Cleopatra, Woman
Alexandria, Egypt
55 BC
In the Royal Palace in Alexandria, Cleopatra's sister, Berenice,
squirmed on her throne. During Pharaoh Auletes and Princess
Cleopatra's absence, she had carefully advanced her ascendency in
court, and successfully held the reins of power since the death of her
older sister, Tryphaena, slightly less than two years earlier, when the
female heir-apparent had been disposed of by her Roman "lover" and
exploiter, Rabirus.
Once crowned, Berenice IV Epiphaneia drove her younger
brother into exile and married King Seleucus VII Kybiosaktes,
strengthening Egypt by aligning it with the Seleucid Empire that
consisted at that time of Mesopotamia, Persia, the "Middle East" and
parts of India. Seleucus, the son of a Ptolemaic Princess, allowed
Berenice to claim full Queenship, and then, three days after their
marriage, she had her jealous husband strangled, so she could ascend
to Pharaoh-Queen. In fact, Seleucus had proven too much like his
royal nickname, "Kybiosaktes," short for "fishmonger," for her to
stomach, and ruling on her own proved far preferable to ruling with an
!29
uncouth foreign consort. Unhindered, she was now free to address her
extravagant tastes and take on whatever lovers interested her at the
moment.
Berenice found ruling not without its problems. Under her
guidance, the treasury of Egypt continued to dwindle—even faster
than under her unpopular father. Her newest consort, a priest of Amun,
the principal deity of old Egyptian religion, worried that her Greek and
Middle Eastern propensities might further fracture the kingdom. Her
people worried that she would die from her excesses and leave Egypt
without a successor, Berenice steadfastly refusing to marry again.
Let them worry! Berenice thought, standing on the balcony off
the Pharaoh's, now her, bedroom, watching the unending line of ships
arriving at the port, wondering what new delights they might be
bearing. As long as I am Pharaoh-Queen, the world will bow to my
will and to the will of those whom I choose to serve me. Unaware that
Auletes and Cleopatra were on one of the very ships she was watching
arrive, she had no notion that this blissful, sunny day would be her last.
Click Follow to receive emails when this author adds content on Bublish
Comment on this Bubble
Your comment and a link to this bubble will also appear in your Facebook feed.