Cleŏpātra

, the granddaughter of Attalus, betrothed to Philip of Macedonia, after he had divorced Olympias. When Philip was murdered by Pausanias, Cleopatra was seized by order of Olympias, and put to death. Diodorus , bk. 16 .— Justin , bk. 9 , ch. 7 .— Plutarch , Pyrrhus .――A sister of Alexander the Great, who married Perdiccas, and was killed by An tigon us as she attempted to fly to Ptolemy in Egypt. Diodorus , bks. 16 & 20.— Justin , bk. 9 , ch. 6 ; bk. 13 , ch. 6 .――A harlot of Claudius Cæsar.――A daughter of Boreas. See: Cleobula .――A daughter of Idas and Marpe a, daughter of Evenus king of Ætolia. She married Meleager son of king Œneus. Homer , Iliad , bk. 9 , li. 552 .— Pausanias , bk. 5 , ch. 2 .――One of the Danaides. Apollo dor us , bk. 2 , ch. 1 .――A daughter of Amyntas of Ephesus. Pausanias , bk. 1 , ch. 44 .――A wife of Tigranes king of Armenia, sister of Mithridates. Justin , bk. 38 , ch. 3 .――A daughter of Tros and Callirhoe. Apollo dor us , bk. 3 , ch. 12 .――A daughter of Ptolemy Philometor, who married Alexander Bala, and afterwards Nicanor. She killed Seleucus, Nicanor’s son, because he ascended the throne without her consent. She was suspected of preparing poison for Antiochus her son, and compelled to drink it herself, B.C. 120.――A wife and sister of Ptolemy Evergetes, who raised her son Alexander a minor, to the throne of Egypt, in preference to his elder brother Ptolemy Lathurus, whose interest the people favoured. As Alexander was odious, Cleopatra suffered Lathurus to ascend the throne, on condition, however, that he should repudiate his sister and wife, called Cleopatra, and marry Seleuca his younger sister. She afterwards raised her favourite Alexander to the throne; but her cruelties were so odious, that he fled to avoid her tyranny. Cleopatra laid snares for him; and when Alexander heard it, he put her to death. Justin , bk. 39 , chs. 3 & 4.――A queen of Egypt, daughter of Ptolemy Auletes, and sister and wife to Ptolemy Dionysius, celebrated for her beauty and her cunning. She admitted Cæsar to her arms, to influence him to give her the kingdom, in preference to her brother who had expelled her, and had a son by him called Cæsari on. As she had supported Brutus, Antony, in his expedition to Parthia, summoned her to appear before him. She arrayed herself in the most magnificent apparel, and appeared before her judge in the most captivating attire. Her artifice succeeded; Antony became enamoured of her, and publicly married her, forgetful of his connections with Octavia the sister of August us. He gave her the greatest part of the eastern provinces of the Roman empire. This behaviour was the cause of a rupture between August us and Antony; and these two celebrated Romans met at Actium, where Cleopatra, by flying with 60 sail, ruined the interest of Antony, and he was defeated. Cleopatra had retired to Egypt, where soon after Antony followed. Antony killed himself upon the false information that Cleopatra was dead; and as his wound was not mortal, he was carried to the queen, who drew him up by a cord from one of the windows of the monument, where she had retired and concealed herself. Antony soon after died of his wounds; and Cleopatra, after she had received pre ing invitations from August us, and even pretended declarations of love, destroyed herself by the bite of an asp not to fall into the conqueror’s hands. She had previously attempted to stab herself, and had once made a resolution to starve herself. Cleopatra was a voluptuous and extravagant woman, and in one of the feasts she gave to Antony at Alexandria, she melted pearls in her drink to render her entertainment more sumptuous and expensive. She was fond of appearing dre ed as the godde Isis; and she advised Antony to make war against the richest nations, to support her debaucheries. Her beauty has been greatly commended, and her mental perfections so highly celebrated, that she has been described as capable of giving audience to the amba adors of seven different nations, and of speaking their various languages as fluently as her own. In Antony’s absence, she improved the public library of Alexandria, with the addition of that of Pergamus. Two treatises, De medic amene faciei epistolæ eroticæ , and De morbis mulierum , have been falsely attributed to her. She died B.C. 30 years, after a reign of 24 years, aged 39. Egypt became a Roman province at her death. Florus , bk. 4 , ch. 11 .— Appian , bk. 5 , Civil Wars .— Plutarch , Pompey & Antonius .— Horace , bk. 1 , ode 37, li. 21 , . — Strabo , bk. 17 .――A daughter of Ptolemy Epiphanes, who married Philometor, and afterwards Physcon of Cyrene.