Introduction of key concepts

(Suggested timing: 2 hours)

· The geography of Cleopatra’s world

· Roman attitudes to foreigners

· Roman expectations of men and women

· An overview of Roman republican government

· The qualities and behaviours the Romans admired / condemned

· Traditional Roman views and how they might have affected how foreign monarchs like Cleopatra were viewed

Egypt’s relationship with Rome

(Suggested timing: 1 hour)

· Egypt had been under threat of invasion by Rome for several decades before Cleopatra came to the throne. Ptolemy X had left Egypt to Rome in his will in 88 BC and there had been discussion of full annexation on at least two occasions since. Ptolemy Auletes owed his throne to the Romans, who had restored him in 55 BC. Cleopatra will have been acutely aware of the continued threat of a full-scale Roman invasion.

· Ptolemy Auletes considered Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (Pompey) his Roman patron. His children inherited this status, which caused Pompey to seek refuge in Egypt after he was defeated by Caesar at Pharsalus in 48. It would be useful at this stage to explore the role of client kings within the Roman Empire and Roman attitudes to them and expectations of them.

· The value of client kings / queens to the Romans

· Expectations of Cleopatra as a client queen

· The reasons why the annexation of Egypt would be so attractive to the Romans

Cleopatra’s early life and reign (69–48 BC)

(Suggested timing: 1 hour)

· We know very little about Cleopatra’s childhood, but it would be interesting to explore the upbringing of Egyptian and Greek girls. There is evidence from Plutarch that she spoke a range of languages and was educated to an impressive standard – one might make a comparison with Elizabeth I.

· Ptolemy Auletes died in 51 BC, leaving Cleopatra co-ruler with her younger brother Ptolemy XIII. It is possible that Cleopatra reigned alongside her father for a short time. Upon her father’s death, Cleopatra clearly intended to rule alone for as long as possible: she minted coins and sealed state documents in her name alone. She began to associate herself with the Egyptian religion, attending the installation of the new sacred bull of Amon-Ra. She also dealt successfully with the Romans for the first time: the sons of Marcus Bibulus, the governor of Syria, had come to Egypt to recruit the Roman troops left there in 55 BC, who promptly murdered them. Cleopatra acted decisively, handing over the murderers to Bibulus. However, several bad harvests led her to issue a decree prioritising grain movement to Alexandria over Upper Egypt. Her brother’s advisors also began to fight back against his exclusion from government and, by the summer of 49 BC, Cleopatra had been driven out of Alexandria.

· Coin of Ptolemy Auletes

· Coin of Cleopatra with distinctive hairstyle and hooked nose

· Head of Cleopatra as a young woman

· The nature of Cleopatra’s rule in her first few years as queen

· The value of the ancient sources to understand Cleopatra’s early life and reign

Cleopatra’s personal and political relationship with Caesar (48–44 BC)

(Suggested timing: 4 hours)

· It may be useful to briefly cover the Civil War between Caesar and the Optimates up to Pompey’s defeat at the Battle of Pharsalus in August 48 BC.

· Having murdered Pompey upon his arrival in Egypt in September 48 BC, Ptolemy’s advisors presented Caesar with his head, hoping to secure his support against Cleopatra. Caesar appeared distraught at the fate of his former son-in-law and ally, but, more importantly, this made it almost impossible for him to support Ptolemy, who had murdered one of the greatest military heroes Rome had ever had.

· Plutarch gives us the famous story of Cleopatra being furtively carried into the palace in a bed-sack and unloaded in front of Caesar, who was apparently immediately captivated by her daring. The Roman sources connected his political support of her directly with their personal relationship. Their son Ptolemy Caesar (Caesarion) was probably born in June 47 BC.

· Caesar set both Cleopatra and her brother back on the throne as joint monarchs for a time, until Ptolemy joined his general Achillas and laid siege to the palace, hoping to force Caesar and his troops out. After much fierce fighting, Caesar defeated Ptolemy’s army and the king was discovered conveniently drowned in the Nile.

· Caesar and Cleopatra may have cruised down the Nile, presumably to demonstrate Rome’s support for her rule and to show Caesar Egypt’s wealth. In the summer of 47 BC, Caesar left to continue the civil war.

