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WonderHistory fact

Cleopatra VII, the last active ruler of ancient Egypt's Ptolemaic kingdom, came from a Greek-speaking royal family founded by Ptolemy, one of Alexander the Great's Macedonian generals. Her family had ruled Egypt for almost 300 years, yet she was the first of them known to learn Egyptian.

History

History

The story behind the card

Cleopatra was born in Alexandria in 69 BC and became queen in 51 BC. Greek was her first language, and the ancient biographer Plutarch says she spoke many others. She won the support of Julius Caesar, with whom she had a son, and later allied herself with the Roman general Mark Antony. When Antony and Cleopatra were defeated by Caesar's heir Octavian at the naval Battle of Actium in 31 BC, their cause collapsed. She died in August 30 BC, and Egypt became a province of Rome. Her father was Ptolemy XII, but her mother's identity is uncertain, so historians still debate her ancestry beyond the Greek-Macedonian line.

Türkçe oku
VII. Kleopatra, antik Mısır'daki Ptolemaios Krallığı'nın fiilen hüküm süren son hükümdarıydı. Ailesi, Büyük İskender'in Makedon generallerinden Ptolemaios'un kurduğu, Yunanca konuşan bir hanedandı. Bu aile Mısır'ı yaklaşık 300 yıl yönetti, ama Mısırca öğrendiği bilinen ilk üyesi Kleopatra oldu.

Kleopatra MÖ 69'da İskenderiye'de doğdu, MÖ 51'de kraliçe oldu. Ana dili Yunancaydı; antik çağ yazarı Plutarkhos, onun daha pek çok dil konuştuğunu anlatır. Önce Julius Caesar'ın desteğini kazandı ve ondan bir oğlu oldu; sonra Romalı komutan Marcus Antonius ile ittifak kurdu. Antonius ile Kleopatra, MÖ 31'de Aktion Deniz Savaşı'nda Caesar'ın mirasçısı Octavianus'a yenildi ve bir daha toparlanamadı. Kleopatra MÖ 30 yılının ağustosunda öldü ve Mısır bir Roma eyaleti oldu. Babası XII. Ptolemaios'tu; annesinin kim olduğu ise kesin olarak bilinmiyor. Bu yüzden Yunan-Makedon soyu dışında hangi kökenlerden geldiği tarihçiler arasında hâlâ tartışılıyor.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: Cleopatra
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