8. The Dramatic End of History’s Weirdest Dynasty
All of the Ptolemies’ vices, intrigues, betrayals, and perversions, were present in the reign of Cleopatra VII, the most famous Ptolemaic Dynasty ruler, and the last one who wielded actual power. Carrying on the family’s tradition of sibling marriage, she married her younger brother, Ptolemy XIII. She soon fell out with him, and plunged Egypt into a civil dispute that ended with the end of her brother/ husband, after Julius Caesar intervened and took her side in the conflict. She then married another brother, Ptolemy XIV, while carrying on an affair with Caesar. She bore the Roman dictator a son, Caesarion, the future Ptolemy XV – the last nominal ruler of the dynasty.
After Caesar’s assassination, Cleopatra took up with his chief lieutenant, Mark Antony, with whom she had one of history’s most famous love affairs. The couple were eventually defeated by Antony’s rival, Gaius Octavius, the future emperor Augustus. Antony fell on his sword, and Cleopatra famously ended her life via snakebite in 30 BC. She was nominally succeeded by Ptolemy XV Caesarion, but Augustus had him put to an end when he was captured a few weeks later. The passing of Cleopatra and Caesarion brought the Ptolemaic Dynasty to an end, and Egypt was made into a Roman province.
