• There is no man in this world I despise more than that barbarian Octavian. He has turned my life upside down and inside out by trying to crush my power as queen. He is also attempting to break apart my marriage to the man I have given my heart to, Antony. Although it is said that senators, lead by Marcus Brutus, assassinated my first love, Julius Caesar, I suspect that it was Octavian who had Caesar stabbed to death leaving our son fatherless.

    Octavian has married off his sister, Octavia, to my Antony. At least I’m thankful that Antony defied Octavian’s wishes and married me also. Octavian cannot deny that I, Queen Cleopatra of Egypt, gave birth to three of Antony’s children.

    So, what else has this Roman done to my kingdom and to me? Well, my story begins when Antony summoned me to Rome. Antony wanted to question me to see if I had anything to do with Caesar’s assassination. I traveled to Rome in an elegant barge with a gilded stern, bright purple sails, and silver oars. The ship was steered by my many maids who were dressed as beautiful sea nymphs. I was dressed as Venus, the Roman Goddess of Love and Beauty. I was leaning back on a magnificent golden chair being fanned by servant girls with large, exquisite peacock feathers.

    I will admit that it felt quite odd to touch Roman soil again, after my last visit to Rome to reunite Caesar with our son Caesarion. I lived with Caesar in his villa for two years. He showered me with lovely gifts and titles. No one in Rome liked me. Everyone was displeased with Caesar’s infatuation with me. My happiness with Caesar ended when he was fatally stabbed by several of his enemies during a Senate meeting. I was devastated after hearing about his death. I became fearful that they would come after my son and me, so I secretly fled back to Egypt.

    Two years later I was back in Rome at Antony’s summon. I felt quite apprehensive about being there again, but I felt I could trust Antony that he would protect me from any attacks. He was a loyal friend to Caesar for years. I always felt I could trust Antony.

    Antony was always an unsophisticated type of person and he did not have much of a sense of humor. Whenever he made a joke, I pretended that it was the funniest joke I had ever heard. I really did not mind his lack of a sense of humor anyway. I adored his charm and kindness towards me.

    The night I reached Rome, I invited Antony to my barge, on which I held a great feast and entertainment. He invited me for supper the next night, trying to outdo the magnificence of the night before. He failed, but he joked about it anyway. Before I knew it, Antony accompanied me back to Egypt and stayed with me there for the winter.

    When the winter was over, He said goodbye to me and went back to Rome. Six months later, I gave birth to twins, Cleopatra Selene and Alexander Helios. I did not get to see the man with who I had fallen in love for four years. During those years, I found out that Ocatvain married off his sister, Octavia, to Antony. I felt my heart breaking, especially when I found out that Octavia had two daughters, both named Antonia.

    ~~~

    In 37 B.C., before he went to invade Parthia, Antony visited me and spent a lot of time with me. When he left, he completed his military duties in Parthia quickly and returned to me. From then on, Antony considered Alexandria his home. I had became his wife in 36 B.C. It was not long before I gave birth to a son, Ptolemy Philadelphus.

    ~~~

    The Romans were disgusted by the way Antony paid his respect to his wife, Octavia. He hardly ever paid any attention to her, and he treated me in a manner befitting a cherished wife. The Romans were also outraged when they heard that Antony and I called ourselves gods. We meant no harm when we made the statement, we were simply calling ourselves gods because of the love we had for each other. I called myself the New Isis and Antony called himself the New Dionysus. Furthermore, the Romans were outraged when Antony gave our children royal titles. Antony had Alexander Helios crowned the king of Armenia, Media, and Parthia; Cleopatra Selene was crowned the ruler of Cyrenaica and Libya; and Ptolemy Philadelphus was crowned the ruler of Phoenicia, Syria, and Cilicia. Caesarian was declared king of kings and I became the queen of kings. Octavian was so angry that he tried to convince the Roman Senate to declare war on my Egypt.

    In 31 B.C., Antony’s army fought the Romans in a battle at sea off the coast of Actium, Greece. I was there, of course, with sixty ships of my own. When I noticed that Antony was losing, I quickly fled from the scene. Antony abandoned his men to follow me. The Romans began to believe that Antony was enslaved by his love for me; and perhaps he was.

    For three days Antony sat by himself at the prow of my ship and refused to speak to me. I had apologized to him, I do not know how many times. When we returned to Egypt, Antony lived somewhere far from me, dwelling on what I had done. While he was away, I prepared for an invasion from the Romans. Soon, Antony received word that his allies surrendered and joined Octavian. Antony came back to me and we danced and feasted, knowing that these might be the final days of our lives.

    Realizing that I might, one day, have to take my own life, I started experimenting with poisons to see which would be the most painless death. I also finished building a mausoleum, which holds all of my silver, gold, jewels, ebony, and ivory. I became well prepared for Rome’s invasion.

