Dimensions
190 x 247 x 18mm
Had Julius Caesar not been murdered Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, might well have been the Empress of Rome and all the Mediterranean world, living to see it ruled by a Julian-Ptolemaic dynasty. The 'Queen of the Nile' was only seventeen when she ascended the throne of Egypt in 51 BC. This ambitious young woman - married to her younger brother and co-ruler Ptolomy XIII - watched the savage struggle between Caesar and Pompey, hoping that Rome would destroy itself in the process. This astute politician devoted her life to trying to save the Kingdom of Egypt from domination by the Romans. That she became the lover of both Caesar and Mark Antony was perhaps prompted by political considerations rather than passion.