Cleopatra was born on 13 January 69 BCE in Alexandria. The last active ruler of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt, Cleopatra VII was a Macedonian Greek by descent who spoke Egyptian as well as Greek. She came to the throne as a teenager, ruling at first with her brother, and won Julius Caesar's support in a civil war, bearing him a son, Caesarion. After Caesar's death she formed an alliance and relationship with Mark Antony, which brought them into conflict with Octavian. Their fleet was defeated at Actium in 31 BCE, and she took her own life the next year, reportedly by the bite of an asp. Egypt then became a province of the Roman Empire.
Before and after
- from 74 BCE to 72 BCEThe slave revolt of Spartacus
- from 73 BCE to 63 BCEThird Mithridatic War
- from 73 BCE to 71 BCEThird Servile War
- 15 October 70 BCEBirth of Virgil
- 13 January 69 BCEBirth of Cleopatra
- from 66 BCE to 217 CERoman–Parthian Wars
- 8 December 65 BCEBirth of Horace
- 63 BCEBirth of Strabo
- 23 September 63 BCEBirth of Augustus
More in Wars, politics & history
- 587 BCENebuchadnezzar destroys Jerusalem and the First Temple
- from 264 BCE to 241 BCEFirst Punic War
- 203 BCEScipio defeats Hannibal at Zama
- 43 CERome invades Britain
- 293 CEDiocletian establishes the Tetrarchy
- 17 January 395 CEThe Roman Empire is permanently divided
The era
This moment belongs to the Ancient civilizations (3,200 BCE to 500 CE), writing, cities and empires. You can also browse everything in the 1st century BCE.