[tense music]
[hissing]
[screeching]
[narrator] Cleopatra.
African queen.
Mother to a nation of millions.
A living, breathing Egyptian goddess,
both feared and adored.
-But she is also human. - [screams]
Women must face dangers no man ever will.
Childbirth in ancient times is at the mercy of the gods.
[screaming]
A pharaoh and her child can die just as easily as any peasant.
[cries]
[screaming]
[crying]
The healthy boy she bears
could one day unite the most powerful nations on earth.
Rome and Egypt.
Cleopatra, the mother of two nations,
securing her position,
and her immortality.
But fortune doesn't always favor the bold.
[theme music]
[upbeat music]
[enticing music]
[enticing music continues]
[Colleen] Cleopatra's story is so significant
because it comes at a true turning point
in the history of the ancient world.
[enticing music]
[Islam] Cleopatra gives birth to Julius Caesar's child
in her early 20's, probably around 22.
And his name, Caesarion, Little Caesar.
Perfect name.
[Islam] Caesarion embodies two great cultures,
two great civilizations.
There is no other child like him in the world.
It was not a big deal
that she was not married to the baby's father.
[Debora] And considering that she was a ruler
and then the baby's father is a ruler,
this child could be
the one that really unites Rome and Egypt.
[Colleen] With the birth of Caesarion,
Cleopatra really has a chance
to continue her dynasty.
After all of the problems since Cleopatra returned to Egypt,
things have finally calmed down.
[screeches]
[Colleen] Ptolemy, her husband
and her brother is now deceased.
Not a sibling that Cleopatra has to worry about any longer.
She's now in a very strong position.
[screeching]
Except...
Cleopatra has a problem.
Cleopatra's problem is her sister, Arsinoe.
[foreboding music]
[suspenseful music]
[Colleen] After Julius Caesar captures Arsinoe,
he brings her back to Rome to be part of his triumph.
Part of the official celebration of his victory in Egypt.
Cleopatra has exacted a promise from Julius Caesar
that he will kill her.
[rhythmic thumping]
[Shelley] She would have been about 17.
He parades Arsinoe.
[Shelley] And the people of Rome are appalled.
She's truly a child.
[Shelley] Why are you humiliating her this way?
[tense music]
So the people rise up against Caesar.
And so he thinks better of executing her.
[blowing air]
[tense music]
[Colleen] The people of Rome revere Caesar.
But if they disagree with one of his choices,
he has to walk that line.
Caesar commands that Arsinoe's life be spared.
[Colleen] She's exiled to what is now modern-day Turkey at the city of Ephesus.
[ominous music]
Caesar really betrays Cleopatra.
She assumes that her sister Arsinoe is dead
and no longer a threat to her throne.
[tense music]
[bird chirps]
When Cleopatra learns that Arsinoe is still alive,
she is livid.
Because she knows the threat she represents.
She knows you can't trust your siblings.
You can't trust them.
[Shelley] Cleopatra's, like,
"Just give me a moment to think of a plan."
And that's the thing about Cleopatra.
She always has a plan.
[light music]
[indistinct chatter]
The baby... probably about a year old,
when she decides to take Caesarion to Rome,
hoping, praying, that Caesar will claim paternity,
will claim Caesarion as his son,
but more importantly, as his heir.
[Shelley] This will lend legitimacy not just to Caesarion,
but also to Cleopatra.
And she, she wants that,
but she mostly wants it for Caesarion.
[Colleen] If Julius Caesar recognizes Caesarion as his son,
this allows Cleopatra to sidestep Arsinoe entirely.
[indistinct chatter]
[Shelley] She has with her, her trusted confidantes,
Charmion and Iras.
She has with her, her second brother-husband,
Ptolemy the XIV,
maybe feeling like he was a third wheel.
Cleopatra was in Rome to be with Caesar,
he's got to come along because, you know, he's a co-pharaoh.
[indistinct chatter]
Roman hospitality has left a lot to be desired.
[snorts]
It's just a show of strength.
If Egypt was in power...
I'd do the same thing.
- [coughs] - Ooh!
[rhythmic thumping]
[Islam] Rome, at this stage, is the most powerful of empires.
Rome has made advances in all sorts of fields,
from architecture to arts, becoming the capital of the world.
