Cleopatra (Penguin Classic Biography)

Had Julius Ceasar not been murdered, Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, might well have become the Empress of Rome and all the Mediterranean world, living to see it ruled by a Julian-Ptolemaic dynasty. The Queen of the Nile was only 17 when she ascended the throne of Egypt in 51BC. This ambitious young woman - married to her younger brother and co-ruler Ptolomy XIII - watched the savage struggle between Ceasar and Pompey, hoping that Rome would destroy itself in the process. This astutue politician devoted her life to trying to save the Kingdom of Egypt from domination by the Romans. That she became the lover of both Ceasar and Mark Anthony was perhaps prompted by political considerations rather than passion. This text presents a biography of one of the world's most legendary women.