Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
www.planbee.com
Learning Objective: To learn about Cleopatra VII and her life.
Why was she a significant
person in Ancient Egypt?
www.planbee.com
Have you ever heard of the Pharaoh Cleopatra VII?
This dynasty began after Alexander the Great
conquered Egypt in 332 BC. When Alexander died, his
general Ptolemy I ruled Egypt. His descendants ruled Egypt for
around 300 years.His descendants ruled Egypt for His descendants ruled Egypt for
www.planbee.com
Cleopatra VII was the last Pharaoh of the Ptolemaic (tol-uh-may-ick) dynasty in
Ancient Egypt, making her the last Pharaoh of the Ancient Egyptian Era.
www.planbee.com
When Cleopatra died in 30 BC, Egypt became part of the Roman
Empire under the control of Octavian (who later became
Augustus, the first Roman emperor).
You will be writing a biography of Cleopatra’s life. We will need to
become experts and have all the information we need. What facts do
we need to know about Cleopatra to write a biography about her?
www.planbee.com
Cleopatra was born in 69 BC. She was not actually Egyptian but Macedonian (Greek). At 18 years old,
in 51 BC, she became a joint ruler along with her younger brother Ptolemy XIII, who she married.
Marrying family members was common among Ancient Egyptian royalty. They believed they were descendants from
the god Osiris, so they felt it was the best way to keep the power within the family. A woman was also not allowed to rule on
her own and it was felt she needed a male consort to help her rule.
www.planbee.com
Cleopatra quickly took the lead in ruling the country and Egypt began to prosper. She was the first ruler in years to speak many languages, including Egyptian.
Ptolemy’s name was dropped from official documents and she began to rule alone.
How do you think her
brother felt about this?
www.planbee.com
Cleopatra had to go into hiding in a different
country. She immediately began planning to get the
throne back from her brother.
As her brother got older (he was only ten when they took the throne), he became upset that Cleopatra had taken over. He
and other officials who helped run the kingdom had her thrown out and Ptolemy began ruling alone.
www.planbee.com
It was around 48 BC that a powerful Roman general, Julius Caesar,
arrived in Egypt and took over the royal palace. Sensing an
opportunity to gain the throne back from her brother, Cleopatra
used her famous charm to form an alliance with Caesar.
It was rumoured that in order to sneak into the palace, Cleopatra
had herself rolled into a carpet and carried in to meet Caesar.
www.planbee.com
Despite Ptolemy XIII’s efforts to create an alliance with Rome, Caesar began to take steps to reinstate Cleopatra as Pharaoh of
Egypt.
A war broke out between Caesar’s army and
Ptolemy’s forces. After his forces were defeated,
Ptolemy fled and drowned in the Nile.
www.planbee.com
Cleopatra resumed her position as Pharaoh and was celebrated by the Egyptian people.
Previous Ptolemaic rulers had not been very good and Egypt had been struggling when they controlled the country.
When Cleopatra was Pharaoh, Egypt’s trade grew and grew. It
became a powerful country with expanding knowledge, health care
and education.
www.planbee.com
Cleopatra and Caesar began a strong relationship and toured around Egypt, eventually travelling to Rome together.
Cleopatra soon had a son, whom she called Ptolemy Caesar. She declared him the joint
ruler of Egypt when he was just three years old.
Her son was known as Caesarion which means ‘Little Caesar’. Cleopatra
declared Caesarion as Caesar’s heir, but Caesar, whilst acknowledging the
boy as his son, never publicly confirmed him as his heir.
ruler of Egypt when he was just three years old.
www.planbee.com
Caesar was assassinated in Rome in 44 BC. Cleopatra, knowing they weren’t safe in Rome any more, returned to
Egypt with her son.
Caesar’s nephew Octavian was now ruler of Rome and its powerful
armies. Cleopatra still believed that her
son, Caesarion, deserved to inherit Caesar’s power. She needed to
make another powerful alliance if this was going to happen.
www.planbee.com
After Caesar was killed there were several new, powerful leaders of Rome, including
Marc Antony. In 41 BC, Antony summoned Cleopatra to see him to
discuss Caesar’s death.
Cleopatra delayed attending the summons. She wanted to make it clear that, as Queen of Egypt, she would come in her own time.
When she did arrive, she was dressed as the Greek goddess Aphrodite.
She often claimed that she was the human form of the Egyptian goddess Isis and
dressed as such.
www.planbee.com
Cleopatra’s famous wit and charm won over Antony almost immediately and they began a relationship together, despite Antony already being married to
Octavian’s sister.
What do you think Octavian
thought of Marc Antony and Cleopatra’s relationship?
Cleopatra and Antony had three children together: Twins Alexander
Helios and Cleopatra Selene;
and Ptolemy Philadelphus.
www.planbee.com
Octavian was incredibly upset with Antony and Cleopatra’s relationship. He believed that Antony had disrespected his sister and saw Cleopatra as a threat to his rule over Rome. A war started between Rome
and Cleopatra and Antony’s forces.
Cleopatra and Antony’s armies
were defeated by Octavian’s forces in
31 BC.
www.planbee.com
In the aftermath of the battle, Antony heard that Cleopatra had died. He used his sword to take his
own life.
Cleopatra heard the news that Marc Antony was dead and was heart-
broken. Octavian planned to capture her and humiliate her by parading her around Rome in triumph of his victory. To avoid being captured,
Cleopatra committed suicide in 30 BC when she was 39 years old.
www.planbee.com
It is a popular belief that Cleopatra let a venomous asp
snake (a kind of Egyptian cobra) bite and poison her.
She had planned for her son
Caesarion to become leader of
Egypt, but Octavian ordered to him to
be killed.
www.planbee.com
After Cleopatra’s death, Octavian took control of Egypt and it became a part of the Roman Empire. Octavian became the first emperor of Rome and
changed his name to Augustus.
So, the 3000-year-long Ancient
Egyptian era came to an end in 30 BC.
www.planbee.comwww.planbee.com
www.planbee.com
Are you ready to research facts about
Cleopatra VII?
www.planbee.comwww.planbee.com
www.planbee.com
PlenaryWhat do you think about Cleopatra?
Why do you think she has become one of the most famous Egyptian Pharaohs?
Tell your partner your
three favourite facts
about Cleopatra VII.
