Cleopatra i: Did you mean...?

The iconic cinematic performance of Elizabeth Taylor in the motion picture Cleopatra (1963) left a lasting impression of the Egyptian queen’s supposed beauty. Despite its emphatic opulence, the movie still implies that Cleopatra could only...

Silver denarius from the reign of Juba II (r. 29 BCE - 23 CE) and Cleopatra Selene II (c. 40 - 5 BCE). Obverse: Juba II with the legend "Rex Iuba" (Latin, "King Juba"). Reverse: Egyptian crocodile with legend "Basilissa Kleopatra" (Greek...

The Second Triumvirate was a political association of convenience between three of Rome's most powerful figures: Mark Antony, Lepidus, and Octavian in the 1st century BCE. Following the assassination of Julius Caesar the three vowed revenge...

Olympias (c. 375-316 BCE) was the second wife of Philip II of Macedon (r. 359-336 BCE) and the mother of Alexander the Great (r. 336-323 BCE). Olympias was the driving force behind Alexander's rise to the throne and was accused of having...

Ptolemy XIII Theos Philopator (The Father-loving God, born 62/61 BCE, died 47 BCE) was pharaoh of Egypt from 51 BCE until his death. His reign began as co-ruler with his sister, the famous Cleopatra VII, following the wishes of their father...

This relief from one of the walls of the Dendera Temple in Egypt portrays Cleopatra VII along with her son Caesarion as Pharaoh. Cleopatra had intended for her son to succeed her as ruler of the Ptolemaic Kingdom, however her defeat at the...

Cleopatra Before Caesar by Jean-Léon Gérôme, oil on canvas, 1866. Cleopatra confronts Gaius Julius Caesar after emerging from a roll of carpet. The Egyptian Queen had been driven from the palace in Alexandria by her brother/husband Ptolemy...

This black basalt statue from Egypt portrays the Ptolemaic queen Cleopatra VII as Isis-Aphrodite (c. 51-30 BCE). Most Ptolemaic queens associated themselves with the goddess but none more famously than Cleopatra. In her own lifetime, she...

Portrait head of Cleopatra Selene II (40 to c. 5 BCE), daughter of the Egyptian queen Cleopatra VII who became the queen of Mauretania upon her marriage to King Juba II of Numidia (48 BCE to 23 CE). Archaeological Museum of Cherchell (Musée...

The allegorical portrait on this silver emblema dish is attributed to Cleopatra Selene II (40 BCE–c. 5 BCE), the daughter of Cleopatra VII (69-30 BCE) and Mark Antony (83–30 BCE). She wears an elephant scalp as a headdress and carries a cornucopia...