1 2 Theodore Cressy Skeat, in Skeat (1953, pp. 98–100), uses historical data to calculate the death of Cleopatra as having occurred on 12 August 30 BC. Burstein (2004, p. 31) provides the same date as Skeat, while Dodson & Hilton (2004, p. 277) tepidly supports this, saying it occurred circa that date. Those in favor of claiming her death occurred on 10 August 30 BC include Roller (2010, pp. 147–148), Fletcher (2008, p. 3), and Anderson (2003, p. 56). 1 2 Roller (2010, p. 149) and Skeat (1953, pp. 99–100) explain the nominal short-lived reign of Caesarion as lasting 18 days in August 30 BC. However, Duane W. Roller, relaying Theodore Cressy Skeat, affirms that Caesarion's reign "was essentially a fiction created by Egyptian chronographers to close the gap between [Cleopatra's] death and official Roman control of Egypt (under the new pharaoh, Octavian)," citing, for instance, the Stromata by Clement of Alexandria (Roller 2010, pp. 149, 214, footnote 103). ↑ Southern (2009, p. 43) writes about Ptolemy I Soter: "The Ptolemaic dynasty, of which Cleopatra was the last representative, was founded at the end of the fourth century BC. The Ptolemies were not of Egyptian extraction, but stemmed from Ptolemy Soter, a Macedonian Greek in the entourage of Alexander the Great." 1 2 Grant (1972, pp. 5–6) notes that the Hellenistic period, beginning with the reign of Alexander the Great, came to an end with the death of Cleopatra in 30 BC. Michael Grant stresses that the Hellenistic Greeks were viewed by contemporary Romans as having declined and diminished in greatness since the age of Classical Greece, an attitude that has continued even into the works of modern historiography. In regards to Hellenistic Egypt, Grant argues, "Cleopatra VII, looking back upon all that her ancestors had done during that time, was not likely to make the same mistake. But she and her contemporaries of the first century BC had another, peculiar, problem of their own. Could the 'Hellenistic Age' (which we ourselves often regard as coming to an end in about her time) still be said to exist at all, could any Greek age, now that the Romans were the dominant power? This was a question never far from Cleopatra's mind. But it is quite certain that she considered the Greek epoch to be by no means finished, and intended to do everything in her power to ensure its perpetuation." 1 2 The refusal of Ptolemaic dynasty rulers to speak the native language, Late Egyptian, is why Ancient Greek (i.e. Koine Greek) was used along with Late Egyptian on official court documents such as the Rosetta Stone ("Radio 4 Programmes – A History of the World in 100 Objects, Empire Builders (300 BC – 1 AD), Rosetta Stone". BBC. Retrieved 2010-06-07. ↑ Tyldesley (2017) offers an alternative rendering of the title Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator as "Cleopatra the Father-Loving Goddess". ↑ For a thorough explanation about the foundation of Alexandria by Alexander the Great and its largely Hellenistic Greek nature during the Ptolemaic period, along with a survey of the various ethnic groups residing there, see Burstein (2004, pp. 43–61). ↑ For further information, see Grant (1972, pp. 20, 256, footnote 42). ↑ For the list of languages spoken by Cleopatra as mentioned by the ancient historian Plutarch, see Jones (2006, pp. 33–34), who also mentions that the rulers of Ptolemaic Egypt gradually abandoned the Ancient Macedonian language. For further information and validation see Schiff (2011, p. 36). ↑ Grant (1972, p. 3) states that Cleopatra could have been born in either late 70 BC or early 69 BC. ↑ For further information and validation see Schiff (2011, p. 28) and Kleiner (2005, p. 22). For alternate speculation, see Burstein (2004, p. 11) and Roller (2010, pp. 15, 18, 166). 