This is the History of the World Podcast with me Chris Hasler and you're listening to volume three the classical world

episode 40 a profile of Cleopatra. The The location is Egypt is Egypt and it is very early in the 60s B.C. E.

The Pharaoh of Egypt at the time was a man called Ptolemy the 12th. He was one of a long line

of rulers of Egypt whose lineage could be traced back to the beginning of the Ptolemaic dynasty which was established in the direct aftermath of

the death of Alexander the Great in the year way back in 323 bCE.

The Ptolemaic rulers were originally of Macedonian origin and although they ruled over Egypt

exclusively they would have been regarded by the average Egyptian as a foreign

royal family but foreign rule in Egypt was not an unusual thing during the

first millennium, B.C.

At this point in history, it would be fair to say that the Ptolemaic Royal Family

was not a strong ruling family as there was a lot of distrust among the

members and this would inevitably have an impact on the quality of the

governance of the country itself. Suffice to say that the Roman Empire was casting a shadow on the entire Mediterranean international situation

and Egypt was very much having to dance to the Roman tune as Egypt could not compete at Rome's level.

The one thing that Egypt always had was a comparatively prosperous economy as it was a very fertile and fruitful

nation but also it made it an attractive prospect to foreign invaders not least of all the Romans.

Details about the Egyptians at this point are a little bit sketchy due to

information being conveyed by a Roman or Greek scribes.

So while we know that Cleopatra, the subject of this week's episode,

was the daughter of Pharaoh Ptolemy 12th. We are not totally sure who her mother was.

This might seem amazing to think that somebody as famous as Cleopatra would have a question mark over who her mother could be,

but that is because most of what we know about Cleopatra relates to what was written about her

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