Free Their Last Suppers: Legends of History and Their Final Meals by Andrew Caldwell Page B

flavored oil.

CLEOPATRA
     

Alexandria, Egypt
August 6, 30 B.C .
     
    For Rome, who had never condescended to fear any nation or people, did in her time fear two human beings, one was Hannibal and the other a woman.
    —Plutarch
     
    Cleopatra VII was born in Alexandria, Egypt, in 69 B.C. In the next forty years until her death, she would seduce two rulers of the mighty Roman Empire and have their children, before finally going down in the pages of history as the last Pharaoh of Egypt.
    Cleopatra’s ancestor was Ptolemy I. He had been a general of the fabled Alexander the Great and became ruler of Egypt on Alexander’s death in 323 B.C. The Ptolemy pharaohs were proud of their Macedonian and Greek heritage, and when Cleopatra finally ascended the throne at the age of 17, one of the things her subjects most admired about her was that she was the first pharaoh in nearly 300 years to actually speak Egyptian.
    Ancient coins, and what few drawings remain of her, show a masculine-looking woman with a long hooked nose. Daily baths in milk did nothing to improve her features, but diligent study madeher fluent in nine languages and a very shrewd politician. She had an extremely musical voice and exuded a sexuality that she was always prepared to use to further her ambitions.
    In keeping with Egyptian and Ptolemaic tradition, Cleopatra married her brother Ptolemy XIII when he was about 12. For 3 years he was forced to remain in the background, but eventually, goaded by jealous palace eunuchs, he tried to seize the throne from her in 48 B.C. , and she was forced to flee to Syria for help.
    Fate came to her aid. Julius Caesar had just defeated Pompey the Great for total control of the Roman Empire at the Battle of Pharsalos in Greece. The defeated Pompey had fled to Alexandria, hotly pursued by Caesar, to ask for Ptolemy XIII’s protection. Seeking to curry favor with the oncoming Caesar, Ptolemy killed Pompey and proudly presented his head in a wine jug. Although they were opposing generals, Pompey had once been Caesar’s good friend, and he was appalled at his brutal treatment. Caesar took control of the city and ordered both Ptolemy and Cleopatra to meet him so he could decide who would eventually rule Egypt.
    Knowing Ptolemy would try to have her murdered before she could address Caesar, Cleopatra had herself smuggled in front of him rolled up in an oriental rug. Impressed by her ingenuity and bewitched by her charm, Julius Caesar became her lover that night. Within 6 months a defeated Ptolemy was found drowned in the Nile, and the undisputed reign of Egypt’s last pharaoh was under way.
    Giving birth to Caesar’s son, named Caesarion or “little Caesar,” Cleopatra was now at the height of her powers. Although her lover returned to Rome to reorganize the Senate there, he left three of his veteran legions to protect her throne, and a year later he brought her to Rome to celebrate his war triumphs. One of the spoils of the war was Cleopatra’s sister Arsinoë, who in the true Ptolemaic tradition was constantly trying to usurp Cleopatra.
    An indication of Cleopatra’s ruthlessness is that although Caesar eventually spared Arsinoë’s life, Cleopatra later made Mark Antony kill her.
    Cleopatra and Caesar lived together in Rome for 2 years, even though Caesar was already married to Calpurnia. Caesar was ready to proclaim himself king of the republic and pass a law allowinghim to marry Cleopatra, with Caesarion as the heir to the throne of Rome.
    Too many self-serving senators stood to lose their power if this happened, and so on March 15, 44 B.C. , Julius Gaius Caesar was brutally murdered at a Senate meeting. Knowing that she too was in imminent danger, Cleopatra returned at once to Alexandria and made her son Caesarion her co-regent.
    Caesar’s sudden death led to civil war in Rome. Eventually three men assumed control: one of Caesar’s best friends and his nephew, Mark Antony; Caesar’s great-nephew Octavian, who later