Alexander The Great Cleopatra

In June of 323 BCE, amongst the lush vegetation, Alexander of Macedon, also known as Alexander the Great, took his last breath. You may be wondering why I am mentioning this in a paper focused on Cleopatra, but this significance of this cannot be overlooked. Simply because it would be his death and the events that happened after that led to Cleopatra taking the throne of Egypt. For 12 years, Alexander the Great, who led his first battle at 16 and became king at 20, propelled into the world and created one of the largest empires in history. In Paul Doherty’s The Death of Alexander the Great, he is described Alexander the Great as, “This military genius from a small, unimpressive kingdom to the Northwest of Greece, had raged like a wolf through …show more content…
It emerged around 3100 BCE, under the first Pharaoh known as Menes. Thirty-One Dynasties ruled of Egypt, including the last dynasty, the Ptolemaic Dynasty. Many incredible things happened in Egypt, including: the building of the pyramids in 2560 BCE. Religious revolutions, the abandonment of polytheism for monotheism around 1350 BCE. The rise of King Tut, the boy king in 1332 BCE. The height of Egypt, 1279 BCE under Ramessess II, arguably the most powerful pharaoh in Egypt’s history. Along with multiple invasions throughout all these times. And one thousand years later, in 332 BCE, Alexander the Great set his eyes on conquering Egypt during the time of Persian occupation. In 332 BCE, after conquering Gaza, Alexander moved westward towards Egypt. He entered without resistance, crossed the Nile river, and went to the capital of Egypt, going all the way to the Mediterranean coast. He immediately made plans to build city on that coast, now known as Alexandria. He would only stay in Egypt for about six months, conquering it in that …show more content…
For the next five-hundred years, Rome’s influence grew and its land expanded. During Rome’s early history, it was plagued with civil wars, and with the building of an empire, comes incredible expenses. As Egypt was one of the only regions around the Mediterranean that was not yet conquered, they had a target on by Rome for their wealth. To keep Rome from taking Egypt, the Pharaoh’s would use their money to protect them. They would find the men of influence in Rome and pay these men off, which served the interests of everyone involved. This agreement worked perfectly until the pharaoh, Ptolemy XXII, found himself running out of money. Ptolemy XXII was Cleopatra’s father. Starting with Ptolemy IX, Egypt went into decline, losing money and land. By the time Ptolemy XXII came into power, Egypt’s vulnerabilities became exposed. It was around this time that Cleopatra was born. Around the time of Cleopatra’s birth, Egypt, losing Alexandrian support and running out of money and resources to pay Rome off to keep their sovereignty, was in danger of coming to an