Chapter 1: Who was Cleopatra VII and what was her background?
One of the most famous women in Egyptian history wasn't even Egyptian. She was a Greek Macedonian who allegedly spoke nine languages and became the first Ptolemy in 300 years to learn Egyptian. She probably also wasn't the stunning beauty that Hollywood made her out to be. She was a ruthless political genius who declared herself the living god of Isis.
She smuggled herself inside a linen sack to meet Julius Caesar and convinced Mark Antony she was the reincarnation of the goddess Aphrodite.
Chapter 2: What were Cleopatra's political strategies during her reign?
This is the story of Cleopatra, a Greek Macedonian queen who became the last pharaoh of Egypt. So, sit back, relax, and welcome to History Camp. What's up, people, and welcome back to History Camp.
Chapter 3: How did Cleopatra seduce Julius Caesar and what was the outcome?
My name is Mark Gagnon, and thank you for joining me in my tent where every single week we explore the most interesting, fascinating, controversial stories throughout all history, forever, from all time, always. Yes, this is my attempt to understand everything that's ever happened on this big, beautiful, blue planet we call Earth.
And there's been lots of stuff going on and I'm just trying to catch up. All right. I just got here. So there's a lot of stuff to get into. All right. And as always, I want to thank you for tuning in. The show is not possible without you, the lovely viewer at home that keeps the fire burning. It's also not possible without my dear friend, Christos Bakadapros. How are you, pal? Doing great, Mark.
All right, Christos, we are talking about Cleopatra, all right? We don't have time to be delving into your personal details, okay?
Chapter 4: What role did Cleopatra play in the Battle of Actium?
I know you had a big New Year's, all right? You were at the harem of women. You were in Ibiza on a yacht.
Chapter 5: What were the circumstances surrounding Cleopatra's death?
Allegedly. Allegedly, but people don't wanna hear about that, all right? They wanna hear about Cleopatra, the most famous Egyptian who was an Egyptian. Yes.
Chapter 6: What theories exist about Cleopatra's burial site?
Now, a few things on this. Let me just start by saying I'm not Egyptian.
Chapter 7: How did Roman propaganda shape Cleopatra's legacy?
I wasn't raised Egyptian. I don't I'm not a historian. This is just stuff that I researched. OK, so feel free to drop a comment if you are an Egyptian historian.
Chapter 8: What lessons can we learn from Cleopatra's story today?
You want to correct the record. But we are diving into who this woman was and why she is so captivating and why we think we have a perception of her. You know, I mean, like every year on Halloween, there's some girl that shows up to the club, dresses Cleopatra, always a baddie. And you got to think like, is that really what Cleopatra looked like? Does she really have just like a bob and bangs?
I doubt it, right? Probably not. Also, if you hear some chuckles in the background, I'm also joined by my dear pal David Kepasa. What's up, dude? Thank you so much for joining us, guys. This is going to be a fun one, okay? Now, just off top, people are going to get pissed because I know there's some folks out there. They're like, no, Cleopatra, not only was she Egyptian, she was black.
This has been a thing that people say. I don't know the details. All I can tell you is that most historians agree that she was Greek Macedonian. You're welcome, Christos. She was a Greek woman. Just Greek. Just Greek? You're not even giving any credit to Macedon? Come on, dude. She was probably born in 69 BC. Come on now.
into the Ptolemaic dynasty, basically the dynasty of Ptolemy, who was a Greek Macedonian royal and created this royal dynasty that basically ruled Egypt for 300 years. Her ancestor, Ptolemy I, was one of Alexander the Great's bodyguards and one of his highest generals. So Alexander the Great, if you don't know, we did a whole episode on him. Go check it out.
He basically starts conquesting the world and just goes around everywhere, goes to Egypt, goes to Alexandria, right? Creates, well, it's not Alexandria at the time. It's just a little beach. But then he turns it into Alexandria named after himself. And who does he put to run it? He puts his pal Ptolemy. So Ptolemy has some kids and down the line, we get Cleopatra.
So when Alexander dies in 323, the entire empire gets split up. But here's where it gets weird. For three centuries, the Ptolemies ruled Egypt, but stayed completely separate from Egyptian culture, right? They spoke Greek, they worshipped Greek gods, and they married within their own bloodline to keep their families pure. Yes, they were linking with the stepsises, if you will.
And when they get married within their family, and I mean, literally, like they're just marrying, like some people speculate, historians will speculate that Cleopatra's parents were likely siblings, which was a pretty common practice in the Ptolemaic tradition. Because again, bloodlines are the most important thing that you can have specifically in the ancient world.
oftentimes because they were descendants from gods, so to speak. And so you got to keep the godly blood internal. So that means Cleopatra's mom got stuck in an Egyptian washing machine, and now we have Cleopatra.
Her father is said to be Ptolemy XII, and her mother, historians are not exactly sure who she was, but it is suspected that she is Cleopatra V Tryphena, or Tryphena, as my dear pal Christos would correct me. Now, the Ptolemies married their siblings because, again, they believed that they were divine, like Egyptian gods, right?
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