How Did Cleopatra Influence Western Civilization

Her name is dripped with legend, power and seduction. She became the last in a dynasty of Macedonian rulers founded by Ptolemy and would use her powers of beauty and charm to seduce military leaders. Cleopatra, is quite known in popular culture as this divining figure, using her brains and beauty to rule in her way, portrayed by beauty icons in films and plays such as Elizabeth Taylor and Claudette Colbert. Everyone knows her legend but very few actually understand her true importance as a female leader in a world dominated by men as well as her impact on Western Civilization. By proving her importance, the topics will include her rise to power to the Egyptian throne, her relationships with Marc Antony and Julius Caesar and how she gained importance by being the catalyst that caused the final Roman civil war of the republic. The start of Cleopatra’s reign did not start smoothly and instead was almost in ruin with Rome’s pressing powers,and the loss of land, and famine in Egypt. But it was in 51 B.C. when Cleopatra’s father Ptolemy …show more content…
Her supporters would say that she truly believed an alliance with Caesar and Rome offered the best chance for maintaining an independent Egypt. What are we to make of her relationship with Antony? Some would call it one of the great love affairs of the Ancient World, while others would claim that she unashamedly led him down the garden path to betray his homeland. Rome had been beset by civil war for many years. The western half was now firmly in the hands of Octavian, but the eastern half was still in dispute. She didn’t bed Caesar and Marc Antony purely for lust and her sexuality, she did it to make her kingdom a better foundation for an empire. In a world dominated by men she earned a name for herself and is continuously one of the most popular influences of female