克丽奥佩脱拉

Cleopatra (VII)

埃及女王(马其顿人的後裔),埃及国王托勒密王朝的末代君主。她是托勒密十二世(西元前112年~西元前51年)的次女。先後与两位丈夫(兄弟)共执朝政,即托勒密十三世(西元前51~西元前47年)和托勒密十四世(西元前47~西元前44年),这两人後来都被她所杀,之後与儿子托勒密十五世一起执政。她声称儿子的父亲是凯撒,系西元前48年凯撒追击庞培到埃及时,两人相爱所生。她追随凯撒到罗马,西元前44年凯撒被刺杀後,她急忙回到埃及安置儿子即位。後来她引诱凯撒的继承人安东尼与她结婚(西元前36年),激怒了屋大维,因安东尼原已娶屋大维之妹为妻。她成功策画使安东尼与其朋友犹太国王希律反目成仇,结果失去希律的支持。西元前34年安东尼在亚历山大里亚举办庆典庆祝打败安息时,把罗马土地赐予这位外国妻子和其家族。屋大维後来向他们宣战,西元前31年屋大维在亚克兴战役中打败他们的联军。安东尼最後自杀,克丽奥佩脱拉在试图迷惑屋大维不成之後,以毒蛇咬胸自杀。

前69~西元前30年

Cleopatra (VII)

Egyptian queen (of Macedonian descent), last ruler of the Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt. Daughter of Ptolemy XII (112?-51 BC), she ruled with her two brother-husbands, Ptolemy XIII (51-47) and Ptolemy XIV (47-44), both of whom she had killed, and with her son, Ptolemy XV or Caesarion (44-30). She claimed the latter was fathered by Julius Caesar, who had become her lover after entering Egypt in 48 BC in pursuit of Pompey. She was with Caesar in Rome when he was assassinated (44), after which she returned to Egypt to install her son on the throne. She lured Mark Antony, Caesar's heir apparent, into marriage (36), inviting the wrath of Octavian (later Augustus), whose sister Antony had earlier wed. She schemed against and antagonized Antony's friend Herod the Great, thereby losing his support. At a magnificent celebration in Alexandria after Antony's Parthian campaign (36-34), he bestowed Roman lands on his foreign wife and family. Octavian declared war on Cleopatra and Antony and defeated their joint forces at the Battle of Actium (31). Antony committed suicide and, after a failed attempt to beguile Octavian, so too did Cleopatra, by exposing her breast to an asp.