A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. By various writers. Ed. by William Smith. Illustrated by numerous engravings on wood.

802 CLEOPATRA.
made her way to Alexandria, the harbour of which
she entered with her prows crowned and music
sounding, as if victorious, fearing an outbreak in
the city. With the same view of retaining the
Alexandrians in their allegiance, she and Antony
(who soon joined her) proclaimed their children,
Antyllus and Cleopatra, of age. She then prepared to defend herself in Alexandria, and also
sent embassies to the neighbouring tribes for aid.
(Dion Cass. li. 6.) She had also a plan of retiring to Spain, or to the Persian gulf; and
either was building ships in the Red Sea, as Dion
asserts, or, according to Plutarch, intended to
draw her ships across the isthmus of Suez. Whichever was the case, the ships were burnt by the
Arabs of Petra, and this hope failed. She scrupled not to behead Artavasdes, and send his head
as a bribe for aid to the king of Media, who was
his enemy. Finding, however, no aid nigh, she
prepared to negotiate with Augustus, and sent him
on his approach her sceptre and throne (unknown
to Antony), as thereby resigning her kingdom.
His public answer required her to resign and submit to a trial; but he privately urged her to make
away with Antony, and promised that she should
retain her kingdom. On a subsequent occasion,
Thyrsus, Caesar's freedman, brought similar terms,
and represented Augustus as captivated by her,
which she seems to have believed, and, seeing
Antony's fortunes desperate, betrayed Pelusium to
Augustus, prevented the Alexandrians from going
out against him, and frustrated Antony's plan of
escaping to Rome by persuading the fleet to desert
him. She then fled to a mausoleum she had built,
where she had collected her most valuable treasures,
and proclaimed her intention of putting an end
to her life, with a view to entice Antony thither,
and thus ensure his capture. (This is the account
of Dion Cassius, Ii. 6, 8-11; the same facts
for the most part are recorded by Plutarch, who
however represents Cleopatra's perfidy as less glaring.) Shle then had Antony informed of her death,
as though to persuade him to die with her; and
this stratagem, if indeed she had this object, fully
succeeded, and he was drawn up into the unfinished mausoleum, and died in her arms. She did not
however venture to meet Augustus, though his
rival was dead, but remained in the mausoleum,
ready if need was to put herself to death, for which
purpose she had asps and other venomous animals
in readiness. Augustus contrived to apprehend
her, and had all instruments of death removed,
and then requested an interview (for an account
of which see Dion Cass. Ii. 12, 13, and Plut.
Ant. 83). The charms of Cleopatra, however, failed
in softening the colder heart of Augustus. He
only "bade her be of good cheer, and fear no violence." Seeing that her case was desperate, and
determined at all events not to be carried captive
to Rome, she resolved on death; but in order to
compass this, it was necessary to disarm the vigilance of her goalers, and she did this by feigning
a readiness to go to Rome, and preparing presents
for Livia, the wife of Augustus. This artifice succeeded, and she was thereby enabled to put an end
to her life, either by the poison of an asp, or by a
poisoned comb (Dion Cass. li. 14; Plut. Ant. 85,
86), the former supposition being adopted by most
writers. (Suet. Aug. 17; Galen. Theriac. ad Pis.
p. 460, ed. Basil; Vell. Pat. ii. 87.)
Cleopatra died in B. c. 30, in the thirty-ninth

CLEOPATRA.
year of her age, and with her ended the dynasty
of the Ptolemies in Egypt. She had three children
by Antony: Alexander and Cleopatra, who were
twins, and Ptolemy surnamed Philadelphus. The
leading points of her character were, ambition and
voluptuousness. History presents to us the former
as the prevailing motive, the latter being frequently
employed only as the means of gratifying it. In
all the stories of her luxury and lavish expense,
there is a splendour and a grandeur that somewhat
refines them. (See Plin. H. N. ix. 58.) In the
days of her prosperity, her arrogance was unbounded, and she loved to swear by the Capitol,
in which she hoped to reign with Antony. She
was avaricious, to supply her extravagance, and
cruel, or at least had no regard for human life
when her own objects were concerned,-a Caesar
with a woman's caprice. Her talents were great
and varied; her knowledge of languages was peculiarly remarkable (Plut. Ant. 27), of which she
had seven at command, and was the more remarkable from the fact, that her predecessors had not
been able to master even the Egyptian, and some
had forgotten their native Macedonian; and in
the midst of the most luxurious scenes we see
traces of a love of literature and critical research.
She added the library of Pergamus, presented to
her by Antony, to that of Alexandria. Her ready
and versatile wit, her knowledge of human nature
and powerof using it,her attractive manners, and her
exquisitely musical and flexible voice, compared by
Plutarch (Ant. 27) to a many-stringed instrument,
are also the subjects of well-attested praise. The
higher points in her character are admirably
touched by Horace in the ode (i. 37) on her defeat.
The following coin represents the head of Antony on the obverse, and Cleopatra's on the reverse.
11. Daughter of Antony, the triumvir, and
Cleopatra, was born with her tivin brother Alexander in B. c. 40. Her early history till the time
she was carried to Rome is given under ALEXANDER, p. 112, a. She continued to reside at Rome
till her marriage with Juba, king of Numidia, who
was brought to Rome in B. c. 46, when quite a boy,
along with his father, after the defeat of the latter
by Caesar. (Dion Cass. li. 15; Plut. Ant. 87.)
By Juba, Cleopatra had two children, Ptolemy,
who succeeded him in the kingdom, and Drusilla,
who married Antonius Felix, the governor of
Judaea. The following coin contains the head of
Juba on the obverse, and Cleopatra's on the reverse.
12. A daughter of Mithridates, who married
Tigranes, king of Armenia. She seems to have