Cleopatra VII
How did she contribute to Ancient Egyptian society?
The Last Ruler of Ancient Egypt
Cleopatra VII was the last ruler of the Macedonian / Ptolemian Dynasty that had ruled over Ancient Egypt ever since its invasion by Alexander the Great in 333 BC. Cleopatra VII added a certain amount of glamour to the Macedonian / Ptolemian Dynasty and foreign rulers were attracted about the possibility of marrying her. However although Cleopatra VII was an attractive diplomatic match when it came to marriage, who ever she married could, and actually did affect what happened to Ancient Egyptian society.
A Queen Unable to Reverse Decline
In many respects it could be argued that Cleopatra VII was unable to make any positive contributions to Ancient Egyptian society. Ancient Egyptian society was to a large extent in a long yet gradual process of decline. The aristocratic as well as the royal sections of Ancient Egyptian society were heavily influenced by Greek culture courtesy of the lasting influence of Alexander the Great's conquest of the country.
However the Greeks and the Macedonians no longer dominated the Ancient World, the Romans did. In fact the Romans had conquered not only Ancient Greece they controlled much of the Middle East and Northern Africa by the time that Cleopatra VII became the Queen of Egypt. Cleopatra VII realised that the future of Ancient Egypt as an independent country depended upon the relationship that she developed with the Romans.
Mistakes That Led To Disaster
Cleopatra VII made mistakes with the relationships she had with the Romans, misjudgements that led to the Roman conquest of Ancient Egypt itself. She had a relationship with Julius Caesar, and then married Mark Anthony. Unfortunately for Cleopatra Mark Anthony lost his war with Augustus Caesar. Mark Anthony was killed at Actium following, which Cleopatra killed herself. Augustus then conquered Egypt.
The lower elements of Ancient Egyptian society had never been heavily influenced by Greek culture and still clung to the ways of the Old, Middle, and New Kingdoms. Cleopatra VII was apparently popular with the majority of people within Ancient Egyptian society. However that did not mean that the lower social classes intended to
adopt the same religions, cultural, or indeed social values of their queen.
Bibliography
Crystal, D (2003) The Penguin Concise Encyclopedia, Penguin Group, London
Geddes and Grosset (2004) Ancient Egypt Myth & History, The Gresham Publishing Company, New Lanark
Grimal, N (1992) A History of Ancient Egypt, translated by I Shaw, Blackwell, Oxford
Moore, R I (1999) Philip’s Atlas of World History, Chancellor Press, London
Shaw, I (2000) The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt, Oxford University, Oxford
Tyldesley, J (2003) Pyramids – the real story behind Egypt’s most ancient monuments, Viking, London
Verner, M (2002) The Pyramids – Their Archaeology and History, translated by S Rendall, Atlantic Books, London
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