Was Queen Cleopatra Egyptian?

69 - 30 BC, Egypt

“Dude you gotta check this out,” Jay’s cousin May said, all serious and business-like, showing a conjured picture of a dark-eyed, black-haired, olive-skinned beautiful woman in an Egyptian headdress. “Did you know Cleopatra was Egyptian!”

Since our memory is fresh from the discussion about Caesar and Cleopatra, let’s move to her.

Most people have heard of Queen Cleopatra, the famous Egyptian queen who “rolled in a carpet” before Julius Caesar and later married Mark Antony, the Roman general. This chapter is not about Cleopatra’s romantic exploits or her reign, which you can read about in plenty of literature. Surprisingly, almost nothing about her comes from Egyptian sources; most of what we know comes from Roman writers writing over a century after her time.

This chapter addresses many shares about her ancestry, filled with exclamatory claims. She was African! She was Egyptian! She was Black! She was Roman! She was Greek! She was of mixed heritage! She was Persian! She was Half-Persian!

Instead of arguing, let’s examine the facts and make inferences, allowing you to decide for yourself. Today, it seems we care a lot about race, color, and ethnicity, which is unfortunate and a cause for much division. However, two thousand years ago, the notions of race and heritage were different, and people didn’t really care all that much about those things (they fought about other stuff!).

Why all the Confusion?

Why is there so much speculation about her? For starters, no ancient writer explicitly wrote about her race. There are no photos and no definitively identified ancient statues that depict her. We do have coins, and there are also a couple of busts, but they’re made of plaster and marble, so you can only guess their color or origin. Not only that, she is always depicted as Caucasian (and made famous by Elizabeth Taylor in the 1963 film), which causes many to further wonder about her—wasn’t she Egyptian/African? But it’s not clear, is it? The remarks often confuse ethnicity with nationality.

Since we have no definitive ancient description, we have to draw conclusions by examining what we have and making logical inferences.

Let’s begin.

Cleopatra was a Ptolemy

Everyone knows Alexander the Great. Most are aware that he overthrew the Persian Empire by defeating Darius in 331 BC and then went all the way to India’s borders before returning. He died in 323 BC in Babylon (near Baghdad in modern Iraq).

Before his Persian conquest, Alexander made a trip to Egypt. He was crowned Pharaoh of Egypt in 332 BC. He founded the city of Alexandria in 331 BC, now Egypt’s second-largest city. One of his childhood friends, trusted companions, and generals was a man called Ptolemy (or Ptolemaios in Greek). Ptolemy was Macedonian, like Alexander.

After Alexander’s death, his generals divided the vast empire, and Ptolemy received Egypt. He established himself as a satrap (a Persian word meaning governor) of Egypt starting around 321 BC and founded the Ptolemaic dynasty. In a few decades, he established himself as Pharaoh (305 BC) and adopted many Egyptian customs.

Here’s a bust of Ptolemy.

What does this have to do with Cleopatra? Hang on. We’ll get there.

Ptolemy had several wives, but Berenice, the one who gave him a successor, was a Macedonian woman. Ptolemy II came from this union. Ptolemy adopted local customs, worshipped Egyptian gods, and over time, his dynasty took on Egyptian heritage. Their court was Greek, but most of the country continued its former ways.

The Ptolemies practiced intermarriage, often marrying cousins or siblings, thus keeping the lineage predominantly Greek/Macedonian, except in rare cases where they may have had Seleucid influence. The Seleucids were another powerful dynasty that ruled Persia and the East, and Seleucus, the founder, was another of Alexander’s generals. Seleucus (or Seleucus Nicator) was also Macedonian.

The twelfth of this dynasty was a man named Ptolemy XII Neos Dionysos Philopator (Ptolemy XII, the New Dionysus, Father-loving). He was born around 117 BC and became king of Egypt sometime in 80 BC. We know a bit about him because he was not a good king. He was even derisively called “Auletes” or Flutist because he apparently liked playing flutes. What’s wrong with playing flutes?! Anyway.

We have a bust of this guy too:

In fact, Auletes annoyed his subjects so much with his financial mismanagement that an Alexandrian mob ran him out of the country, and he fled to Rome sometime in 58 BC with his twelve-year-old daughter.

