10 Strange Facts About Cleopatra Teachers Never Told You

if you're in denial then you'll love 10 weird facts about Cleopatra your teachers never told you yep Cleopatra was on denial to get it yeah I think that's one of my better puns actually well whether you've seen her portrayed on the big screen he learned about her in school or probably a combination of both Cleopatra is definitely one of the most well known names out there she was the last Egyptian pharaoh and without a doubt one of the most influential women in the history of humankind but because the story of the Queen's life has been told in so many books and movies it can be hard to separate historical facts from fiction but we're about to bust some of the most popular myths about Cleopatra and open your eyes to several peculiar facts of her real biography but before we take a look at a side of Cleopatra few are aware of make sure you're subscribed to our channel and that you've hit that little bell to turn on post notifications that way you won't miss any of the fun and interesting updates coming out daily on wait for it the bright side of life okay number one Cleopatra married two of her younger brothers oh my Cleopatra was one of four children born to King Ptolemy the 12th and his wife Cleopatra the six travina who was probably his cousin or maybe his sister whoa sounds gross I know but this incestuous practice was a totally common and normal thing for most royal dynasties of the past and the ptolemies were no different the reasoning was that marrying within the family kept the bloodline pure unfortunately people back then simply didn't know about the array of genetic disorders that result from incest well when Cleopatra was 14 her father chose her to be his Co ruler after a mother suddenly passed away under mysterious circumstances hmm over the next four years the young girl served as a deputy of the king and his Regent gathering all necessary experience to become a future ruler after her father died she took the throne but to keep it the 18 year old Queen had to have a cool ruler that's how she ended up marrying her little brother Ptolemy the eighth who was just ten at the time but that's not all after his death which occurred several years later she married her other brother Ptolemy the fourteenth boy number two Julius Caesar erected a statue of her in the Temple of Venus Genetrix when Cleopatra sided with the Syrians the Romans got really mad and decided to help the Queen's first husband or brother seize the throne this was way before his death of course one of his allies was the great Julius Caesar knowing that she had to turn the tables in her favor Cleopatra decided to meet Caesar for herself it's believed that she wrapped herself in a carpet that she had delivered to the generals quarters snug as a bug in a rug apparently the Queen managed to charm Julius Caesar and they quickly became allies the 52 year old general returned the throne to the 21 year old Cleopatra despite such a huge age difference the two soon became lovers while all the movies depict a passionate romance between them researchers are sure that this was just a convenient political partnership whatever it was Caesar who was also married to mind you erected a statue of Cleopatra in the Venus Temple in Rome as you can imagine it was pretty scandalous and unlike the Egyptians the Romans didn't consider their rulers godlike so the statue really offended their religious sensibilities but still even after the death of Julius Caesar the statue remained in the temple for 200 more years [Music] number three Mark Antony once skipped an invasion to spend time with Clio the first meeting of Cleopatra and Mark Antony in the city of Tarsus which is located in modern-day Turkey is just one of many examples proving that the Egyptian queen definitely do how to make an impression Cleopatra was aware that the Roman officer saw himself as the embodiment of the Greek god Dionysus and expected others to worship him as such yeah pretty arrogant to say the least but Cleopatra decided to play along and appeared at the city gates dressed as the Greek goddess Aphrodite she was surrounded by attendants dressed up as Cupid's hoof and the Queen and burned sweet-smelling incense around her to no surprise Marc Antony was impressed and that's how their partnership started in fact the general was so enchanted that he once skipped a really important invasion just to spend time with Cleopatra number four she wasn't exactly a beauty wait what but in all the movies she's always played by an absolutely gorgeous actress well unfortunately this might be just another myth in February 2007 an ancient coin with a portrait of Cleopatra was discovered and the image wasn't that of a drop-dead stunner it's not to say she was ugly or anything just kind of ordinary looking in any case her contemporaries saw her beauty not so much in her looks but in her wit character and irresistible charisma I'd say they had the right idea of what true beauty is number 5 Cleopatra wasn't just a ruler she was a mother too while Cleopatra didn't have any children with her brothers she did have kids from both Julius Caesar and Mark Antony her son with Caesar was named Caesarea which means Little Caesar Pizza Pizza Cleopatra also had three children with Mark Antony Alexander Helios and Cleopatra Celie twins named in honor of the Sun and Moon and a son she called Ptolemy Philadelphus or Ptolemy the brother loving