istoryworld
Events relating to cleopatra
Keeping her appointment with Mark Antony in Tarsus, Cleopatra arrives in a golden barge, dressed as the goddess of love – and he proves susceptible
Cleopatra persuades Mark Antony to execute her sister Arsinoe, thus removing her last potential rival in the Egyptian royal family
Mark Antony spends the winter with Cleopatra in Alexandria
Cleopatra gives birth to twins and calls them Alexander and Cleopatra
Antony and Cleopatra, accompanied by their three-year-old twins, marry in Antioch
Cleopatra gives birth to another son of Mark Antony's and calls him Ptolemy Philadelphus
In a spectacular cerermony known as the Donations of Alexandria, Mark Antony distributes the eastern Roman territories between Cleopatra, her eldest son (Caesarion) and his own three children
Octavian defeats the forces of Antony and Cleopatra (both are at sea with their fleets) in a battle off the Greek coast at Actium
Octavian arrives in Egypt with an army, and holds Cleopatra a prisoner in her palace in Alexandria
Hearing that Cleopatra is dead (false news, as it turns out), Mark Antony commits suicide in Alexandria
Cleopatra commits suicide, applying a poisonous asp to her breast,
The Egyptians declare Caesarion to be their pharaoh, but it is not long before he is executed by Octavian - bringing to an end the Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt
Octavian annexes Egypt as a Roman territory and takes back to Rome the vast treasures of the Egyptian pharaohs
With the annexation of Egypt, the entire Mediterranean falls under Roman control
When Octavian's Egyptian hoard reaches Rome, the standard rate of interest falls from 12% to 4%
Octavian is given the life-long title of Augustus by the senate in Rome, becoming in effect the first Roman emperor
