Cleopatra

“Antony made one last valiant attempt to usurp the Roman leader”

Accused Octavian of forging Caesar's will. Rome was drawn into a civil war - which culminated in the defeat of Antony at the Battle of Actium.

After his clear victory, Octavian returned to Rome. During the 12 months that followed, he left Antony and Cleopatra to contemplate their defeat and consider their demise. Egypt's neighbouring territories were largely annexed to Rome; for this reason, Antony and Cleopatra's attempts to regroup and raise an army proved futile.

It was in August 30 BCE that Octavian finally invaded Egypt. Antony made one last valiant attempt to usurp the Roman leader, but in the end, his fate had been cast. He did what was required of all honourable Roman soldiers and fell upon his sword. In an attempt to safeguard her children Cleopatra made a tentative effort to make terms with Octavian. In his final hour, Antony was brought to Cleopatra's mausoleum and he died in her arms. Octavian allowed Cleopatra to conduct burial rituals for Antony's body. While he presented an outward show of friendship, he naturally wanted her dead. He was, in fact, in a difficult position.

Roman law dictated that Cleopatra should be treated as an enemy of the state. She should be taken back to Rome in shackles and paraded before the mob. However, a female ruler was a rare entity - the display could end up backfiring on Octavian and prove highly distasteful.

He was relieved then, when Cleopatra took the courageous decision to end her own life. Some historians believe that she was bitten by a snake hidden in a fig basket. Others suggest that she drank wine laced with hemlock. An account of her death can be found in Plutarch's Lives.

'The messengers [of Octavian] came at full speed, and found the guards apprehensive of nothing; but, on opening the doors, they saw her stone-dead, lying upon a bed of gold, set out in all her royal ornaments. Iras, one of her women, lay dying at her feet, and Charmion, just ready to fall, scarce able to hold up her head, was adjusting her mistress's diadem. And when one that came in said angrily, "Was this well done of your lady, Charmion?" "Extremely well," she answered, "and as became the descendant of so many kings". As she said this she fell down dead by the bedside.

In Rome, the son of the orator Cicero announced the deaths of Antony and Cleopatra with relish. Mark Antony was stripped of his accolades, his image erased from coinage and his statues removed. Under threat from Octavian, Iullus Antonius - Mark Antony's eldest son - committed suicide. Concurring with Arius Didymus - "It is bad to have too many Caesars" - Octavian also had Caesarion murdered. The remaining children of Cleopatra and Antony were spared and taken to Rome where they were adopted by Antony's family.

With the death of Cleopatra, the Sun had finally set on the Hellenistic Dynasty - and indeed on the 3,000-year rule of the pharaohs.

The Historia Augusta boasts that Zenobia would often march for miles on foot ahead of the rest of her troops