Cleopatra

NICE. POWERFUL. UNDEFEATED

CLEOPATRA

Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt

She was the most magnificent embodiment of feminine power that ever existed.

She took over the throne of Egypt from her husband and brother at the age of 18.

She was definitely a femme fatale who beguiled both the Roman Emperor Julius Caesar and his top general Mark Antony.

Cleopatra's beauty was not her greatest asset

Her irresistible charm and gentle voice made her so desirable.
Roman propaganda portrayed Cleopatra as a wicked seductress who used her sex appeal as a political weapon, but she was arguably better known for her intellect than her looks.

She spoke up to a dozen languages and was trained in mathematics, philosophy, oratory and astronomy.

Egyptian sources later described her as a ruler "who elevated the scholars to rank and enjoyed their company."

Cleopatra considered herself a living goddess

and often used clever orchestration to woo potential allies and assert their divine status.

When she was summoned to Tarsus to meet Mark Antony, she is said to have arrived in a golden barge with purple sails and silver oars. Cleopatra had been made up to look like the goddess Aphrodite, and she sat under a gilded canopy while servants dressed as cupids fanned her and burned fragrant incense.

Antony, who believed himself to be the embodiment of the Greek god Dionysus, was instantly enchanted.

Cleopatra's mysterious suicide

may not be due to a wasp sting.
Legend has it that she died by tricking an "aspis" - most likely a viper or Egyptian cobra - into biting her arm, but "no one knows what really happened."

Cleopatra was also known to hide a deadly poison in one of her hair combs and may have applied a deadly "ointment". With this in mind, many scientists now suspect that she used a needle dipped in some form of powerful poison - snake venom or otherwise.