And their empire is expanded.
It's going around what we would today term Western Europe.
It's going all the way to Asia.
It's powerful.
[intense music]
[Islam] Julius Caesar is the world's biggest celebrity.
He's also a hero to many of the Romans.
Experience of life, experience of battle.
It's a sign of a powerful man.
Let's show them the Pharoah of Egypt.
[Cleopatra] Okay. Are you ready?
Eyes.
- Rome welcomes you. - [Caesarion coughs]
Ah. Caesar.
- Could you... - Oh, my boy.
[Cleopatra] There we go.
Thank you.
[bird squawking]
["Unbreakable" playing]
[Colleen] When Cleopatra is in Rome,
Caesar installs her, their child, and their entourage,
in his garden villa on the Janiculum Hill.
[Shelley] Caesar had a Roman wife.
In Cleopatra's mind, "It's fine."
Caesar was known for his affairs.
The fact that he was married wouldn't have bothered Cleopatra.
And although monogamy was expected on the high political level
that we're talking about with Caesar and Cleopatra,
very different rules applied.
[Cleopatra] Oh, who's that?
Well, oh, who is this?
Who do I have here? [Caesar gasps]
Who do I have here?
- [chuckles] - Hi, you.
[Shelley] United by this child, it means they are a partnership.
[Caesarion laughs]
[Cleopatra] Careful.
He's not used to rough play.
Well, that is what fathers are for.
[chuckles]
He has your chin.
Well, look at that.
Strong. A Roman jaw.
[Cleopatra chuckles]
- Feeding time. - Oh...
- [Caesar] Already? - [Iras] Yeah.
[Caesarion laughs]
You can have him all to yourself after lunch.
Maybe even show him the Senate.
[small chuckle]
Maybe.
I'm glad you brought him.
I promised I would.
And you made me a promise too.
Did I? [sighs]
Why is Arsinoe still alive?
Because the Roman public decreed it.
And she is no longer a threat.
To you.
The only way out of that temple is through me
or with an army.
She's not likely to get either.
We underestimated her once.
You were naked.
I was distracted.
- And are you not distracted now? - What is this?
You made a promise to me.
Any promise I made to you does not supersede
a promise I make to the Roman people.
One of the things that would have attracted Cleopatra to Julius Caesar
is he was a very savvy political power player.
And this is key and inherent to the DNA of being a Ptolemy.
[Jacquelyn] She would have found in him
an equal who valued, uh, playing with power
in the way that she had been raised to as an infant.
[birds chirping]
♪ I tried to hide ♪
[Caesar] Anything you'd like to share?
♪ But I'm found ♪
♪ Show me a light... ♪
[Sally-Ann] We see that she's very strategic.
Cleopatra is focusing on men
who can bring something to the relationship.
♪ Me ♪
♪ Are you afraid ♪
♪ Of what's inside of me ♪
I missed you.
♪ Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh ♪
Given the fluidity of sexuality in ancient Egypt,
Julius Caesar is probably not Cleopatra's first sexual partner.
♪ And break ♪
♪ I am unbreakable... ♪
[Colleen] It really was a meeting of both mind and heart,
of two powerful and strong individuals.
[Jacquelyn] He would never have met a woman like Cleopatra
with complete control and confidence
in her own possession of her sexuality and her identity.
[Caesar breathes deeply]
He would have been overwhelmed.
[sighs]
♪ Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh ♪
[insects chirping]
[indistinct chatter]
[Cleopatra chuckles]
[indistinct chatter]
[Caesar laughing]
Cleopatra is probably one of the best educated women in the Mediterranean.
She speaks multiple languages, she's incredibly sophisticated.
[Jacquelyn] She has traveled extensively.
She has learned at the feet of some of the best minds of the world
in one of the most sophisticated intellectual capitals of the world.
- [laughs] - [clinks]
Rome, on the other hand, was just a baby.
A young, growing, right, empire.
This is a city that was founded by farmer-soldiers.
[Shelley] They were down-to-earth, sturdy people.
[Cleopatra laughs]
[indistinct chatter]
The Roman power system is very male-oriented,
and Cleopatra's reputation becomes damaged
because she is not what the Romans expect
of a proper woman at all.
[Jacquelyn] Egypt's women had almost equal rights
to men under the law.