    ~~~

    In 30 B.C., Octavian invaded Egypt near Alexandria. Immediately, Antony marched his army to face our enemy. Antony stopped to watch what he had expected to be a naval between his army and the Roman army. Instead, he saw that his own army saluted the Romans and joined them. Antony was in such a rage when his army betrayed him right before his very eyes. He returned to the city shouting that I had betrayed him. I was in such a fright by his rage, I ran to my mausoleum with some of my guards and maids and locked myself in. I ordered my servants to tell Antony that I was dead. I knew that I would be safe in my mausoleum.

    ~~~

    I fortified myself in my mausoleum to protect myself from the cruelty of the Romans. I knew that the only Roman I could trust, of course, was Antony.

    As I looked up from staring at my hands and quietly crying from my fear, I noticed one of my maids in a distressed state. “What ails you?”

    “Your Majesty, you cannot hear? Someone is trying to get in!” she exclaims.

    Suddenly, a second maid came running over to us. “Your Majesty! They have brought Antony! He wounded himself!”

    Even though I knew that the alarm might be a trick of Octavian’s, I could not take my chances if it was Antony dying outside. “Let him in, but he will have to be pulled up with a rope through the window.”
    The maids ran to the window and let down a rope for the men below, and the men tied a body onto a board. As the body was finally pulled through the window, to my horror, I realized that the dieing man was my Antony. Antony must have stabbed himself with his sword and now he was losing blood at a rapid rate. The expression on his face looked as surprised as I was that he was alive. Quickly, I knelt down to him, held his hand, and asked, “Why did you do this to yourself?”

    He replied, “I thought you were dead. No one knew where you went. You disappeared so quickly..” The words seemed to come out of his mouth slowly. Antony may have been alive at the moment, but he is quickly dieing.

    “I was afraid. I had no idea your fleet would turn on you like that. When I heard you shouting that I had betrayed you, I ran away and locked myself in here.” Immediately, I started to cry. “I am so sorry, Antony! I can never betray you! You’re my husband, my lord, my emperor..”

    “You do not need to pity me Cleopatra, I have acted out of anger because of what has happened. Forget this moment, only remember my past happiness.” After saying this, Antony died.

    ~~~

    It is very kind of Octavian to let me prepare Antony’s burial, despite the fact that I am his prisoner. Octavian and a few of his men came to me yesterday to discuss some matters. I refused to let them into the mausoleum, so Octavian and I negotiated through the door. I demanded that my kingdom be given to my children and, surprisingly, he accepted. The next thing I knew, one of his men was climbing through a window. Instantly, I grabbed my dagger and held it over my heart. When the man saw this, he immediately stopped his advance and yelled out to Octavian that I was going to stab myself in the chest. Octavian told the man to disarm me and he obeyed.

    That same man was told to stay by the door inside the building to make sure I will not try to kill myself again. Ocatvian also holds my children as prisoners.

    Antony’s burial was this morning. I made sure that his burial was as elegant as a Pharaoh’s. Antony deserves the best for his attempt to protect me, our children, and Egypt.

    I have taken to a bed my maids have made up for me with several blankets. I have not gotten out of this bed since Antony’s burial; grieving for my loss and my children. I know that whatever Octavian has planned for me, is sure to humiliate me in front of my own people.

    Little does Octavian know, I have a plan of my own now. I motioned for my maids to come over so I could speak to them. “Prepare a bath for me and have a feast ready.” They immediately ran off to get my bath ready.

    While dinner was being prepared, a man came to me with a basket of figs. Of course the guard had to check the basket, but when found nothing suspicious he let the man hand the basket over to me.
    After I took my bath and ate my dinner, I wrote out a brief letter to Octavian.

    Octavian,
    My grief for Antony and my children has overwhelmed me.
    Life just does not seem like the path for me anymore.
    All I ask of you is to bury me next to Antony and give my
    kingdom to my children.
    Cleopatra
    Queen of Egypt

    My maids helped me dress in a golden gown I had made for my funeral. I sat on top of the golden bed and motioned my maid, Iras, to hand over the basket of figs. When she returned, I placed my hand inside the basket and pulled out the venomous asp. The asp was hiding at the bottom of the basket, under all the figs, so that the guard would not be able to see it. I knew that the asp was in the basket, I wanted him in there with the figs. I stared down at asp’s face for moment, then I brought it forward at let it bite me on the arm.

    As I lay on my golden bed, I can feel the serpent’s poison flowing through my veins. My vision is beginning to blur and my body is beginning to paralyze. I am only moments away from entering the Afterlife. I will soon be with Antony once more.

    From the corner of my eye, I notice that my maids fulfilled their duty by letting the asp bite them, too.

    I can now feel Death’s shroud falling over my paralyzed body and my eyes see nothing more than darkness.

    ~~~

    A guard has quickly walked in to where the golden bed lies. He notices that Cleopatra has killed herself with an asp that is slithering away from the bed. He sees Iras half dead at her queen’s feet and Charmion weakly fixing the queen’s crown.

    "Was this well done of your lady, Charmion?" the guard asks the maid.

    "Extremely well," said Charmion, "as becomes the descendant of so many kings." Then, she too falls over and dies