1 2 Grant (1972, pp. 3–4, 17), Fletcher (2008, pp. 69, 74, 76), Jones (2006, p. xiii), Preston (2009, p. 22), Schiff (2011, p. 28) and Burstein (2004, p. 11) label the wife of Ptolemy XII Auletes as Cleopatra V Tryphaena, while Dodson & Hilton (2004, pp. 268–269, 273) and Roller (2010, p. 18) call her Cleopatra VI Tryphaena, due to the confusion in primary sources conflating these two figures, who may have been one and the same. As explained by Whitehorne (1994, p. 182), Cleopatra VI may have actually been a daughter of Ptolemy XII who appeared in 58 BC to rule jointly with her alleged sister Berenice IV (while Ptolemy XII was exiled and living in Rome), whereas Ptolemy XII's wife Cleopatra V perhaps died as early as the winter of 69–68 BC, when she disappears from historical records. Roller (2010, pp. 18–19) assumes that Ptolemy XII's wife, who he numbers as Cleopatra VI, was merely absent from the court for a decade after being expelled for an unknown reason, eventually ruling jointly with her daughter Berenice IV. Fletcher (2008, p. 76) explains that the Alexandrians deposed Ptolemy XII and installed "his eldest daughter, Berenike IV, and as co-ruler recalled Cleopatra V Tryphaena from 10 years' exile from the court. Although later historians assumed she must have been another of Auletes' daughters and numbered her 'Cleopatra VI', it seems she was simply the fifth one returning to replace her brother and former husband Auletes." ↑ Due to discrepancies in academic works, in which some consider Cleopatra VI to be either a daughter of Ptolemy XII or his wife, identical to that of Cleopatra V, Jones (2006, p. 28) states that Ptolemy XII had six children, while Roller (2010, p. 16) mentions only five. ↑ For further information and validation, see Grant (1972, pp. 12–13). In 1972, Michael Grant calculated that 6,000 talents, the price of Ptolemy XII's fee for receiving the title "friend and ally of the Roman people" from the triumvirs Pompey and Julius Caesar, would be worth roughly £7 million or US$17 million, roughly the entire annual tax revenue for Ptolemaic Egypt. ↑ Fletcher (2008, p. 87) describes the painting from Herculaneum further: "Cleopatra's hair was maintained by her highly skilled hairdresser Eiras. Although rather artificial looking wigs set in the traditional tripartite style of long straight hair would have been required for her appearances before her Egyptian subjects, a more practical option for general day-to-day wear was the no-nonsense 'melon hairdo' in which her natural hair was drawn back in sections resembling the lines on a melon and then pinned up in a bun at the back of the head. A trademark style of Arsinoe II and Berenice II, the style had fallen from fashion for almost two centuries until revived by Cleopatra; yet as both traditionalist and innovator, she wore her version without her predecessor's fine head veil. And whereas they had both been blonde like Alexander, Cleopatra may well have been a redhead, judging from the portrait of a flame-haired woman wearing the royal diadem surrounded by Egyptian motifs which has been identified as Cleopatra." ↑ For political background information on the Roman annexation of Cyprus, a move pushed for in the Roman Senate by Publius Clodius Pulcher, see Grant (1972, pp. 13–14). ↑ For further information, see Grant (1972, pp. 15–16). ↑ Fletcher (2008, pp. 76–77) expresses little doubt about this: "deposed in late summer 58 BC and fearing for his life, Auletes had fled both his palace and his kingdom, although he was not completely alone. For one Greek source reveals he had been accompanied 'by one of his daughters', and since his eldest Berenice IV, was monarch, and the youngest, Arisone, little more than a toddler, it is generally assumed that this must have been his middle daughter and favourite child, eleven-year-old Cleopatra." ↑ For further information, see Grant (1972, p. 16). ↑ For further information on Roman financier Rabirius, as well as the Gabiniani left in Egypt by Gabinius, see Grant (1972, pp. 18–19). ↑ For further information, see Grant (1972, p. 18). ↑ For further information, see Grant (1972, pp. 19–20, 27–29). ↑ For further information, see Grant (1972, pp. 28–30). ↑ For further information, see Fletcher (2008, pp. 88–92) and Jones (2006, pp. 31, 34–35). ↑ Pfrommer & Towne-Markus (2001, p. 34) writes the following about the sibling marriage of Ptolemy II and Arsinoe II: "Ptolemy Keraunos, who wanted to become king of Macedon ... killed Arsinoë's small children in front of her. Now queen without a kingdom, Arsinoë fled to Egypt, where she was welcomed by her full brother Ptolemy II. Not content, however, to spend the rest of her life as a guest