number six she loves spending money but not only on herself Cleopatra did spend around 50% of her share of the kingdom's income on Beauty and other luxuries but she was also an extremely efficient ruler who cared about her people the Queen implemented public welfare programs that made Alexandria a powerful wealthy and renowned City number 7 Cleopatra might not have died from a snakebite just don't ask me about it Cleopatra's death is still a subject for debate according to the most popular legend she forced a poisonous Viper to bite her on the breast but a horrible painful death like this would last for hours and this contradicts the fact that she died quickly ancient historians Strabo wrote that Cleopatra always had a comb soaked in poison with her so she possibly could have killed herself with it a hairy way to end some other historians believe that the Queen might have drunk a lethal mixture of poison from several snakes who like a serpentine committee of death who number 8 she could speak Egyptian Arabic and yes that was a big deal the thing is that the Queen was a member of the Ptolemy dynasty which ruled Egypt for 300 years this dynasty descended from Ptolemy won a Macedonian Greek general under Alexander the Great that's why people in Cleopatra's family spoke Greek and had Greek traditions and as the ruling family they had all court documents written in two official languages Greek and Egyptian Arabic surprisingly the Egyptians didn't mind Greeks ruling their country that might be due to the fact that they like these conquerors a little more than the previous ones the Persians in any case they probably appreciated the fact that Cleopatra learned to write and speak in their native language on top of that Cleopatra was the first in her family to except the local culture ancient customs and Egyptian gods she even managed to persuade her people that she was the reincarnation of the god Isis hey she's making Egypt great again number nine Cleopatra's famous makeup was a sort of protection lots of images of Cleopatra depict the iconic Queen with her signature makeup eyes thickly lined with black kohl that often kept going down to the sides of her face forming spirals and patterns the New York Times states that this call wasn't only a cosmetic decoration it contained four lead-based substances and was used to fend off eye infections which were common in ancient Egypt the lid was toxic to the bacteria that caused these infections as a talented chemist Cleopatra probably realized this and used the call to her advantage but that still raises the question was it really such a good idea to put toxic lead-based substances on your face and you're asking someone who married two of her brothers hey what's a little LED number 10 Cleopatra owned a perfume factory the Queen's knack for chemistry also explains her belief that fragrances could become a tool of persuasion therefore she took full advantage of their powers besides Cleopatra even had her own perfume Factory the ruins of this Factory were found near ein gedi which is situated on the Dead Sea that place was also used as a beauty salon and spa cleopatra kept the recipes of different perfumes in her book Genesee Aram libera unfortunately for us this book together with all the mind-control knowledge in it was lost in a fire at the library of Alexandra hmm too bad ooh and here's a bonus Cleopatra spent money on a cocktail that would be equivalent to over 16 million dollars today Cleo was the type who would easily throw a fortune away just to prove a point according to one legend Cleopatra once had a bed with Mark Antony that she could spend 10 million sesterces on just one a sister yes was a type of coin used in ancient Rome so to put it in perspective for you that's about sixteen point seven million dollars today surprisingly the Queen started with a pretty modest meal but when she was done eating she had a servant bring her a cup of vinegar she then took one of her pearl earrings and removed the Jim it was said that the pearl was the largest in all of history and a unique work of nature well Miss Cleo just dropped that masterpiece of Mother Nature right in the vinegar watched it dissolve and drank this self-made cocktail believe it or not modern tests have proven that pearls do indeed dissolve in vinegar but it takes them more than a day to disappear entirely which begs the question how potent was the vinegar they were using back in ancient Egypt and an extra bonus Cleopatra did have a barge and she used it on the Nile quite a lot dropping into many cities and towns where she wasn't exactly invited so much so that the saying she just barged right in is known to this day no wait I just made all that up but it sounded good so which fact about the great Queen impressed you the most do you know anything else about Cleopatra that we've missed tell us in the comments below if you like learning fun and weird facts then give this video a like oh and definitely hit that subscribe button because we've got lots of entertaining videos like this one on the bright side of life see you next time next time [Music]

Channel: BRIGHT SIDE

Views: 2,877,760

Rating: 4.8178625 out of 5

Keywords: facts about Cleopatra, truth about Cleopatra, scientific facts, historical facts, facts about egyptians, Cleopatra, Julius Caesar, Mark Antony, Cleo, Egyptian Arabic, facts about egyptian

Id: IpSnExBcHf4

Length: 12min 29sec (749 seconds)

Published: Thu Aug 16 2018