Women could choose who they married,
they chose who they divorced, they could start businesses,
they kept their own property.
Women in Rome were supposed to stay at home.
Especially elite, high-class women.
Egypt's women did not need to conform to that idea.
[Shelley] And the Roman male elite are disgusted by her
because she's different,
because she's foreign.
Caesar!
What a positively striking symbol of Egypt she is.
Ripe and ready for the plucking.
[laughter]
Is this the respect Rome affords its women?
"Ripe and ready for the plucking"?
Cicero, even if I was,
one wonders if you could even find your tool.
[laughter]
[Colleen] Alongside Julius Caesar,
Mark Antony is one of Rome's most prominent Generals.
We know that he was a bit more of a hedonist than Julius Caesar.
He seems to be a little less interested in philosophy
and more interested in drinking parties.
[Islam] Cicero, this important Roman senator,
dislikes Cleopatra.
And there is a letter where he says,
"She's insolent and arrogant, and I..."
He says, "I hate her."
I meant no disrespect.
I forgive you.
It's not every day Rome welcomes a Queen.
Rome has never had and never will have a queen.
And whilst I have the utmost respect
for your ancient civilization, that's just it.
It's ancient.
Rome is the future.
There is no future without the past.
There is no Rome without Egypt.
Are you seriously suggesting
that we would not have existed without you?
[Cleopatra] Hm.
I'll leave you to ponder that.
[sucks fingers]
[Caesar] Finally!
A guest who actually elevates the conversation.
- [laughter] - [Caesar] A toast to Cleopatra!
- [Mark Antony] At last... - [laughs]
...someone who has bested Cicero!
[laughter]
Rome was against the idea of a woman being a ruler.
It's that simple.
[upbeat music]
- [Jacquelyn] Rome is a republic. - [chuckles]
It is ruled by a group of men in a semi-democratic rule.
Egypt, on the other hand, has been dynastically ruled
by a singular or double ruler for thousands of years.
These two systems of government couldn't be more different.
Rome was one of the earliest examples of representative government,
and they prided themselves on their republican roots.
This notion of democracy characterized Rome at the time.
[indistinct chattering]
[Shelley] When Julius Caesar returns from the Alexandrian War,
the Senate is so grateful for all that he's done,
that the Senate declares him Dictator.
[Islam] The idea of a dictator is not how we understand it today
in terms of unlimited power and unlimited time.
A dictator was still a ruler who had a limited term, a few years.
[Cleopatra] What's this?
[Caesar] Well, this is the public library.
Instead of one door why not have several open archways?
That way, you have several points of entry into the building.
[Sally-Ann] She brings a whole new dimension
to anything that happens around Julius Caesar at this time
because all eyes are on him
and ultimately, all eyes are on her.
Perfect.
[laughs]
How about this?
Hm.
It seems a lot of work.
[laughter]
[Shelley] Julius Caesar, under Cleopatra's influence,
was planning to build a library in Rome.
It's similar to the one that was damaged in Alexandria.
[mumbles]
[Colleen] Julius Caesar also adjusts the Roman calendar.
The ancient Egyptians were consummate astronomers,
and they had created a very effective solar-based calendar.
Twelve months of the year, each month with 30 days,
and they had five days at the end to create a year of 365 days.
The origin of our calendar
and the one that Julius Caesar adopts when Cleopatra visits Rome.
[papers rustling]
[Shelley] Cleopatra saw Caesar's openness
to reforming the calendar,
to building a library as proof that she could mold him,
as well as mold the City of Rome.
The fact that she exerts so much influence over Julius Caesar during her visit
breeds a tremendous amount of resentment.
[Shelley] There was the rumor that Caesar wants to move the capital,
from Rome to Alexandria.
Also that Caesar is going to fashion himself
as a polygamist,
so then he can have a Roman wife,
he can have an Egyptian wife,
he can have a Greek wife.
[breathes heavily]
He's now in bed, literally, both metaphorically and literally
with somebody from a foreign country
and a country that was dependent on Rome.
This power battles between Egypt and Rome,
it's sort of now been flipped
and Cleopatra was making all the calls.
[Shelley] He erects a statue made of gold.
And it's dedicated to Isis slash Venus.