at the Ptolemaic court, she had Ptolemy II's wife exiled to Upper Egypt and married him herself around 275 B.C. Though such an incestuous marriage was considered scandalous by the Greeks, it was allowed by Egyptian custom. For that reason the marriage split public opinion into two factions. The loyal side celebrated the couple as a return of the divine marriage of Zeus and Hera, whereas the other side did not refrain from profuse and obscene criticism. One of the most sarcastic commentators, a poet with a very sharp pen, had to flee Alexandria. The unfortunate poet was caught off the shore of Crete by the Ptolemaic navy, put in an iron basket, and drowned. This and similar actions seemingly slowed down vicious criticism." ↑ For further information, see Fletcher (2008, pp. 92–93). ↑ For further information, see Fletcher (2008, pp. 96–97) and Jones (2006, p. 39). ↑ For further information, see Jones (2006, pp. 39–41). 1 2 For further information, see Fletcher (2008, p. 98) and Jones (2006, pp. 39–43, 53–55). ↑ For further information, see Fletcher (2008, pp. 98–100) and Jones (2006, pp. 53–55). ↑ For further information, see Burstein (2004, p. 18) and Fletcher (2008, pp. 101–103). 1 2 For further information, see Fletcher (2008, p. 113). ↑ For further information, see Fletcher (2008, p. 118). ↑ For further information, see Burstein (2004, p. 76). ↑ For further information, see Burstein (2004, pp. xxi, 19) and Fletcher (2008, pp. 118–120). ↑ For further information, see Fletcher (2008, pp. 119–120). ↑ For further information and validation, see Anderson (2003, p. 39) and Fletcher (2008, p. 120). ↑ For further information and validation, see Fletcher (2008, p. 121) and Jones (2006, p. xiv). ↑ For further information and validation, see Anderson (2003, p. 39) and Fletcher (2008, pp. 154, 161–162). ↑ Roller (2010, p. 70) writes the following about Caesar and his parentage of Caesarion: "The matter of parentage became so tangled in the propaganda war between Antonius and Octavian in the late 30s B.C.–it was essential for one side to prove and the other to reject Caesar's role–that it is impossible today to determine Caesar's actual response. The extant information is almost contradictory: it was said that Caesar denied parentage in his will but acknowledged it privately and allowed use of the name Caesarion. Caesar's associate C. Oppius even wrote a pamphlet proving that Caesarion was not Caesar's child, and C. Helvius Cinna–the poet who was killed by rioters after Antonius's funeral oration–was prepared in 44 B.C. to introduce legislation to allow Caesar to marry as many wives as he wished for the purpose of having children. Although much of this talk was generated after Caesar's death, it seems that he himself wished to be as quiet as possible about the child but had to contend with Cleopatra's repeated assertions." ↑ For further information and validation, see Jones (2006, pp. xiv, 78). ↑ For further information, see Fletcher (2008, pp. 214–215). ↑ As explained by Burstein (2004, p. 23), Cleopatra presented herself as the Egyptian goddess Isis in the appearance of the Greek goddess Aphrodite, meeting her divine husband Osiris in the form of the Greek god Dionysus, whom the priests of the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus had associated with Antony prior to this meeting with Cleopatra. According to Brown (2011), a cult surrounding Isis had been spreading across the region for hundreds of years, and Cleopatra, like many of her predecessors, sought to identify herself with Isis and be venerated. In addition, some surviving coins of Cleopatra also depict her as Venus–Aphrodite, as explained by Fletcher (2008, p. 205). ↑ For further information about Publius Ventidius Bassus and his victory over Parthian forces at the Battle of Mount Gindarus, see Kennedy (1996, pp. 80–81). ↑ According to Roller (2010, pp. 91–92), these client state rulers installed by Antony included Herod, Amyntas of Galatia, Polemon I of Pontus, and Archelaus of Cappadocia. ↑ Bringmann (2007, p. 301) claims that Octavia Minor provided Antony with 1,200 troops, not 2,000 as stated in Roller (2010, pp. 97–98) and Burstein (2004, pp. 27–28). ↑ Roller (2010, p. 100) says that it is unclear if Antony