What Type of Leader Was Cleopatra?

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Whether you've seen her in a movie or just have a human pulse, most of us know who Cleopatra is. Cleopatra-- or Cleopatra VII, if we're getting specific-- was a lifelong leader and one of the most ruthless and brilliant rulers of her time. It turns out Cleo was a whole lot more than just a pretty face on a coin. Today we're exploring just how great of a leader Cleopatra really was. But before we get started, be sure to subscribe to the Weird History Channel. Oh, and that's just not enough. Leave a comment and let us know what topics you would like to hear about. OK, it's Cleo time. [MUSIC PLAYING] The life of Cleopatra, the last Egyptian pharaoh, was infamous. Born in 69 BC, she was the daughter of Ptolemy XII Auletes, a notoriously lackadaisical monarch, and rose to power as co-ruler with her brother in 51 BC. Aside from secretly conceiving a love child with Julius Caesar and then getting together with his right-hand man, Mark Antony-- talk about a scandalous love triangle-- she also managed to maintain Egypt's independence until her dying breath. Some leaders are born into greatness. Some work for their success. And others marry their brothers. In Cleopatra's case, she opted for the ancestral route, going with the Egyptian royal tradition of marrying one of your immediate relatives. Upon the death of her father, Ptolemy XII, 18-year-old Cleopatra began to rule Egypt alongside her 10-year-old brother, the creatively named Ptolemy XIII. After Cleopatra was exiled from Egypt, she went to Rome to get Julius Caesar's help in retaking her kingdom. When the Romans invaded Alexandria, Ptolemy XIII drowned in the Nile, probably because his armor weighed enough to sink him. To maintain face, Cleopatra then walked down the aisle with her other surviving brother, Ptolemy XIV. The girl's got a type. Some think she might have murdered her second brother-husband after she had a son of her own, named Ptolemy XV Caesarion, whose daddy was none other than Julius Caesar. Cheating and having a love child is OK when you're married to your brother, right? I'm going to put a prince in your belly. [MUSIC PLAYING] Cleo definitely had a thing for Romans, but not necessarily because she thought they were hot. When she first linked up with Julius Caesar, she was on a mission. Once she was ruling Egypt, Cleopatra needed money and military help to stay in power. So she matched wits with the man at the top-- Julius Caesar. Cleo used him to cultivate military support for herself over her little brothers. They met in 48 BC, when Caesar's arch rival Pompeii landed on Egyptian shores and was promptly killed by Cleo's little brother. Caesar followed Pompeii and came to Egypt, where he met a brilliant young queen who appealed to him intellectually and sexually. The two definitely had a thing for each other, and became one of the most legendary couples of all time. No, seriously-- name a more iconic duo. We'll wait. [CLOCK TICKING] [BUZZER] We know that sparks were flying between Cleo and Julius, but just how did they meet? Legend has it that Cleopatra had herself wrapped in a rug and smuggled into Caesar's room. But that was probably not true-- and thank god, because can you imagine the rug burn? The real story, according to Plutarch, is that she was tucked into a bed sack-- probably a bag for royal linens-- and plopped into his chambers. Regardless of how she really arrived at Caesar's side, it's no wonder he was enraptured with her. She was brilliant, charming, sexy, and less than half his age. During their brief but powerful romance, they went on Nile cruises together, probably made love until dawn, and exchanged political ideas. Who knows exactly what they discussed? But he did leave her with a present-- a Roman bun in the oven. [DRAMATIC MUSIC] Sure, you may worship at the altar of Beyonce. But back in ancient Egyptian times, Cleopatra had the actual power to make herself into a bona fide goddess as far as her subjects were concerned. Making yourself a god or goddess was an Egyptian tradition. Her Ptolemaic predecessors had done the same, often assuming the roles of Greek deities. But Cleo went one step further and echoed previous Ptolemaic queens by associating herself with Isis, the mother goddess. Isis was the mother of Horace, the first pharaoh god of Egypt. A mother of god and a ruler? Women