· Cleopatra arrived in Rome in 46 BC to secure her status as Friend and Ally of the Roman People. She was certainly in Rome again at the time of Caesar’s assassination in 44 BC. Cassius Dio suggests that Caesar’s reputation suffered as a result of her presence, even though the statue of her that Caesar placed in the temple of Venus Genetrix still remained when he was writing over 200 years later.

· Plutarch, The Life of Caesar 48–49

· Suetonius, The Divine Julius 52

· Cassius Dio, Roman History XLII 44–45; XLIII 27

· Cicero, Letter to Atticus XV.15

· The reasons why Caesar was in a position to intervene in the civil war in Egypt

· Caesar’s decision to support Cleopatra rather than her brother

· The value of the ancient sources regarding Cleopatra’s personal and political relationship with Caesar

· The value of Roman ally status to Cleopatra

· What other Romans thought of Cleopatra

· The problems Cleopatra was likely to face as a result of Caesar’s death

The aftermath of Caesar’s assassination and Cleopatra’s initial meeting with Antony (44–41 BC)

(Suggested timing: 2 hours)

· Cleopatra returned to Egypt shortly after Caesar’s death. Around this time, Ptolemy XIV died; Cleopatra elevated Caesarion to the throne rather than remarry.

· As the second triumvirate – Caesar’s heir, Octavian, Marcus Antonius (Antony) and Marcus Lepidus - set about dealing with Caesar’s assassins, Cleopatra assisted by sending troops to support Dolabella, for which her rule was recognised by the triumvirs. She herself took a fleet to help Antony and Octavian ferry troops across to Greece, although storms forced them to return to Egypt.

· Antony intended to follow in Caesar's footsteps by invading Parthia. His arrangement with Octavian and Lepidus gave him the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire to oversee.

· In 41 BC, Antony summoned Cleopatra to meet him at Tarsus. She presented herself in full state on the royal barge, dressed as Aphrodite. Antony departed with her and spent the winter in Alexandria. Their twins, Alexander Helios and Cleopatra Selene, were born the following year.

· Plutarch, Life of Mark Antony 24–29

· Relief portraits of Cleopatra and Caesarion from Dendera

· Coin of Cleopatra and Caesarion minted in Cyprus

· Cleopatra's priorities after Caesar's death

· Cleopatra’s decision to elevate Caesarion to the position of co-ruler rather than re-marry

· The value of the alliance for both Cleopatra and Antony

The Perusine War and subsequent treaty (41–40 BC)

(Suggested timing: 1 hour)

· Back in Italy, Antony's wife and brother started a war against Octavian, protesting against his treatment of soldiers who had fought at Philippi. It isn’t clear whether Antony was aware of their plans to create chaos or not, but it seems unlikely that he wasn’t.

· Octavian quickly gained the upper hand and, according to Plutarch, Fulvia wrote to Antony to ask for help. At the same time, the Parthians invaded Asia Minor under Pacorus, the king’s son, and Quintus Labienus, a Roman traitor.

· As a consequence, Antony sailed from Egypt with 200 ships. Fulvia died shortly after meeting him, allowing both Octavian and Antony to blame her for the dispute between them and make peace, dividing up the empire between themselves and Lepidus. Antony also married Octavia, Octavian’s sister, to strengthen the alliance. When discussing this, it would be useful to talk about how normal it was for upper class Romans to marry for political reasons, rather than love.

· Plutarch, Life of Mark Antony, 30–31

· Whether Lucius Antonius and Fulvia acted on their own, or was Antony aware of their plans?

· Antony’s motives in returning to Italy in the way he did

Octavian in the West (39–36 BC)

(Suggested timing: 1 hour)

· Sextus, Pompey’s younger son, had assembled a renegade fleet and was blocking the grain supply to Rome. Octavian and Antony temporarily appeased him by offering him land and the consulship for 33 at Misenum in the summer of 39.

· The triumvirate was renewed in 37 BC at Tarentum, where Antony promised Octavian 120 ships to help in the war against Sextus in exchange for 20,000 men.

· Hostilities resumed when Antony refused to give over the Peloponnese to Sextus’ control. Octavian also took control of Sardinia and divorced Sextus’ relative, Scribonia, on the day she gave birth to his daughter, Julia.

· Marcus Agrippa, Octavian’s great friend and colleague, spent the next few years building a new harbour and training the navy. Sextus was eventually defeated at the Battle of Naulochus in September 36 BC. He fled eastwards and was executed by Antony the following year.