But it's in the likeness of Cleopatra.
The Romans did not like the idea of turning people into gods.
Most Romans were probably appalled.
They believed she must have had some kind of control or power over him.
[Shelley] But the truth of the matter is,
she's not entirely happy.
She doesn't get 100 percent of what she wants.
[Colleen] One of Cleopatra's main goals in going to Rome
is to have Julius Caesar recognize his son Caesarion.
That is one thing that Cleopatra does not accomplish.
[soft music]
[bird screeches]
[Sally-Ann] Cleopatra returns to Egypt
because she'd been away from her own country for so long.
[Shelley] Cleopatra feels very close to the, uh, Egyptian people.
And she wants the Egyptian people
to know that she cares about them
and that they are important to her.
[delicate music]
While Cleopatra is back in Egypt,
tensions continue to rise in Rome.
[tense music]
[Colleen] In 44 BCE, Julius Caesar requests
to be appointed dictator for life.
There had been so much political instability
that the Senate grants his request.
[Colleen] He is now dictator for the remainder of his life.
[intense music]
He is at, sort of, the height of his power,
but that also means that he's also at a tipping point.
[tense music]
[Colleen] Julius Caesar is the first Roman to be appointed dictator for life.
He puts his portrait on coinage.
He wears purple robes, sits in ornate thrones,
and even has a statue dedicated to himself as a god.
[Colleen] Romans begin to get the sense
that Julius Caesar wants to be king to Cleopatra's queen,
and this idea is anathema to Republican Rome.
It's political suicide
to try to become explicitly a king.
[indistinct chatter]
[Islam] The Lupercalia Festival is a prime chance for Julius Caesar
to show the people the kind of person he is.
[Islam] A humble person who doesn't want to be the king.
[indistinct chatter]
Mark Antony is essentially a commoner who's risen through the ranks
to become this important figure in the Roman army
and to become somebody who's very much trusted by Julius Caesar.
[Shelley] Mark Antony approaches him
with a diadem, a crown.
[crowd chattering]
[Mark Antony] Hey.
[suspenseful music]
[tense music]
- [crowd cheering] - [laughing]
[Caesar] Yeah!
[crowd cheering]
The calendar is not the only thing he's trying to change.
[crowd cheering]
The people burst out in approval.
"Yay! See? He doesn't wanna be king."
[crowd cheering]
[Islam] But for some others, no, this is a moment where
it's becoming clear that he's cooking something up.
[Sally-Ann] He was separating himself from the other elite
and almost starting to take control.
[Colleen] A faction of senators see Caesar be made dictator for life
as an affront to the republican values of Rome.
[tense music]
[soft music]
Cleopatra comes for the second time to Rome in 44 BCE.
[soft tense music]
[Sally-Ann] When she comes back, she needs to be extremely careful
about the position that she finds herself in.
[Caesar exhales]
[Islam] Every day that passes in Caesarion's life,
he's becoming more of a threat to Rome.
The older he gets,
the more likely Cleopatra is to raise him
as the future king, an emperor.
[Shelley] She wanted Caesarion to be recognized by Julius Caesar
and to be written into his will as his heir.
The number one thing that Caesarion is to her
is an ace in that hand of poker that she's playing from,
if Julius Caesar is able to hold onto his power.
[Colleen] Because of Julius Caesar's popularity with the people
and his growing power,
the political elite are threatened
and they begin to conspire against him.
These politicians are really concerned
that Caesar is going to become an autocrat
because of the influence of Cleopatra.
[Shelley] Cleopatra's presence in Rome
gives the conspirators the ammunition they need.
"Hey. Look, look who's here.
Why is she back here?"
Look!
[screeches]
[indistinct chatter]
[Shelley] On the morning of March 15th,
Julius Caesar is making his way to the Senate.
[ominous music]
Mark Antony is with him.
[shouts]
♪ If I get it started I'ma finish ♪
- [grunts] - [knife pierces flesh]
[pained grunt]
There's some discrepancy about who stabs him first.
[grunts]
And... he dies.
[crowd clamoring]
[clamoring continues]
[Cleopatra] Charmion, what's going on?
They killed him.
They killed Caesar.
[Islam] Fifteenth of March, 44 BC,
he's stabbed dozens of times.
