“This sculpture of an unidentified Ptolemaic queen wears an Isis knot on her flowing robes.” © Ryan Collerd/The Franklin Institute.
Cleopatra ruled Egypt from Alexandria, a city on the Mediterranean coast in the lush Nile River Valley, from 51 B.C. until her death on Aug. 12, 30 B.C. During that time, she wooed two of the world’s greatest leaders, Julius Caesar and Mark Antony, having children with both of them. After she and her son Ptolemy XV Caesarion, Egypt’s last pharaoh, died during a Roman invasion of Alexandria, Egypt passed into Roman hands, signaling the end of the once-great empire.
Earth for more