Cleopatra had made her mark over history. Let’s discover five cool Cleopatra facts for kids.
Cleopatra first ruled alongside her father, Ptolemy for four years until he died. Her father wanted her to rule as co-leader with her brother afterwards. Her brother tried to have her give up the throne and sent her away. But her brother who was also called Ptolemy, offended the Roman emperor Julius Caesar who enforced Cleopatra and Ptolemy’s shared leadership. Cleopatra had similar fights for her power with her other siblings but was eventually given her place as sole leader of Egypt.
Cleopatra was queen of Egypt but she wasn’t Egyptian. She was Macedonian Greek and learned Egyptian to be able to better rule over the country. Cleopatra knew many languages, she was what is called a polyglot. Which is someone who knows more than four languages. Cleopatra was known to be very smart and talented. She was very well-read and could quote whole parts of famous books. She could also play more than one musical instrument. She learned all this while fulfilling her role as leader. Very impressive!
Cleopatra was a fan of theatre and she wanted to enter a room dramatically especially if she was meeting someone important. She knew that first impressions were very useful. When Cleopatra met Julius Caesar, the Roman emperor, for the first time she arrived wrapped in a fancy carpet. When she later met Mark Antony, an important Roman general, she also made a very grand entrance.
She arrived in a golden boat that had purple sails and silver oars. Purple dye was very expensive so the sails showed her status and wealth. She even dressed up like Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty.
The Egyptians used eyeliner for fashion but they also believed that when they wore it the gods would protect their eyes. Cleopatra was known to be fashionable and is often shown wearing eyeliner. This eyeliner would have helped the eyes as it contained lead salts that prevent bacterial infection. Sadly, Cleopatra did not know that lead is very toxic and can make you very sick.
The family that had been ruling over Egypt for almost the last 300 years was not from Egypt. They did not become Egyptian while they ruled the country and instead stayed in Alexandria, a Greek city. They did not study the culture of Egypt either. Cleopatra learned to speak and write the Egyptian language and she studied and worshipped Egyptian gods. Even though she was born Greek she did her best to become an Egyptian queen who was aware of the culture and people of Egypt.
We hope you enjoyed learning more things about Cleopatra as much as we loved teaching you about them. Now that you know how majestic this person is, you can move on to learn about famous people like: Julius Caesar and Pharaohs.
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