What do you mean?
It's barbaric.
The Senate, they killed him.
That can't be.
[inhales]
That can't be.
Why, why...
Why would they do that?
Why would they...
If they loved him so much, why would...
Why would they let the Senate kill him?
Why? Why, why would they do that?
We need to go before they break down the doors.
No, no one is breaking down the doors!
No one is breaking down the doors.
We're staying.
Until I've heard...
Until I've heard Caesar's will read,
we're staying.
I want public recognition for my son.
He deserves that.
I deserve that.
[Shelley] The news knocks the wind out of her.
Whoever has murdered Julius Caesar
will certainly want to murder his son.
[Sally-Ann] Her and her son's life were under threat.
She is, effectively, in a foreign country.
She doesn't have any immediate protection.
She was highly vulnerable in a vulnerable position.
We're with you.
[Cleopatra] I want to find out what is in that will.
Okay, okay. Okay.
[sighs]
Bye.
[sighs]
[Colleen] With Julius Caesar dead,
Cleopatra is in some ways, back to square one,
forced to reassess how to maintain her power,
how to maintain her position.
She needs to push Caesarion into a position of leadership.
Someone close to them will be named as Caesar's heir.
Considering his connections with the Senate,
and how long he had loyally served alongside Caesar,
Mark Antony had some expectation, realistic or not,
that he might be the great man's heir.
Cleopatra expects that this is gonna be Caesarion.
[soft tense music]
[Mark Antony] Octavian, Caesar's great nephew.
He named him heir.
Why would he name someone no one has ever met
when he has an heir?
- Did you see for yourself? - I did.
Caesar has a son.
A son that I birthed.
A legitimate heir.
I need to speak to the Senate.
What matters is what Caesar wrote and he wrote that.
You were like a son to him.
What did he leave you?
[clears throat]
There's a gathering at the Senate.
[inhales] I need to be there.
Iras?
[Shelley] So it's shocking to her that here is his natural son
who is not named as an heir.
[Colleen] We might assume that if Octavian inherits Caesar's wealth,
that he's also going to inherit his office.
But Republican Rome has a representative government
and there are still other power players in the mix.
[Shelley] Word is sent to Octavian to tell him that he is the heir.
Mark Antony tries to gather his supporters,
so there's gonna be a little bit of a power play and some saber rattling.
[Colleen] Cleopatra departs Rome after Caesar's assassination.
We can imagine that she is devastated by her loss.
She's not only lost a lover and a friend,
but also her main political alliance.
[soft tense music]
[Colleen] Caesar's death is not Cleopatra's only problem.
[keys jingling]
[Shelley] Her sister Arsinoe, who is supposed to be imprisoned.
However, she makes an alliance with the governor of Cyprus,
who breaks her out.
Because of her alliance with the governor of Cyprus,
Arsinoe is freed from prison.
This enables her to conspire with her brother Ptolemy
against Cleopatra
in an attempt to gain the throne.
[insects chirping]
Why am I learning about Arsinoe and the Cyprian Governor
from a bureaucrat's wife?
Maybe I should hire her as an advisor instead.
[Cleopatra snorts]
[Ammonios] I wouldn't.
She gives away as much information as she gets.
And we let her?
We give her enough bait to lure a catch.
But we never take our eyes off her.
Understood.
The only way out of that temple is through me or with an army.
Well, she's got an army.
Uh, trying to get an army.
How worried should I be?
I'll let you know when it's time to be on the offensive.
[taps]
Make it happen.
Cleopatra could have had Arsinoe assassinated herself,
but to some extent she's protected because she's out of Egypt at this point.
[murmuring]
[Shelley] Arsinoe goes and makes an alliance with her brother,
Ptolemy the XIV.
Even though Ptolemy the XIV is only a child,
he could very easily become a rallying point
for opposition to Cleopatra.
Why?
Why can't we all just get along?
She cannot permit anything to come between Caesarion
and what she sees as his rightful, uh, position.
And so she takes immediate action.
[creaking]
Ptolemy the XIV, um, becomes unwell
and, um, and he passes away, he dies.
[somber music]
[Cleopatra] Wait.
May you become one with the gods.
You may begin.
[somber music]
[Sally-Ann] I think it's highly likely
that Cleopatra removed her brother from the equation.
