We have shown how the Persian rule in Egypt was followed by that of the Ptolemies, and at first the union between prince and people was close and satisfactory. From Ptolemy I to Cleopatra VI the rulers identified themselves with the interests, and especially with the religion of the nation, with whom they were not allied by blood, built cities and temples and, the earlier members of the dynasty at least, wrought for the general good. In the case of most of the later kings, however, they were more cruel and oppressive, and revolts were more common than at first.
The architecture, especially the portrait sculpture of the Ptolemy period, was inferior to some of earlier date, but in the encouragement of literature, the building of libraries and other public edifices, and the extending of commerce the race distinguished itself.
As regents or independent rulers their queens held sway. The family intermarried to an extent shocking to Christian ideas, and Ptolemy after Ptolemy took his sister or other near relatives, usually called Arsinoe, Berenike or Cleopatra, to wife. These close relationships, however, did not seem to strengthen the family affections—it[422] is a blood-stained history, and the murders were almost as numerous as the unions. Various towns were built and called after the queens, Arsinoe and Berenike, but though Cleopatra seems to have been a favorite name, and there were, six or seven of them in succession, this name was not so often used as the cognomen of a town.
There are a few names in the world’s history that stand alone. Many may share in the same, but to speak them is to call up one dominating image. In this sense there was but one Caesar, but one Washington, but one Eve, but one Semiramis, and to this class belongs Cleopatra. There are others, such as Helen or Troy and Mary Stuart, who have shared with these high reputation, but in these cases further identification is needed than the single name. Cleopatra stands among the few daughters of Eve pre-eminent for wit, charm, power and perhaps beauty, and to this must be added ambition and vice.
“The laughing queen who held the world’s great hands,” having won the heart of the world’s greatest rulers, yet lays her magic touch upon the centuries. Artists and writers have never tired of limning her personal charms and special characteristics. No colors have been too bright, none too dark to be used. Shakespeare, has pictured her with his immortal genius, and hundreds of others, with more or less skill, have attempted the same task. Protean in shape, no two perhaps resemble each other. In the conception of some, she is slender, graceful, exquisitely beautiful, and at the other extreme, as in the old tapestry in the New York Museum, she is like a fat[423] Dutch woman, a decadence from Rubens’ overblown beauties; so each land has pictured her according to its own ideal.
Some have denied her pre-eminent beauty and the conventional portrait of her which still exists upon the wall at Denderah, as well as her face upon the few battered coins of her time which have come down to us, scarcely suggest it. But the woman who made men her slaves at a single interview surely lacked no charm that nature could bestow. Unbridled both in passions and ambitions, she knew no limit to either and grasped at universal empire.
The greatest men of her time bowed at her feet, and she changed the fate of battle with the turning of her vessel’s prow. She was over twenty when she captivated Caesar, over thirty when Antony became her slave. Of her numerous lovers, Antony was the chosen of that wayward, passionate heart. She refused to survive his defeat and death and perished by her own hand. Though not, strictly speaking, Egyptian queens, the Ptolemy race were yet queens of Egypt—and thus ended the long line of female royalties, extending from the dim ages of mythology to the Roman period.
Cleopatra VI has been described by a late novelist, his picture drawn perhaps from some historical source, as having “a broad head, wavy hair, deep-set eyes, full, eloquent mouth and a long, slender throat.” Charm and talent of the highest order are generally credited to her. She had a musical voice and was a linguist of ability, skilled in Greek and Latin and could converse[424] with Ethiopians, Jews, Arabians, Syrians, Medes and Persians and was proficient in music. Tennyson says of her:
“Her warbling voice a lyre of wildest range,
Struck by all passions.”
And another writer, disputing the fact that she is sometimes depicted as swarthy, says she was “a pure Macedonian of a race akin to and perhaps fairer than the Greeks.”
Ptolemy XIII, the so-called Auletes, came to the throne in a sense under the protection of the Romans, and again took possession of the kingdom. It was at this time that Antony first saw Cleopatra, a girl of fifteen, and was struck with her beauty, he being Master of Horse to the conquering general, Gabrinus. But the acquaintance, if such it was, and not merely a glimpse on Antony’s part, went no further then, and neither probably anticipated their subsequent relations.
Auletes’ will, demanding that his eldest son and daughter should succeed him, was accepted by the mixed populace of Alexandria, and in a degree by the whole country, and for the moment Rome did not interfere. It was a youthful pair to have laid upon them or undertake such a grave responsibility—a mere girl and a child. Cleopatra was but sixteen, Ptolemy only ten. But though young in years, Cleopatra soon showed that she had both the capacity and ambition of an older woman. The direct heritage perhaps from one or other parent included beauty and charm, but a worthless father had but little in the way of character or mental abilities with which to endow his children, and perhaps it was rather[425] from her mother that she derived her superior characteristics. With such paternity and the traditions of the entire race we can hardly wonder at the instances of vice and cruelty which we find recorded of this last royal member of her family. That her story is so interwoven with Roman affairs gives us a clearer knowledge of it than of much of the previous history, which was included only in that of Egypt and Syria.
So Cleopatra, a mere girl of sixteen or seventeen, and her brother of ten, succeeded to the throne and were accepted by the Alexandrians. But the boy was persuaded by his counsellors to oust his sister, who was forced to yield and fled to Syria. That she had both adherents and means, however, is proved by the fact that she did not tamely submit to this violation of the agreement, but promptly raised an army, and this alone seems to indicate that, young as she was, she already showed remarkable abilities and returned to recover her lawful heritage. To live at peace with each other seemed beyond the power of most of the Ptolemy race.
At this point Pompey, seeking for allies, turned toward Egypt, and the father of the young king having been under obligations to him he made overtures to the boy sovereign. But the party in power, who for the time being were “the power behind the throne,” decided to receive him with apparent friendliness, and then treacherously murdered him, hoping thereby to secure the more powerful friendship of his adversary, Caesar. Meanwhile the armies of the young king and his sister lay opposite to each other. Caesar at[426] once came to Egypt and was revolted at the treacherous deed, but was not in a sufficiently strong position to punish the murderers. He was received somewhat coldly and had to proceed with caution, but summoning his legions he remanded that the youthful contestants for the crown should appear before him and discuss their claims peacefully, rather than by force of arms.
This was Cleopatra’s opportunity; her strongest weapons were her personal charms rather than her military powers. At twenty years of ag............