That daughter was Cleopatra.

At the very least, we can confidently say she was a Ptolemy who descended from Alexander’s general, who was Macedonian. This dynasty almost entirely married among themselves, maintaining their Hellenic heritage. The dynasty is well-documented, including most of the kings and queens. Every Ptolemaic queen had one of three names: Cleopatra, Arsinoe, or Berenice. Every king was called Ptolemy.

Now, before you complain that I haven’t said how we’ve established Cleopatra was a Ptolemy, multiple ancient writers have specifically listed the lineage. Strabo, in his Geographica, dedicates an entire paragraph where he lists all rulers of the dynasty starting with Ptolemy I and ending with Cleopatra. And Strabo visited Egypt and was likely there in the final months or years of Cleopatra’s rule. There is no doubt about the paternal side of her lineage.

Here are some excerpts from Strabo.

Alexander was succeeded by Ptolemy the son of Lagus, the son of Lagus by Philadelphus, Philadelphus by Euergetes; next succeeded Philopator the lover of Agathocleia, then Epiphanes, afterwards Philometor, the son (thus far) always succeeding the father. But Philometor was succeeded by his brother, the second Euergetes, who was also called Physcon. He was succeeded by Ptolemy surnamed Lathurus, Lathurus by Auletes of our time, who was the father of Cleopatra.

Ptolemy, the father of Cleopatra, happened at this time to be ejected from his kingdom by the Ægyptians. His daughter however, the elder sister of Cleopatra, was in possession of the throne.

In summary, Cleopatra was a Ptolemy, and a descendant of one of Alexander the Great’s generals.

Now back to Cleopatra.

Cleopatra herself had two sisters—yes, you guessed it right, genius—Berenice (older) and Arsinoe (younger). She had brothers too, and they were both called Ptolemy (duh).

This makes Cleopatra at least part Macedonian Greek. But what about her mother? She’s such a famous queen, so surely we know more about her mother, right?

Right?

Wrong.

Unfortunately, we know nothing definitive about Cleopatra’s mother, but it is possible her mother was her father’s sister or cousin (Cleopatra Tryphaena). There is speculation that her father may have married a Persian woman to strengthen alliances, but Persians are neither African nor Greek.

Theories that her mother may have been African (as in Black, because Africa is a huge continent with many beautiful hues) are based on the idea that Ptolemy XII may have had other mistresses and wives of different ethnicities, but no ancient source supports this. Some have speculated that Cleopatra’s father may have had a Seleucid wife, and the Seleucids ruled from Syria all the way to the borders of India, thus leading to thinking she may be mixed.

But the Seleucids were not Persian. That dynasty too came from another of Alexander’s generals — Seleucus Nikator — who was Macedonian, and his dynasty too mostly remained that way (though Seleucus did have a Sogdian wife). The connection is extremely flimsy, with almost nothing supporting the Persian heritage theory.

There might be another cause for this “Cleopatra is African” confusion. This is the conflation of African meaning Black. She was African and Egyptian. She ruled the kingdom, and her family had been based there for nearly three hundred years. Think of it this way: if your Egyptian grandparents landed in America in the 1700s, and you are an eighth generation of the dynasty, having assimilated into the local culture, are you not American too?

I guess it depends on how far you want to go to draw boundaries on who can claim to be from a land based on your ancestry. Cleopatra adopted many Egyptian customs, portrayed herself as the Egyptian goddess Isis, acted as a Pharaoh, and, based on one historical source (Plutarch), was the only Ptolemaic ruler who apparently also learned Egyptian.

That’s not all: she never tried to leave Egypt, and all her actions, until the desperate end, focused on staying and thriving in Egypt. It might sound dramatic, but she eventually killed herself rather than be taken away.

Whatever her heritage, Macedonian Greek or mixed, she was Egyptian. And with Egypt being in Africa, she was African too.

What the Ancient Writers Say

Now let’s look at what ancient historical sources say about her appearance. Maybe there are some hints there.

Strabo (64 BC - 24 AD): Geographer and biographer, possibly in Alexandria during Cleopatra’s last months, says nothing of her appearance.

