and was the last queen of ancient Egypt before it fell to the Roman empire. She played a major role in Egypt's history. She was intelligent and ambitious. She had a lot of sadness in her life, but at least she found love. William Shakespeare wrote a play about her, called Antony and Cleopatra, in 1607, and she is famous, even today. Her amazing story includes her family of pharaohs, her love for Julius Caesar, and her love for Mark Antony. .
Cleopatra and her family were not Egyptian. They were from Macedonia, a country in northern Greece. She was the only member of her family that learned to speak Egytian. Cleopatra's father was Ptolemy XII of Egypt. He was part of the dynasty that started when the Greek Alexander the Great conquered Egypt, putting it under Greek rule. Ptolemy XII was married to his sister, and Cleopatra was his third daughter. Cleopatra was sometimes called Cleopatra VII because she was the seventh Egyptian queen of Macedonian descent with the name Cleopatra. When Cleopatra was 12, she and her father Ptolemy XII fled Egypt and went to Rome. While they were gone, Ptolemy's second daughter seized power of Egypt. Roman troops brought Ptolemy XII back to his throne. Ptolemy XII had the second daughter executed, and he ruled again. Ptolemy XII said that when he died, Cleopatra and her brother Ptolemy XII were to take over for him. He died in 51 B.C. Egyptian custom was for brother-sister marriages in their rulers, so Cleopatra married her younger brother, Ptolemy XIII and they began ruling Egypt together.
In 48 B.C., Cleopatra lost power. Her brother's guardians made him, Ptolemy XIII, the pharaoh. Also in 48 B.C., Julius Caesar came to visit Alexandria, the capital of Egypt. Julius Caesar was a very powerful man because he was the dictator of Rome. Cleopatra and Julius Caesar fell in love. A major problem was that Julius Caesar was already married. Caesar loved Cleopatra a lot, and he put a gilt-bronze statue of her in a public forum.
