Cleopatra Civil War

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Both young rulers, kept councils of advisors. There was a lot of friction between them and their advisors because Cleopatra didn’t want or need a co-ruler and because many despised the fact that a woman held incredible power in Egypt. This split the kingdom and caused a civil war to break, forcing Cleopatra to flee Alexandria for the sake of her safety. In 48 BCE it was Ptolemy XIII who had the most power in Egypt. Julius Caesar arrived in Egypt that same year because he was chasing after Pompey the Great as Rome was also in a civil war between those two leaders and because he wanted to collect the debt he was owed by Pompey. Research shows that, in today’s money, Pompey owed Caesar around 120 million dollars. He stayed in the Ptolemaic palace …show more content…
He loaded the rug into a small rowboat and made his way to the palace and carried it to one of the palace suites and to Julius Caesar. The rug opened, revealing Cleopatra inside and in that moment Caesar met Cleopatra’s eyes for the first time. It is said that it wasn’t her looks that captured Caesar’s attention, he was first captivated by her bold wit and then overcome by her charm. (25) He fell for her quick and hard. Because of this meeting and Julius Caesar’s attraction to Cleopatra, the power of Egypt tipped back in her favor over her …show more content…
Both being the day she met Julius Caesar and the day she met Mark Antony. Contrary to popular belief, Cleopatra met Mark Antony many years before she met Julius Caesar, her first romantic partner. Though she did not interact much with Antony until a couple years after Caesar died. In 41 BCE the meeting between Mark Antony and Cleopatra was described as a carefully coordinated spectacle. Plutarch records this event and states “She came sailing up the river in a barge with gilded stern and outspread sails of purple, while oars of silver beat time to the music of flutes and harps. She lay alone in a canopy of old gold cloth, dressed as Venus in a picture, and beautiful young boys like painted cupids stood on each side to fan her.” (53) Cleopatra wanted to make an incredible first impression to seduce Mark Antony for personal and political gain. Sources point to Cleopatra meeting Antony, for the first time, fourteen years before this. Antony would later state that he fell in love with Cleopatra the first time he laid eyes on

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