· Lepidus, having sailed to Sicily to assist Octavian, tried to wrest control from him. Octavian, however, easily persuaded Lepidus’ troops to defect to him and put Lepidus under house arrest for the rest of his life.

· Plutarch, Life of Mark Antony 32

· The reasons why the triumvirate delayed so long in dealing with Sextus

· The consequences of the removal of Sextus and Lepidus on the relationship between Antony and Octavian

Antony in the East

(38–34 BC)

(Suggested timing: 2 hours)

· Meanwhile, Antony spent the winter of 39–38 BC in Athens with Octavia preparing to join the war against Parthia. The war had already begun and P. Ventidius Bassus, Antony’s second-in-command, had achieved some considerable successes, driving the Parthians out of Syria.

· Antony briefly returned to Italy in 38 BC, leaving Ventidius to besiege Antiochus of Commagene at Samosata. Antony took over when he returned and sent Ventidius home to celebrate a triumph, which reminded the Romans how well he was doing. Having negotiated an end to the siege, Antony retired to Athens for the winter and set about appointing pro-Roman kings to the eastern states. He returned from Tarentum too late to start a campaign against Parthia and travelled instead to Antioch. He sent Octavia, who was pregnant, back to Rome, and summoned Cleopatra to join him.

· Antony allowed Cleopatra control of important ports to the north and east of Egypt and on the southern coast of Asia Minor. She also gained the balsam groves of Judaea.

· Antony set off for Parthia in May, 36. Despite a sound plan to march through Armenia and attack Parthia from the north, Antony’s campaign was a disaster and he retreated to Syria to await assistance and supplies from Cleopatra.

· In 35, Antony spent the winter in Alexandria rather than with Octavia, who had brought men and supplies from Octavian. He turned his attention to Armenia in order to punish Artavasdes for deserting him the previous year and to secure the route into Parthia. This time, Antony was successful.

· In 34, Antony returned to Alexandria and held a triumphal procession to celebrate his conquest of Armenia. He then rewarded Cleopatra by acknowledging Caesarion as Caesar’s son and king of Egypt and giving vast territories to their three children (she had given birth to the third, Ptolemy Philadelphus, in 36 BC), including lands not yet conquered. It is important to discuss Antony’s possible motives here – was he giving in to Cleopatra’s desire to rebuild the Ptolemaic empire or sensibly entrusting important territories to a loyal client monarch before heading off to Parthia again?

· Plutarch, Life of Mark Antony 33; 36–37; 51; 53

· Velleius Paterculus 2.82

· The value of Cleopatra to Rome during Antony’s eastern campaigns

· Antony’s decision to give control of such a large area to Cleopatra and her children

· The ways Octavian used the donations to his advantage

Preparations for war (33–32 BC)

(Suggested timing: 2 hours)

· Probably as consul in 33 BC, Octavian began a campaign to portray Cleopatra as a corrupting influence over Antony. Letters between the two men became steadily more insulting. Antony complained that he had not been sent the troops Octavian had promised, that his veterans had been treated unfairly and that he was owed half of Sicily. Octavian responded that Antony would need to share Armenia in exchange. He also criticised Antony’s relationship with Cleopatra. In November 33 BC, Antony ordered his troops out of Armenia in preparation for war with Octavian.

· In 32 BC, the two Antonian consuls and around 300 of their senatorial colleagues left Rome for Antony’s headquarters at Ephesus. Antony then divorced Octavia, clearly signalling the end of his political alliance with her brother.

· Two allies of Antony, M. Titus and L. Munatius Plancus, defected to Octavian, bringing with them the news that Antony had made his will and had it lodged in the temple of Vesta. Octavian illegally, and apparently unopposed, seized the will and read it publicly. The document restated the gifts of land to Egypt and Caesarion’s parentage. It also stated Antony’s wish to be buried in Alexandria. All of this was trumpeted by Octavian as evidence of Antony’s unRoman attitudes and subservience to Cleopatra.

· Octavian ensured that all Italy swore an oath of allegiance to him personally and then declared war on Cleopatra.

· Plutarch, Life of Mark Antony 55–60

· Velleius Patercolus, 2.83

· Silver denarius of Antony and Cleopatra minted in 32 BC

· Octavia and the breakdown of relations between Octavian and Antony

· The inevitability of war between the triumvirs

· The decision to declare war on Cleopatra rather than Antony

The Battle of Actium (2^nd September 31 BC)

(Suggested timing: 6–8 hours)

· Antony based his naval forces at Actium, near the Gulf of Ambracia in western Greece.

