69 BCE - 30 BCE: Life of Cleopatra VII of Egypt.

51 BCE - 30 BCE: 300 Celts serve as elite bodyguards for Cleopatra VII during her reign.

51 BCE: Death of Cleopatra's father, Ptolemy XII Auletes.

51 BCE: Cleopatra accepts her brother Ptolemy XIII as co-ruler.

49 BCE: Sole rule of Ptolemy XIII, recognized by both Gaius Julius Caesar, the Roman dictator, and his opponent, Pompey the Great.

48 BCE: Cleopatra tries to return, but her army is defeated near Pelusium.

48 BCE: Caesar defeats Pompey (battle of Pharsalus); Pompey flees to Egypt and is killed by courtiers of Ptolemy XIII.

48 BCE: Caesar arrives in Egypt and orders Ptolemy XIII and Cleopatra VII to disband their armies, but instead, war breaks out.

47 BCE: Cleopatra VII is sole ruler of Egypt; she presents herself as the goddess Isis.

47 BCE: Ptolemy XIII drowns in the Nile fleeing Caesar.

47 BCE: Birth of Cleopatra's son, named Caesarion; Caesar is said to be the father.

46 BCE: Ptolemy XIV is recognized as Cleopatra's co-ruler again; the two are in Rome.

44 BCE: Julius Caesar is killed; Cleopatra and Ptolemy XIV return to Egypt, where Ptolemy is soon killed and Caesarion recognized as king; first of a series of bad harvests.

43 BCE: Cleopatra gains control of Cyprus; she supports the faction of Caesar, led by the Second Triumvirate (Marc Antony, Octavian, Lepidus), in its war against the assassins, led by Brutus and Cassius.

41 BCE: Cleopatra and Mark Antony meet at Tarsus.

41 BCE - 31 BCE: Mark Antony of Rome allied with Cleopatra VII of Egypt.

41 BCE: Cleopatra meets Mark Antony in Tarsus. The Roman needs the Egyptian queen in his war against the Parthian Empire, and returns the rule of old Ptolemaic territories to her.

38 BCE: Parts of Cilicia and Chalcis are given to Cleopatra; later, she is allowed to govern, as vassal, parts of Phoenicia, Judaea (cordial relations with king Herod), Cyrenaica, and Crete.

36 BCE: Mark Antony gives Crete as a gift to Cleopatra.

34 BCE: The Donations of Alexandria, an elaborate coronation ceremony in which Caesarion and Alexander Helios were named King of Kings and their mother Cleopatra VII was named Queen of Kings, took place in the Egyptian capital.

31 BCE: Mark Antony and Cleopatra move to Greece, where they are isolated by Octavian's admiral Agrippa; although they are able to win a tactical victory and break out of their isolated position at Actium, the campaign is a distaster and Octavian is able to achieve control of the east.

31 BCE: Cleopatra flees to Alexandria and opens negotiations with Octavian; her purpose is to save her children and keep the Ptolemaic kingdom intact.

31 BCE: The Battle of Actium. Octavian defeats Mark Antony and Cleopatra VII.

30 BCE: After Octavian has declined to negotiate, Cleopatra reportedly commits suicide; Mark Antony stabs himself, only later finding Cleopatra still lives, and dies.