and Cleopatra were ever truly married. Burstein (2004, pp. xxii, 29) says that the marriage publicly sealed Antony's alliance with Cleopatra and in defiance of Octavian he would divorce Octavia in 32 BC. Coins of Antony and Cleopatra depict them in the typical manner of a Hellenistic royal couple, as explained by Roller (2010, p. 100). ↑ Jones (2006, p. xiv) writes that "Octavian waged a propaganda war against Antony and Cleopatra, stressing Cleopatra's status as a woman and a foreigner who wished to share in Roman power." ↑ Stanley M. Burstein, in Burstein (2004, p. 33) provides the name Quintus Cascellius as the recipient of the tax exemption, not the Publius Canidius Crassus provided by Duane W. Roller in Roller (2010, p. 134). ↑ Reece (2017, p. 203) notes that "[t]he fragmentary texts of ancient Greek papyri do not often make their way into the modern public arena, but this one has, and with fascinating results, while remaining almost entirely unacknowledged is the remarkable fact that Cleopatra's one-word subscription contains a blatant spelling error: γινέσθωι, with a superfluous iota adscript." This spelling error "has not been noted by the popular media", however, being "simply transliterated [...] including, without comment, the superfluous iota adscript" (p. 208). Even in academic sources, the misspelling was largely unacknowledged or quietly corrected (pp. 206–208, 210). ↑ As explained by Jones (2006, p. 147), "politically, Octavian had to walk a fine line as he prepared to engage in open hostilities with Antony. He was careful to minimize associations with civil war, as the Roman people had already suffered through many years of civil conflict and Octavian could risk losing support if he declared war on a fellow citizen." ↑ For the translated accounts of both Plutarch and Dio, Jones (2006, pp. 194–195) writes that the implement used to puncture Cleopatra's skin was a hairpin. ↑ Jones (2006, p. 187), translating Plutarch, quotes Arius Didymus as saying to Octavian that "it is not good to have too many Caesars", which was apparently enough to convince Octavian to have Caesarion killed. ↑ Contrary to regular Roman provinces, Egypt was established by Octavian as territory under his personal control, barring the Roman Senate from intervening in any of its affairs and appointing his own equestrian governors of Egypt, the first of whom was Gallus. For further information, see Southern (2014, p. 185) and Roller (2010, p. 151). ↑ Jones (2006, p. 60) offers speculation that the author of De Bello Alexandrino, written in Latin prose sometime between 46–43 BC, was a certain Aulus Hirtius, a military officer serving under Caesar. ↑ Burstein (2004, p. 30) writes that Virgil, in his Aeneid, described the Battle of Actium against Cleopatra "as a clash of civilizations in which Octavian and the Roman gods preserved Italy from conquest by Cleopatra and the barbaric animal-headed gods of Egypt." ↑ For further information and extracts of Strabo's account of Cleopatra in his Geographica see Jones (2006, pp. 28–30). ↑ As explained by Chauveau (2000, pp. 2–3), this source material from Egypt dated to the reign of Cleopatra includes about 50 papyri documents in Ancient Greek, mostly from the city of Heracleopolis, and only a few papyri from Faiyum, written in the Demotic Egyptian language. Overall this is a much smaller body of surviving native texts than those of any other period of Ptolemaic Egypt. ↑ For the description of Cleopatra by Plutarch, who claimed that her beauty was not "completely incomparable" but that she had a "captivating" and "stimulating" personality, see Jones (2006, pp. 32–33). ↑ Fletcher (2008, p. 205) writes the following: "Cleopatra was the only female Ptolemy to issue coins on her own behalf, some showing her as Venus-Aphrodite. Caesar now followed her example and, taking the same bold step, became the first living Roman to appear on coins, his rather haggard profile accompanied by the title 'Parens Patriae', 'Father of the Fatherland'." ↑ For further information, see Raia & Sebesta (2017). ↑ There is academic disagreement on whether the following portraits are considered "heads" or "busts". For instance, Raia & Sebesta (2017) exclusively uses the former, while