Childhood Of Cleopatra
Not much is known about the childhood or the early years of the life of Cleopatra as there is no well-documented historical account about it. Queen Cleopatra, one of the most popular queens and the last pharaoh of Egypt, was born to Ptolemy XII in 69 B.C. in Alexandria, during the rule of the Ptolemy family with a long political history. Although she was born in Alexandria, she was a descendant of a Macedonian family. |
Named as Cleopatra Thea Philopator, she was the 3rd daughter of King Ptolemy XII Auletes, born to her father’s sister. Not much evidence is available about the actual identity of her mother. The Greek meaning of her name was the Goddess Cleopatra, the Beloved of Her Father. Cleopatra saw a number of chaotic situations under the rule of her father. These events cropped up due to several reasons, such as corruption, centralization of power, and physical and moral disintegration of the sovereigns. Finally, loss of Cyrenaica and Cyprus made Ptolemy’s rule soon became one of the most catastrophic of the dynasty.
Berenice IV, her elder sister, seized the throne from her father in 58 B.C. However, she was overturned and executed by Ptolemy XII by 55 B.C. with the help of Aulus Gabinius, the then Roman Governor of Syria. After Cleopatra’s father Ptolemy XII died in 51 B.C., she was 3rd in line to rule the country after her 2 elder sisters. She was merely 19 years when she occupied the throne along with her brother Ptolemy XIII. After the death of her brothers, Ptolemy XIII in 44 B.C., and Ptolemy XIV in 47-30 B.C., she became the Queen of Egypt. To keep up with the age old trend of Egypt, she married her own brother Ptolemy XIII, who was six years younger to her.
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