Episode 47 Cleopatra: The Last Ptolemy

The History of Ancient Egypt

Professor Robert Brier

Film Review

As conquerors of Egypt, Roman historian totally misconstrued Cleopatra. She was neither a seductress nor even particularly beautiful.  She took the throne at 17 with her half brother (and husband) Prolemy XIII, who was 10. .

A Greek politician named Pothinus, serving as advisor to Ptolemy, and her half brother turned the Egyptian Greeks against Cleopatra for being allegedly pro-Rome.* This forced her to flee to Syria to try to raise an army. Meanwhile Pompei, one of the three Roman proconsuls Pompei fled to Egypt owing to a dispute with with the other two, Julius Caesar and Crassus. After Pothinus decapitated Pompeii, Caesar was also dispatched to Egypt to sanction Prothinus for killing a Roman citizen in cold blood.

When Caesar declares that Cleopatra and Ptolemy XIII will rule jointly, he triggers an insurrection (which comes to be known as the Alexandrian wars) against Caesar’s army. After Ptolemy accidentally drowns in the Nile. Cleopatra marries a second brother, Ptolemy XIV. After the latter also disappears, she becomes Caesars mistress and bears him a son she names Caesarion.

Caesar (who already has a wife) establishes Cleopatra and his son in a villa outside Rome. He also outrages much of the Roman population by building a statue of Cleopatra as Isis in a Roman temple. A short time later, he was assassinated, and Cleopatra fled to Egypt.

After a succession feud developed between Octavian (who became Augustus Caesar) and Mark Anthony over who would succeed Caesar, Mark Anthony and Cleopatra become lovers and she gives birth to twins named Alexander Helios and Cleopatra Selene. Mark Anthony then returns to Rome, where he marries Octavia (Octavian’s sister).

Five years later, when Mark Anthony is trying to raise money for his war against Octavian, he also marries Cleopatra and she agrees to supply him with money and troops provided he declares her queen of Sinai, Judea, Cypress and Arabia and makes Caesarion her regent in Egypt.

After Cleopatra has a third child, Ptolemy, by Anthony, he declares her queen of these four territories, as well as Libya; his son Alexander Helios king of Armenia, Media and Parthia; his daughter Cleopatra Selene queen of Libya; and his son Ptolemy king of Phoenicia.

Defeated by Octavius at the naval battle of Actium, Mark Anthony and Cleopatra retreat to her palace in Alexandria. As Octavius marches on the city, she rejects his demands that she turn over Mark Anthony and kills herself (either by drinking poison or self-induced snake bite.

*The Ptolemies had no army and could only stay in power with Roman military support.

Film can be viewed with with a library card on Kanopy.

https://www.kanopy.com/en/pukeariki/watch/video/1492791/1492897