Grout (2017b) prefers the latter. ↑ For further information and validation, see Curtius (1933, pp. 182–192), Walker (2008, p. 348), Raia & Sebesta (2017) and Grout (2017b). ↑ For further information and validation, see Grout (2017b) and Roller (2010, pp. 174–175). ↑ For further information, see Curtius (1933, pp. 182–192), Walker (2008, p. 348) and Raia & Sebesta (2017). ↑ Ferroukhi (2001a, p. 219) provides a detailed discussion about this bust and its ambiguities, noting that it could represent Cleopatra, but that it is more likely her daughter Cleopatra Selene II. Kleiner (2005, pp. 155–156) argues in favor of it depicting Cleopatra rather than her daughter, while Varner (2004, p. 20) only mentions Cleopatra as a possible likeness. Roller (2003, p. 139) observes that it could be either Cleopatra or Cleopatra Selene II, while arguing the same ambiguity applies to the other sculpted head from Cherchel featuring a veil. In regards to the latter head, Ferroukhi (2001b, p. 242) indicates it as a possible portrait of Cleopatra, not Cleoptra Selene II, from the early 1st century AD while also arguing that its masculine features, earrings, and apparent toga (the veil being a component of it) could likely mean it was intended to depict a Numidian nobleman. Fletcher (2008, image plates between pp. 246–247) disagrees about the veiled head, arguing that it was commissioned by Cleopatra Selene II at Iol (Caesarea Mauretaniae) and was meant to depict her mother, Cleopatra. ↑ The observation that the left cheek of the Vatican Cleopatra once had a cupid's hand that was broken off was first suggested by Ludwig Curtius in 1933. Kleiner concurs with this assessment. See Kleiner (2005, p. 153), as well as Walker (2008, p. 40) and Curtius (1933, pp. 182–192). While Kleiner (2005, p. 153) has suggested the lump on top of this marble head perhaps contained a broken-off uraeus, Curtius (1933, p. 187) offered the explanation that it once held a sculpted representation of a jewel. ↑ Curtius (1933, p. 187) wrote that the damaged lump along the hairline and diadem of the Vatican Cleopatra likely contained a sculpted representation of a jewel, which Walker (2008, p. 40) directly compares to the painted red jewel in the diadem worn by Venus, most likely Cleopatra, in the fresco from Pompeii. ↑ For further information about the painting in the House of Giuseppe II (Joseph II) at Pompeii and the possible identification of Cleopatra as one of the figures, see Pucci (2011, pp. 206–207, footnote 27). ↑ In Pratt & Fizel (1949, pp. 14–15), Frances Pratt and Becca Fizel rejected the idea proposed by some scholars in the 19th and early 20th centuries that the painting was perhaps done by an artist of the Italian Renaissance. Pratt and Fizel highlighted the Classical style of the painting as preserved in textual descriptions and the steel engraving. They argued that it was unlikely for a Renaissance period painter to have created works with encaustic materials, conducted thorough research into Hellenistic period Egyptian clothing and jewelry as depicted in the painting, and then precariously placed it in the ruins of the Egyptian temple at Hadrian's Villa. ↑ Walker & Higgs (2001, pp. 314–315) describe her hair as reddish brown, while Fletcher (2008, p. 87) describes her as a flame-haired redhead and, in Fletcher (2008, image plates and captions between pp. 246–247), likewise describes her as a red-haired woman. ↑ Preston (2009, p. 305) comes to a similar conclusion about native Egyptian depictions of Cleopatra: "Apart from certain temple carvings, which are anyway in a highly stylised pharaonic style and give little clue to Cleopatra's real appearance, the only certain representations of Cleopatra are those on coins. The marble head in the Vatican is one of three sculptures generally, though not universally, accepted by scholars to be depictions of Cleopatra." ↑ For further information on Cleopatra's Macedonian Greek lineage, see Pucci (2011, p. 201), Grant (1972, pp. 3–5), Burstein (2004, pp. 3, 34, 36, 43, 63–64) and Royster (2003, pp. 47–49). ↑ For further information and validation of the foundation of Hellenistic Egypt by Alexander the Great and Cleopatra's ancestry stretching back to Ptolemy I Soter, see