I'm John Batchel with Professor Toby Wilkinson. The Last Dynasty, this is the Ptolemais. We started in the

4th century BC. We're now in the 1st century BCE, and Rome is on the scene. We've established the fact

that Cleopatra the 7th, the woman who we know is just

Cleopatra, glory of her father, has a progenitor, a legend to live up to. The legend was real, but it's

hard to believe here 2,000 years later, Cleopatra the 3rd, who fought everybody.

But Cleopatra the 7th at 18 is suddenly swept into the presence of a man named Caesar.

Caesar's come to Egypt, why?

Because the man he was battling for the Roman Civil War, Pompey the Great, is dead in Egypt.

And Caesar comes to Egypt, mostly because he's looking to conquer.

The civil wars are still not entirely extinguished.

And then he meets, is she 18, professor, 18-year-old Cleopatra?

Yeah.

And at this point, he's, he has wives, he has a civil war, he has an army, but, and he's 55, I can't remember how old he is at the time.

Yeah, he's in his early 50s, a battle-hardened veteran.

She's a young woman in the first sort of flush of youth. It's an unlikely combination, but somehow the chemistry worked. I think it helped

that Caesar saw in Cleopatra a way of getting the keys to Egypt and its great wealth.

And what did Cleopatra see in Caesar?

Well, she saw a powerful protector who would defend her interests against those of other members of her families.

So it was kind of a win-win.

I understand, but it's hard.

Again, this is another part of his story where if it wasn't history, we'd say you can't make

that story.

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