra and they were to be buried together in Egypt. This caused a major upset in the people of Rome who questioned Antony’s loyalty to Rome. Due to these ramifications, Antony and Cleopatra went to Greece in the winter of 32-31 BCE in Greece, and the Roman senate revoked Antony’s expected Consul position and declared war on