Julius Caesar (100 BC - 44 BC): Caesar had a famous dalliance with the young queen. He was in his fifties when he met Cleopatra, who was around twenty. She had a child by him. Caesar briefly mentions her in his Alexandrian War (around 47 BC) but omits her appearance. He wrote nothing about her in a personal context. He probably wrote some cringy love notes to her, but I doubt he said stuff like, “Your skin is so X.”

Cicero (106 BC - 43 BC): Cicero was a famous lawyer, speaker, and writer who lived in Cleopatra and Caesar’s time. He seems to have met Cleopatra once when she came to Rome. In letters to his friend Atticus, he talks about Cleopatra, calling her “the queen,” and complains about her arrogance. He says nothing about her appearance.

Plutarch (46 AD - 120 AD): Famous Roman biographer. Plutarch’s account is one of the two most definitive about Cleopatra. He spent quite some time vilifying her and does not describe her physical appearance but speaks of her charm and influence over men. This is how he describes her:

For her actual beauty, it is said, was not in itself so remarkable that none could be compared with her, or that no one could see her without being struck by it, but the contact of her presence, if you lived with her, was irresistible; the attraction of her person, joining with the charm of her conversation, and the character that attended all she said or did, was something bewitching.

Cassius Dio (155 AD - 235 AD): He is the other definitive account of Cleopatra. He calls her beautiful, stating she was of surpassing beauty and possessed a charming voice and knowledge of how to be agreeable to everyone. But don’t be fooled. Mr. Dio doesn’t really like her, calling her all manner of evil. Both Plutarch and Dio wrote centuries after Cleopatra based on older accounts. This is what he says:

She was a woman of surpassing beauty, especially conspicuous at that time because in the prime of youth, with a most delicious voice and a knowledge of how to make herself agreeable to everyone. Being brilliant to look upon and to listen to, with the power to subjugate even a cold-natured or elderly person, she thought that she might prove exactly to Caesar’s tastes and reposed in her beauty all her claims to advancement.

Virgil (70 BC - 19 BC): Virgil was a famous Roman poet. In the Aeneid, one of his great works, he has a character named Queen Dido. Many believe she might have been modeled after Cleopatra. He describes Dido as:

glowing with a rosy color, with a white neck and arms, and a breast like a rose in full bloom.

The irony is that the only source that alludes to color is a poem where we think a character is modeled after Cleopatra! It’s also another hint that ancient writers didn’t really care that much about race and color but spoke highly of her personality. It’s a little sad that we seem to care so much. Later accounts are increasingly speculative and far removed from primary sources, often written over a thousand years after her death.

There’s also another aspect to consider. This is what the ancient writers didn’t say. No matter what our sentiments, a Black or mixed-race Cleopatra might have drawn attention because the Ptolemies were an inbreeding dynasty. But none of the writers make even a passing mention of this fact. Rather, all of them write about Cleopatra as if she were a Ptolemy and Egyptian (as in one who lives in and rules).

Now that we’ve exhausted the most credible ancient sources (let’s not forget that there may have been other sources that described her, but they’re lost to time, or maybe we’ll find something in the future), let’s go to actual depictions. What do we have that purports to show her?

Yes, there are items that likely show Cleopatra, though no definitive statue of her has been found in Egypt. Why? There can be many reasons. Two thousand years is a long time. Deliberate erasure of her legacy by Romans, earthquakes, reuse of material for other construction, decay, and destruction all play a big role.

Let’s look at some physical evidence of her appearance:

Possibly the most definitive depiction, likely made during her visit to Rome

Coins showing her

From later during her rule, showing her in a more severe pose which was sometimes intentional.

From her younger years, showing a more youthful, prettier pose.

Painting from Pompeii, thought to be her and her son Caesarion

And, Finally…

Now that you’ve learned about her heritage, seen what ancient sources say, and examined her ancestors and her own depictions from ancient sources, you can decide what you consider her to be, whether by race, origin, nationality, or whatever you fancy! But we can agree on one thing—she was a remarkable Pharaoh of Egypt.

To buy this in book format: here | For sources and acknowledgments see here.