Grant (1972, pp. 7–8) and Jones (2006, p. 3). ↑ For further information, see Grant (1972, pp. 3–4) and Burstein (2004, p. 11). ↑ For further information, see Fletcher (2008, pp. 69, 74, 76). ↑ For the Sogdian ancestry of Apama, wife of Seleucus I Nicator, see Holt (1989, pp. 64–65, footnote 63). ↑ As explained by Burstein (2004, pp. 47–50), the main ethnic groups of Ptolemaic Egypt were Egyptians, Greeks, and Jews, each of whom were legally segregated, living in different residential quarters and forbidden to intermarry with one another in the multicultural cities of Alexandria, Naucratis, and Ptolemais Hermiou. However, as explained by Fletcher (2008, pp. 82, 88–93), the native Egyptian priesthood was strongly linked to their Ptolemaic royal patrons, to the point where Cleopatra is speculated to have had an Egyptian half-cousin, Pasherienptah III, the High Priest of Ptah at Memphis, Egypt. ↑ Grant (1972, p. 5) argues that Cleopatra's grandmother, i.e. the mother of Ptolemy XII, might have been a Syrian (though conceding that "it is possible she was also partly Greek"), but almost certainly not an Egyptian because there is only one known Egyptian mistress of a Ptolemaic ruler throughout their entire dynasty. ↑ Schiff (2011, p. 42) further argues that, considering Cleopatra's ancestry, she was not dark-skinned, though notes Cleopatra was likely not among the Ptolemies with fair features, and instead would have been honey-skinned, citing as evidence that her relatives were described as such and it "would have presumably applied to her as well." Goldsworthy (2010, pp. 127, 128) agrees to this, contending that Cleopatra, having Macedonian blood with a little Syrian, was probably not dark-skinned (as Roman propaganda never mentions it), writing "fairer skin is marginally more likely considering her ancestry," though also notes she could have had a "darker more Mediterranean complexion" because of her mixed ancestry. Grant (1972, p. 5) agrees to Goldsworthy's latter speculation of her skin color, that though almost certainly not Egyptian, Cleopatra had a darker complexion due to being Greek mixed with Persian and possible Syrian ancestry. Preston (2009, p. 77) agrees with Grant that, considering this ancestry, Cleopatra was "almost certainly dark-haired and olive-skinned." Bradford (2000, p. 14) contends that it is "reasonable to infer" Cleopatra had dark hair and "pale olive skin." ↑ For further information on the identity of Cleopatra's mother, see Burstein (2004, p. 11), Fletcher (2008, p. 73), Goldsworthy (2010, pp. 127, 128), Grant (1972, p. 4), and Roller (2010, pp. 165–166). Joann Fletcher finds this hypothesis to be dubious and lacking evidence. Stanley M. Burstein claims that strong circumstantial evidence suggests Cleopatra's mother could have been a member of the priestly family of Ptah, but that historians generally assume her mother was Cleopatra V Tryphaena, wife of Ptolemy XII. Adrian Goldsworthy dismisses the idea of Cleopatra's mother being a member of an Egyptian priestly family as "pure conjecture," adding that either Cleopatra V or a concubine "probably of Greek origin" would be Cleopatra VII's mother. Michael Grant contends that Cleopatra V was most likely Cleopatra VII's mother. Duane W. Roller notes that while Cleopatra could have been the daughter of the priestly family of Ptah, the other main candidate would be Cleopatra VI, maintaining the uncertainty stems from Cleopatra V/VI's "loss of favor" that "obscured the issue." ↑ Schiff (2011, pp. 2) concurs with this, concluding that Cleopatra "upheld the family tradition." As noted by Dudley (1960, pp. 57), Cleopatra and her family were "the successor[s] to the native Pharaohs, exploiting through a highly organized bureaucracy the great natural resources of the Nile Valley." ↑ Grant (1972, p. 4) argues that if Cleopatra had been illegitimate, her "numerous Roman enemies would have revealed this to the world." ↑ The family tree and short discussions of the individuals can be found in Dodson & Hilton (2004, pp. 268–281). Aidan Dodson and Dyan Hilton refer to Cleopatra V as Cleopatra VI and Cleopatra Selene of Syria is called Cleopatra V Selene. Dotted lines in the chart below indicate possible but disputed parentage.