back then really could have it all-- if they were Cleopatra. By making herself into the goddess Isis, Cleopatra was declaring she was the divine mother and protectoress of the two lands of her people. Like Isis and other mortal queens, Cleopatra married her brothers. Caesar, this is not proper. Not proper? She wore sacred robes at a festival and had herself portrayed as Isis in statuary. She was dubbed Nea Isis, or New Isis. In fact, her eventual beau, Mark Antony, became Osyris in these depictions to show that a divine pair was once again ruling Egypt. Back then, you could declare yourself a god and people would just believe you. Now, that's power. But what's more powerful than being a bona fide goddess? Well, the answer is cold hard cash. Did you know Cleopatra was a grave robber? Alexander the Great's tomb was located in Alexandria, brought there by the first Ptolemaic king. And it was looted by the successive generations. And let me tell you, Cleopatra was not above a grave looting. Besides, it was her family tradition. After the Battle of Actium that pretty much wiped out her forces, Cleo raided Alexander's mausoleum, and even her own ancestors' tombs, to get precious metals to fund her continuing campaign against Rome. She was scrappy and ready to get the funds however she could, even if it meant robbing the grave of a long dead Macedonian king. [MUSIC PLAYING] Our fave queen visited Rome twice, once in 46 and another time in 44 BC. While many loved Cleopatra, the Romans weren't so hot on her. They saw Cleopatra as a scandalous foreign temptress. When she arrived with her incestuous brother-husband in tow, they assumed she was in their city to seduce their leader. She stayed at one of Caesar's villas, outside the immediate city, along with her and Caesar's son, little Caesarion. There was some conjecture that she was not so subtly hinting that her kid should be Julius' heir. Bold move, Cleo. Some suggested Cleopatra was just hanging out in Rome on Caesar's dime. But that was far from the case. In reality, she was there on a business trip, working to make alliances and secure her own thrown back home. She learned from her father's example that rulers of independent kingdoms needed Roman support to thrive. So basically she was there for business, not pleasure. [MUSIC PLAYING] After Caesar was murdered, Cleopatra was scrambling to find a new ally in Rome. She knew being a stellar ruler of her own kingdom meant having some form of an ally in Rome. So who better than Caesar's number one ally, Marcus Antonius-- better known as Mark Antony. So what if he was her ex's bestie? There was no such thing as a guy code for ancient rulers. Cleopatra knew Mark Antony was a womanizer, who was also married multiple times. So when it was time for her to meet him, she dressed to impress. When Cleopatra goes to visit a new potential suitor, she doesn't just show up in sweatpants. So when it was time for her to finally meet Antony, she naturally sailed up the river in what Plutarch referred to as a barge with gilded poop, its sails spread purple, its rowers urging it on with silver oars to the sound of the flute blended with pipes and lutes. Wait-- did he say gilded poop? Anyway, Cleopatra was lying on a bed with a golden canopy, and was dressed like the Roman goddess Venus, with her servants made up as nymphs. If that's not a grand entrance, I don't know what is. Needless to say, Antony was impressed and invited her over. But in true form, Cleopatra demanded that she meet him on her boat. So he boarded as he was told, and was impressed by Cleopatra's opulence, charm, and intelligence. She was gorgeous, could speak many different languages, and had a strong command of political and military sciences. So needless to say, she was the full package. After that night an affair was born. And like any affair, it didn't happen without some serious scandal. [DRAMATIC MUSIC] Do you think Cleopatra was above having an affair with a married man? Uh, obviously not. It wasn't unusual for anyone to have affairs in the ancient world-- no weirder than it is now. But Mark Antony was known as a womanizer. The man was still on his fourth marriage when he met and married Cleopatra. Talk about bigamy. The thing is, he couldn't just divorce his fourth wife as easily as he had some of the earlier ones. Why? She was Octavia, sister of his arch rival, the uber-powerful Octavian, who would later be