CLEP Western Civ I

Answer: A - Cleopatra VII was the final Egyptian pharaoh and ruled from 51 to 30 BCE. She was a member of Egypt’s Ptolemaic dynasty, a family of mixed Greek and Egyptian heritage. She ruled with her father first, then with her brothers/husbands, but she eventually became the sole ruler. In an attempt to protect Egyptian autonomy, she initiated an alliance with Roman leader Julius Caesar, who fathered her son Caesarion. After Caesar’s assassination, she began a relationship with Marc Antony (also a Roman), and they opposed the rule of Caesar’s legal heir Octavian us. Cleopatra and Antony married and had three children, but their political fortunes soon waned. After losing a battle to Octavian’s army, Antony committed suicide. Cleopatra quickly followed suit, allowing herself to be bitten by a poisonous asp. The Romans took control of Egypt, denied the ascension of a pharaoh, and made the former kingdom a province of Rome.