Faces of Money: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly
Coin shown: Cleopatra, silver Denarius, 32B.C., issued by Marc
Antony
Cleopatra VII Philopator, 69-30 B.C., was queen of ancient
Egypt and the last member of the Ptolemaic dynasty.
Cleopatra has been remembered as one of the most alluring and
mysterious women of history. The stories of her love affairs with
Julius Caesar and Marc Antony have been the subject of plays, movies and
novels since Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra.
When Cleopatra VII ascended the Egyptian throne, she was only
seventeen. She reigned as Queen and Pharaoh between 51 and 30 BC, and
died at the age of 39. Her relations with Caesar and Antony were based
on her desire to protect her position as Queen of Egypt and to guard
Egypt from the control of the Roman Empire.
After Antony's rival and Caesar's legal heir, Octavian, brought his
army against Egypt, Cleopatra took her own life, leaving her country to
be captured by Octavian.
Despite her fabled beauty, Cleopatra’s coins bear a
portrait of a somewhat plain looking woman – perhaps her allure
had more to do with her personality and power?
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