known as Augustus, the first emperor of Rome, who defeated Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC. This was an important alliance. And he clearly didn't want to blow it all up, even if he was enamored with his Egyptian side chick, Cleopatra. But Antony was obviously pulled towards Cleopatra. And that attraction didn't come easily. Cleo had to work for it. According to Plutarch, in order to keep Antony around, Cleopatra would pretend to be passionately in love with him. She even reduced her body by slender diet. She put on a look of rapture when Antony drew near, and one of faintness and melancholy when he went away. So basically, she manipulated him so he'd choose her, his mistress wife, over his lawful wife. After snatching Octavia's man, Cleopatra took Antony to Athens and savagely threw Octavia and their kids out of their house. Ice cold, Cleopatra! Also, weird side note here-- after Cleopatra's death, Octavia raised Cleo and Antony's surviving children in a weird, twisted Roman version of the Brady Bunch. Speaking of Cleopatra's death, what goes up, must come down. The story goes that after Cleopatra and Antony lost everything, Cleo committed suicide by having a snake bite her. Plutarch claims that she hid a snake in a basket of figs and let it nibble on her. He admits, though, that the truth of the matter, no one knows. For it was also said that she carried about poison in a hollow comb and kept the comb hidden in her hair. And yet, neither spot nor other sign of poison broke out upon her body. Death by poisonous hairbrush-- now that's quite a way to go. Or perhaps Cleopatra didn't die by snake bite or poison comb. Some have guessed that she kicked the bucket by downing a lethal cocktail. What would her beverage have contained? Perhaps opium, hemlock-- what Socrates used to kill himself-- and deadly wolfsbane. Either way, she perished at the ripe young age of 39. [MUSIC PLAYING] Cleopatra's royal family heritage, known as the Ptolemaic Dynasty of Egypt, was actually founded by a man of primarily Macedonian Greek descent, Pharaoh Ptolemy I Soter. Greek-born Ptolemy was one of Alexander the Great's BFFs. And after Alexander's death, Ptolemy and Alexander's other generals carved up his empire. Ptolemy got Egypt, along with a few other tinier territories. He kept his Greek name, but modeled himself after Egyptian rulers by making himself pharaoh-- you know, to fit in. His successors continued the tradition of mimicking the Egyptian style of rule by marrying their siblings-- a hallmark of many ancient kings, Egyptians in particular. So essentially, this made it so a lot of Cleopatra's family was Macedonian Greek and not native Egyptian. Not only were they mostly not Egyptian, but many of Cleo's predecessors didn't even speak Egyptian. Unlike them, however, Cleo actually took the time to learn the Egyptian language, meaning she could effectively communicate with her subjects. She may actually have been of part-Egyptian descent herself. Her dad, Ptolemy XII, was mostly Greek. But we still, to this day, don't know the identity of either his own mother or Cleopatra's mother. Perhaps Cleo's grandmother or mother were Egyptian and instilled a love of their native country in the young princess, causing her to learn and appreciate the language of her people. It's pretty clear why Cleopatra's legacy lives on in history. In spite of her short time on Earth, this bad-ass, ruthless, tough-as-nails female leader managed to change the course of history forever. What do you think about Cleopatra's leadership skills? Let us know in the comments below. And while you're at it, check out some of these other videos from our weird history.
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Views: 1,322,093
Rating: 4.8537025 out of 5
Keywords: cleopatra, cleopatra vii, cleopatra as a leader, cleopatra egyptian leader, queen cleopatra, weird history, eyptian history, cleopatra julius caesar, ptolemy XII, cleopatra and mark antony, ancient egypt, cleopatra death, snake bite cleopatra, egyptian pharoahs, pharoah, elizabeth taylor cleopatra, world history, egypt, octavian, emperor augustus, battle of actium, history channel, drunk history, infographics show, greece bc, Ptolemy XII Auletes
Id: t9HE4OvmuSA
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Length: 12min 3sec (723 seconds)
Published: Sun Aug 11 2019
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