Her children with Marcus Antonius went to
Rome and were taken through the streets in a parade as a sign of triumph by the
victorious Octavian. It is believed they lived normal lives but little records
of them remains.
Cleopatra’s son with Julius Caesar,
Ptoelemy XV Caesar, was her coruler until she ended her own life after losing
at the Battle of Actium by Octavian. Ptolemy became the leader but was killed
less than a month later. Cleopatra ended her own life to avoid being humiliated
in a parade of triumph, which would have likely ended eventually in her own
death—or worse.
It is certainly possible she had other
descendants but little is known of them. Roman historians tend to speculate that
Cleopatra was spectacularly beautiful:
But it is entirely possible that was
exaggerated. The contrary take is that she was average looking, but seductive
nonetheless. She certainly had no trouble meeting men.
Either way, she was caught up in enormous political forces at the time—which contributed to her early demise, and that of her son.
No comments:
Post a Comment