Cleo-factoids
★ SHE is ancient Egypt’s most famous queen – and has captivated historians and writers for centuries.
Yet despite her legacy and years of searching, Cleopatra’s burial place has never been found.
★ Now a new documentary, The Hunt For Cleopatra’s Tomb, reveals how archaeologists could finally be close to solving the mystery and discovering her whereabouts.
But how much do you know about the Queen of the Nile? NATASHA WYNARCZYK
rounds up 10 fascinating facts.
Although she was born in
1 Egypt, she was not actually Egyptian by ethnicity. Cleopatra’s family line can be traced back to Macedonian Greece and Ptolemy I Soter, one of Alexander the Great’s generals who launched a dynasty of Greek-speaking rulers in Ancient Egypt.
As members of that dynasty
2 usually married within the family to preserve their bloodline, she was born out of incest – it’s likely her parents were siblings.
Cleopatra married her brother
3 Ptolemy XIII, jointly ruling Egypt. After he died in 47BC, she wed her other brother Ptolemy XIV, who was just 12 at the time.
Her most famous spouse was
4 Roman general Mark Antony, who she married in 32BC. In their first meeting, she arrived on a golden barge while being fanned by attendants dressed as cupids.
She also had a son, Caesarion,
5 with Julius Caesar. It’s believed she first met the Roman when she was smuggled into his quarters wrapped in a linen sack.
She is said to have had a hand
6 in the deaths of three of her siblings – Ptolemy XIII drowned in the Nile after she defeated him in a civil war, while she’s thought to have had Ptolemy XIV murdered so her son could rule with her. She also helped engineer the execution of her sister Arsinoe.
She has the image of being a
7 seductive woman who used her beauty as a weapon, but in her day she was actually more famous for being highly intelligent, speaking 12 languages and being educated in maths, philosophy and astronomy.
Cleopatra and Mark
8 Antony had their own drinking club called the Inimitable Livers, where they engaged in wine binges then wandered the streets of Alexandria in disguise playing pranks. Antony and Cleopatra 9 took their own lives in 30BC after their rival Octavian’s army pursued them to Alexandria. He had portrayed Antony as a traitor under the influence of a scheming seductress and Rome – with superior forces – waged war on them.
There have been about 25
10
films about Cleopatra. She has been played by stars such as Amanda Barrie in Carry On Cleo and Sophia Loren. Her most famous depiction was by Elizabeth Taylor in the 1963 film Cleopatra. Costing almost £35million, it almost bankrupted the studio.
● The Hunt For Cleopatra’s Tomb airs tonight at 9pm on Channel 5.