24 Facts About Cleopatra History Couldn't Hide
But she really was more than just a pretty face. Down below a couple dozen of the hottest facts about history's hottest woman! Learn more Cleopatra facts on TodayILearned here!
1.
Cleopatra was the only Ptolemaic ruler to learn to read, write, and converse in Egyptian. She could also speak 7 languages.-u/kevlarbuns
2.
Some scholars believe Cleopatra's own handwriting translating to "Make it happen!" appears at the end of a papyrus document granting financial rights to a Roman absentee landlord. The document is currently in the Egyptian Museum of Berlin.-u/nelirious
3.
The Pharaonic Period of Ancient Egypt lasted 3 Millennia. The timespan between the 1st Pharaoh of a Unified Egypt, Narmer, & the last Pharaoh of Egypt, Cleopatra VII was over 3,000 years.-u/GenericReditUserName
4.
Cleopatra often used clever stagecraft to woo potential allies. For example, when she met Mark Antony, she arrived on a golden barge made up to look like the goddess Aphrodite. Antony, who considered himself the embodiment of Dionysus, was instantly enchanted.-u/The_Internet_Author
5.
The famous sculpture 'Sleeping Ariadne' was mistakenly identified as a sculpture of Cleopatra for a long time due to the snake bracelet worn by the subject.-u/vedvineet98
6.
Julius Caesar and Cleopatra were in a relationship and political alliance. Julius Caesar needed Cleopatra's money, and Cleopatra needed the help of Caesar's army to take control of Egypt from her husband/brother Ptolemy XIII.-u/Upbeat_Analyst_3
7.
In 1917, a film named Cleopatra was released. Years later, the film was destroyed in a fire in 1937. Today, only 17 seconds of the 2-hour film remain.-u/dennismarr
8.
The tomb of Cleopatra and Mark Antony's only daughter, Cleopatra Selene II, is located in Algeria. Brought to Rome after her parents' suicide, she later married Juba II, a Berber prince. Her tomb has been looted over the centuries and was once used by the French Navy for target practice.-u/trifletruffles
9.
In 1881, an Egyptian obelisk named Cleopatra's Needle was erected in NYC's Central Park. A capsule buried beneath holds the 1870 census, a Bible, a Webster’s Dictionary, the complete works of Shakespeare, a guide to Egypt, and a copy of the Declaration of Independence.-u/MusicSole
10.
Cleopatra was one of the wealthiest women of all time. Her net worth today would be around $95.8 billion USD.-u/The-Angler
11.
Although Cleopatra was born in Egypt, she wasn't necessarily Egyptian. Her family origins come from Macedonian Greece and Ptolemy I Soter, one of Alexander the Great’s generals.-u/dcdiehardfan
12.
Cleopatras' fame as a beautiful seductive master was entirely made by Octavian as a way of explaining how this foreign queen managed to seduce two of Rome's most powerful men, while being described as a beauty, she was best known for her intelligence and charm.-u/Pepestatic
14.
Cleopatra tested various deadly poisons on condemned people and concluded that the bite of the asp was the least terrible way to die.-u/gargolito
15.
Julius Caesar’s only son, Caesarion, was the last Pharaoh of Egypt. Even though Cleopatra swears he is Caesar’s son, Caesar never officially acknowledged him.-u/MilindGoswami007
17.
Cleopatra had a special lipstick made for her, consisting of a crushed mixture of ants and deep red carmine beetles.-u/Drblackcobra
18.
Cleopatra lived closer in time to the lunar landing than the completion of the Great Pyramid. By 500 years!-u/PapaMarquezo
19.
The Egyptians, not Julius Caesar, were the fathers of the modern calendar. The Roman calendar was lunar and had 355 days. Egyptians knew it was 365 days because the Nile would peak on the same day each year. Caesar learned this from his affair with Cleopatra and created the Julian calendar.-u/jimngo
20.
Cleopatra took baths in donkey milk to preserve her youthful skin, with legend saying it took 700 donkeys to supply the milk.-u/zepphiu
21.
Cleopatra and Mark Antony formed their own drinking club in 41 B.C. and were known to take part in elaborate games and contests and to walk the streets of Alexandria in disguise, pranking the residents.-u/ObsceneGlabella
22.
Due to inbreeding amongst the Ptolemies, Cleopatra had only two pairs of great-grandparents. One of those pairs was the son and daughter of the other.-u/zomskii
23.
Despite the story that Cleopatra killed herself by letting an asp bite her, it was more probable that she killed herself using a mixture of opium and hemlock.-u/thr33beggars
24.
Julius Caesar and Cleopatra had a child together name Caesarion, which translates to "little caesar."-u/Dangerrios
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