Thursday 18th December at 8:00pm on five
The historical documentary series continues. This episode explores the extraordinary life of Cleopatra, the last pharaoh of Egypt. Depicted throughout history as a temptress who ruined two generals of Rome, scholars now believe that Cleopatra possessed great political ability and knowledge. Despite a lack of physical evidence of her reign, they are able to piece together the story of her rule during the dying days of Ancient Egypt.
Cleopatra has been popularly remembered as the great beauty whose affairs with Julius Caesar and Mark Antony precipitated the conquest of Egypt by the Romans. But historians now believe that she was the victim of Roman ‘spin’ intended to blacken her name. “They turned her into a salacious harlot – this bubble-headed sex kitten who’s jumping in and out of bed with any available Roman,” says Dr Robert Steven Bianchi.
Cleopatra was only 18 years old when she became queen, yet she was able to fend off Roman interest in Egypt for over 20 years. She was the product of a Greek dynasty of rulers founded by Alexander the Great’s general, Ptolemy, 300 years earlier. The Ptolemy dynasty brought a distinctly Greek touch to their rule, whilst retaining Egyptian culture and religion. “The mixing of Greeks and Egyptians resulted in a melting pot, and Alexandria was typical of that,” says Dr Christina Riggs.
Alexandria, Cleopatra’s capital, was the heart of the civilised world, home to an enormous library and the legendary Pharos lighthouse, which stood 400ft high. Bianchi describes the city as a “glistening marble metropolis” – a centre of knowledge and power. But it was the very riches of Alexandria, coupled with the agricultural wealth of the Nile Valley, that put Egypt at risk of invasion.
Moreover, the ruling dynasty was riven by internal weaknesses. Cleopatra was locked in a power struggle with her brother when the first fleet of Roman ships arrived with Julius Caesar at the helm. It was Caesar’s intervention on Cleopatra’s behalf that secured her the throne. In due course, she became his lover – yet modern scholars believe their union was an alliance of equals. “They both wanted world domination and they realised that – united – they would be able to realise that dream,” says Bianchi.
However, physical evidence of Cleopatra’s rule remains scanty. The great temples of Egypt display few hieroglyphics pertaining to her life, and her palace lies under the harbour of Alexandria. “Her renown is worldwide, but within the city that she ruled, there are very few signs of her presence,” says researcher Colin Clement. While archaeologists search sites in Alexandria, one clue as to her rule exists in the form of coins bearing her head.
These artefacts show Cleopatra’s evident ability to manipulate her image. On the coins, intended for use in the Greek world, she is depicted as a classical Greek beauty. Yet in her most famous carvings at the temple of Dendera, she is portrayed as pure Egyptian, resembling the goddess Isis. She also used the carvings to give legitimacy to her union with Caesar by rendering him as the Egyptian god Horus. In the process, she established Caesarion, her son with the Roman general, as her heir.
Cleopatra maintained her influence with the Romans after Caesar’s death by allying with Mark Antony. Yet her downfall came when Antony lost a naval battle with his rival, Octavian. Antony committed suicide and Cleopatra joined him in death rather than become Octavian’s prisoner. She could stem the tide of history no longer, and Egypt became a province of Rome – ending 3,000 years of the pharaohs. It would be another 2,000 years before Egypt regained its independence. “She is the last page of the last chapter of the glory that was Egypt,” Bianchi says of the legendary queen.
Saturday 13th – Friday 19th December, 2008
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