He's just too big a threat, so he is executed.
[Colleen] There can only be one king.
And her brother, Ptolemy, has to die
so that she can elevate her own son, Caesarion, to co-regent.
Although this seems a horrific thing to do to us moderns,
it would have actually been almost a typical family solution.
She's lost a brother and a husband,
but she has gained a tremendous amount of security as queen of Egypt.
[warriors clamoring]
[Islam] After Caesar's assassination,
we essentially have a civil war.
We have a polarized Roman elite, the assassins,
and those who are trying to bring the assassins down.
Mark Antony and Octavian, who joined forces at that stage.
Three years after the assassination of Julius Caesar,
Cleopatra has another chance to forge an alliance with Rome.
Mark Antony requests her presence
for a conference regarding, uh, Egypt's position
within the power-sharing community
of the eastern part of the Roman Empire.
Mark Antony has received intelligence
that Cleopatra has given aid
to some of the conspirators.
[Cleopatra] Well?
What?
[Colleen] Mark Antony needs to meet Cleopatra
to determine if she's been helping his enemies,
the men who assassinated Caesar.
I told you.
Cleopatra is the pharaoh of Egypt.
[Shelley] Cleopatra does not answer summons
from the likes of Mark Antony.
For weeks,
Mark Antony keeps sending her summons.
[sighs]
[Shelley] "Come to Tarsus."
[inhales]
Tell Mark Antony I accept his invitation to meet.
Tell him I accept.
What?
Do as I say.
[Islam] She needs someone she can trust as an ally,
somebody who will be able to provide
some protection to Alexandria if it's needed
because of attacks from Cyprus.
But at the end of the day, Mark Antony
does have military power.
[tense music]
[Colleen] Tarsus is an important city in what is now southern Turkey.
Cleopatra enters the port
in one of the most lavish ships ever created.
[tense music]
In anger, Mark Antony goes to the ship.
[Colleen] Cleopatra dresses herself like the goddess Venus.
She has set a goal of conquering Mark Antony,
and this opulent ship will be her battlefield.
You and Octavian summoned me here.
You know he's taking the name Caesar?
[Cleopatra] Hm.
That's bold.
The Roman people spared Arsinoe.
I need to make sure that doesn't happen again.
So what do you want?
An alliance.
Everything here...
can help you retake all of Rome.
[Mark Antony sighs]
But can I trust you?
[soft sigh]
[gentle music]
Yes.
[Cleopatra] Everything here.
Everything.
Everything?
[soft upbeat music]
[creaks]
[Jacquelyn] Mark Antony needed Egyptian wealth.
She was demonstrating the value of an alliance with Egypt,
that she could bring wealth in a way that he needed.
Cleopatra sees an opportunity in Mark Antony.
He is another Roman of considerable power,
somebody to continue where she left off with Caesar.
She was using these relationships quite strategically
in order to elevate her own status
and protect herself and her country.
It was precisely because she was a woman,
because she could have children with powerful Roman men,
form both military, diplomatic, and romantic allegiances
that gave her an element of power
that male kings of the time did not have.
♪ Together ♪
♪ We light the fire ♪
♪ Forever ♪
♪ You are... ♪
Mark Antony's intelligence reports are wrong.
[Colleen] It is not Cleopatra who is helping Caesar's assassins,
but rather, her sister Arsinoe.
♪ ...entwined ♪
♪ Forever ♪
♪ You are in me ♪
[Shelley] During pillow talk, Cleopatra says, "I think
it would be the mark of a strong Roman leader
if Arsinoe met an untimely death."
[screams]
[strained grunt]
♪ Burning ♪
♪ We'll set the world alight ♪
♪ Stop turning ♪
What we really see in Cleopatra is a survivor.
It's somebody who will do anything in order to survive.
[Colleen] Cleopatra's alliance with Mark Antony
allows her to triumph over her final sibling.
[Colleen] And with Arsinoe's death,
Cleopatra is the final Ptolemaic ruler still standing.
[rhythmic thumping]
But Cleopatra still has an even bigger rival, Octavian,
and he is not going to stop until all of her plans are destroyed.
[rhythmic thumping]
[swords scraping]
[Roman warriors shouting]
[closing theme music]