· Cleopatra and a number of client kings supported Antony. She herself remained with Antony throughout the preparations for the war, despite some of his officers and allies demanding that she return to Alexandria.

· Agrippa managed quickly to secure a naval base at Methone and Octavian sailed across to Greece with his troops. Antony and Cleopatra moved up to Actium and the two forces engaged in a series of indecisive skirmishes. Antony’s supplies gradually dwindled and his troops began to suffer from disease.

· In order to break out from the Gulf of Ambracia, Cleopatra argued that they should fight a battle at sea, despite Antony’s considerable experience as a land commander. Antony may have considered this a more realistic prospect than bringing Octavian to battle inland or spending months marching his army through Greece and back to Egypt without established supply lines.

· Canidius commanded the land troops with orders to march them back to Egypt, while Antony attempted to break out by sea with a portion of the fleet Cleopatra had brought with her. The ships carried sails and Cleopatra the war chest.

· The battle itself began slowly and for a time seemed to be fairly even. As the battle lines thinned out, Cleopatra’s squadron sailed through both Antony and Octavian’s ships into open sea and away to Egypt. This had almost certainly been the plan all along, but Antony’s failure to bring the bulk of his fleet with him when he followed her led to accusations of cowardice against them both. As the weather worsened, Antony’s fleet eventually surrendered to Octavian. Octavian went on to bribe Canidius’ army into joining him, just as he had done with Lepidus’.

· Plutarch, Life of Mark Antony 61–68

· Velleius Paterculus 2.84–86

· Horace, Odes 1.37

· Virgil, Aeneid Book 8, 675–731

· Antony and Cleopatra’s preparations for the war against Octavian

· Antony’s decision to fight at sea

· Cleopatra’s role in the outcome of the Battle of Actium

The suicides of Antony and Cleopatra and Octavian’s conquest of Egypt

(Suggested timing: 3–4 hours)

· Octavian was temporarily delayed from pursuing Antony and Cleopatra by a revolt in Italy led by Lepidus’ son.

· When they reached Egypt, Antony remained outside Alexandria (Plutarch says he was depressed), while Cleopatra entered the city and declared victory. She then began to organise the defence of Egypt. Caesarion formally became Ptolemy XV and Antony’s son M. Antonius Antyllus came of age slightly earlier than was usual. The people of Upper Egypt offered to fight for her, but she declined.

· As Octavian headed towards Egypt, desertions increased. Cleopatra tried to negotiate, offering to abdicate in favour of her children and retire with Antony into private life, but she was rebuffed. She started to make preparations to bring ships into the Red Sea to sail way from Egypt and Caesarion was sent south to the port at Berenice to make his way to India.

· As Octavian’s cavalry approached Alexandria, Antony hurried out and drove them off, which led to a short-lived celebration. At the beginning of August 30 BC, Antony’s remaining troops deserted to Octavian. Cleopatra barricaded herself in her tomb; Antony, thinking her dead, botched a suicide attempt. He was brought to Cleopatra and shortly afterwards died.

· Cleopatra remained in captivity – it may have been Octavian’s intention to take her back to Rome to walk in his triumph. Somehow, she prepared a method of suicide and she and her two servants died together, having written to Octavian to ask to be buried at Antony’s side. Even Plutarch says that it is unclear how she died, but that the asp in the basket of figs quickly became the accepted story. Egypt became a Roman province under Octavian’s direct control.

· Caesarion was betrayed by his tutor and returned to Alexandria, where he was killed. Antony and Cleopatra’s three children were all brought up by Octavia in Rome, although it is possible that only Cleopatra Selene survived into adulthood.

· Plutarch, Life of Mark Antony 69; 72–79; 81–86

· Velleius Paterculus 2.87

· Horace, Odes 1.37

· The consequences of the Battle of Actium for Egypt

· The qualities / characteristics Cleopatra demonstrated after the Battle of Actium

· The reasons for Cleopatra’s suicide

Overview of Cleopatra’s reign

(Suggested timing: 2 hours)

· A chance to pull together the key themes of the depth study, to allow students to engage with overarching general questions about Cleopatra, similar to the style of essay questions that they will find in the examination.