Cleopatra Philopator Ptolemy,

The last Queen of a diverse dynasty,

The linguist, the diplomat, the ever-cunning mistress,

A jewel among her clever family tree.

Cleopatra’s childhood is mainly unknown,

Egypt’s downfall to be postponed,

Her father, Auletes, bought the Romans with borrowed gold,

The peasants to work with an added load.

King Ptolemy then joined Ra,

And Ponthinus’ opportunity he saw,

The plotting and trickery over the years,

Lead to Cleopatra’s first downfall.

Her brother, the Pharoah, now set against her,

The kings advisors plotting every life-threatening danger,

Her only chance left, however unlikely it may be, was Rome,

And her chance presented itself in the shape of Caesar.

Born nigh two years later was their son,

Named in honor of his father, he was Caesarion,

So entrapped in Cleopatra’s snare Caesar was,

That he worshipped her like her people worshipped the sun.

On the Idles of March, dead her lover became,

Caesar’s body to be consumed by flames,

His general, Antony, declared revenge,

Little did he know that he joined a deadly game.

Caesar’s domains to be split apart,

Antony, in choosing, chose the path of his heart,

And Octavian, Caesar’s heir apparent, took the western portion,

Not knowing that the two would be foes in a war to start.

Antony grieved that he had lost the war,

He also grieved that his lover, the Queen, was so far,

Then when he heard the news of her death he lamented,

And stabbed himself with the sword he used so often to spar.

Cleopatra, however, was far from dead,

She had to Isis’ temple fled,

Only to be captured by Octavian’s troops,

But, in the end, she let death claim her and she fell softly on her bed.

She joined the gods like her ancestors,

And her story is told among the lore,

The classic story of love, lust, and lasting tragedy,

Brought to an end by an asp that slithered away on the floor.