Cleopatra Research Paper

1663 Words7 Pages
She is known as the queen, the seductress, and the adulteress, but so few remember her as the powerful leader that she really was. It's uncanny that the first thing that pops into people's mind when they hear Cleopatra isn't leader, even though she had excellent leadership skills. Perhaps she isn't remembered as a leader because she was a woman, or maybe because people find her sexual life more fascinating than her political one. So, how was Cleopatra so effective at gaining and maintaining power? One should first look at Cleopatra's beginnings and determine how her foundations gave a start in the right direction. The Ptolemy family followed the traditions of ancient Egypt and as such, they had Cleopatra marry her brother. Although Cleopatra…show more content…
Caesar was not a man that was easy to win over, so Cleopatra had to use her knowledge and charisma to succeed. Cleopatra concluded that a man as powerful as Caesar could return her to the throne of Egypt so she formulated a plan to seduce Caesar and was successful. Once Caesar was victorious in the Alexandrian War, he restored Cleopatra to her position as queen of Egypt. What Cleopatra did as a leader to win the people of Egypt over only added to her repertoire of leadership skills. No matter how experienced one is, you can still lose it all, but one can also say that Cleopatra learned from her…show more content…
Cleopatra's father was King Ptolemy XII who died in 51 bc and left the throne to Cleopatra VII at the age of 18. As was Egyptian tradition, the king of Egypt often married their sister so the inheritance was guaranteed to stay in the family line. Another reason for brother and sisters to marry was because it was a way for the pharaohs to emulate their gods and to create a different between royalty and the common people. So, as it must be, Cleopatra married her ten year old brother, Ptolemy XIII. This was most beneficial to Cleopatra because she was able to maintain the life of royalty, learn the ways of being a leader through observation while also pursuing her own interests that set her apart from not only Ptolemy XIII, but her entire lineage. Cleopatra was unique in her lineage because her family only spoke Greek but she was extremely intelligent; she took the time to not only learn the Egyptian language, coptic, but in total she spoke nine different languages. Being able to speak the language of any place she visited gave her the advantage of being an effective leader anywhere she went. Cleopatra also practiced the Egyptian polytheism religion: Ra the sun god, Osiris the gold of the underworld, Isis the god of life, etc. For Cleopatra to believe in the Egyptian religion was one aspect that made the
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