The Queen of Egypt and the Death of Antony

It is said that Cleopatra VII and Antony and their children lived happily ever after in Egypt, in their sumptuous palace, where Cleopatra VII gave birth to twins Alexander Helios and Cleopatra Selene in Alexandria in 40 BC. The words "Selene" and "Helios" in ancient Greek mean "moon" and "sun" respectively. They are also the names of the goddesses of the moon and the sun in Greek mythology. In 37 BC, Antony returned to Antioch from his expedition to Parthia, divorced his wife Octavia and married Cleopatra VII according to Egyptian custom. In 36 BC, Cleopatra VII and Antony had another child, Ptolemy Philadelphus.

In 34 BC, Antony returned from his eastern expedition to Armenia and celebrated his triumph in Alexandria. He summoned all the citizens and announced the termination of his alliance with Octavian and the dispersal of his dominions to his children, an event known as the "Dedication of Alexander". Alexander Helios was made king of Armenia and the unoccupied kingdom of the Sabbath, and Cleopatra Selene became queen of Cyrenaica and Libya. Antony also declared Caesarion to be the true heir of Caesar.

At that time, Octavian, who was embraced by the Roman citizens and legions, had always claimed himself as Caesar's adopted son and heir.

Therefore, when Antony claimed that Caesar's own son, Caesarion, was the true heir of Caesar, Octavian was furious because Antony's claim was a serious threat to Octavian's political position. Because of this, and the fact that he had caused strong resentment between Octavian's siblings because of Antony's divorce from Octavian's sister. In alliance with his sister, Octavian instigated the Roman Senate to declare war on Egypt as a way of strengthening his political position and avenging his sister's death!

In 31 BC, the allied forces of Antony and Cleopatra VII were defeated in the Greek naval battle of Actium, and Octavian then invaded Egypt itself. In August 30 BC, Octavian attacked Egypt and surrounded Alexandria. Antony saw that the tide was turning and killed himself with his sword.

When Queen Cleopatra VII found Antony, who was dying after committing suicide, her heart was broken and the Queen was left in tears of sadness. She examined Antony's wounds as quickly as she could, trying to save his life.

But Antony stopped her with a faint voice: "Dear Queen, just hold me! My last wish in this life is that I could die in your loving arms! If only you could hold me and let me die in your warm embrace, let me die in your love, I would be satisfied! Darling, you needn't bother to save me anymore! Even if you bring me back to life, Octavius will not stop there! I would rather know my life by suicide than die humiliated and tortured by Octavius! ..."

"Yes, I'll hold you! My dear Antony! Even if you die in my arms, you will live in my heart! Thank you for all the love and joy you have given me in this life!" The Queen said with tears in her eyes as she held Antony and gently stroked his face.

"I am sorry, Queen! I should not have married Octavian's sister for power and politics, I should have listened to you and stayed by your side to run Egypt with you, and if I had not left you in the first place, perhaps we could have had a longer and better life in Egypt! I hope to meet you again in the next life and to love you again ..." Antony's voice was getting weaker and weaker.

"You don't have to say you're sorry, you're my pet in heaven and it's my duty to make sure you learn and improve your morals, your spirituality, during your reincarnation! Although when you were joined in marriage to Octavian's sister because of political power, I predicted that we would end up dead from their alliance attack, it was all a necessary process to make you grow and wake up, you can only believe my words if you have experienced it, only if you have experienced it you will understand: one's greed for political power, one's greed to have many different women, infidelity to love The endless pursuit of money, material things and territory can only lead to the ultimate destruction of a good, peaceful life! I hope you will always remember this lesson in blood! If we ever meet again in the next life, I hope you will become better and better, less greedy for material things, money and women, and I hope you will improve your morality and spirituality and become a good and faithful man! However, thankfully, you have learned a lot in this life and have improved in all aspects, in the next life, let's continue to work hard. I love you! Antony! ..." Cleopatra VII kissed Antony with her loving lips and said to him with tears in her eyes.

"I remember, Queen Cleopatra VII, I love you!" And so Antony died in the Queen's arms.

In fact, Cleopatra VII had predicted that her death was near and she had long since arranged her suicide. She hid in the tomb castle, found the basket she had prepared, and placed a mysterious object in her arms.

She knew that if she was captured by Octavian, he would surely take her back to Rome and show her to the public during a triumphal ceremony. Cleopatra VII did not want to suffer the indignity of a triumphal display. But she could not leave her children behind, and she was in a dilemma, and when she was in despair, Octavian came to the queen's place with his sword. He said to the queen, "If you will bow your noble head, beg me with your beautiful mouth, and tell me all the secrets of Egypt, I might even consider ..."

The Queen said firmly, "I will not beg you!"

Octavius walked around the Queen in a circle and surveyed her full, round, still glamorous torso and smiled, "Why? You had offered your sensuality and flirtation to Caesar and Antony, and I am younger and more handsome than they! Not to mention the fact that I have the entire Roman power in my hands!"

"In this life I have loved only two men, Caesar and Antony! Not just any man in the world has a chance to have me! I have the right to choose true love! True love and fidelity are, for me, supreme and priceless!" Queen Cleopatra VII said proudly.

"Are you sure? You don't want me to do anything for you?" Octavius said, looking at the Queen suspiciously.

"If you will, help me take care of my children and bury me with Antony, or Caesar!" Queen Cleopatra VII finished speaking and broke off.

It turned out that the faithful maids had already delivered, as the queen had arranged, a poisonous snake called "Apus" in a basket of figs, a symbol of honour and glory in ancient Egypt, where the Egyptians believed that suicide by cobra would lead to eternal life. Because of this, when Antony stopped breathing in her arms, the queen was grabbing the little snake and placing it on her ample breasts in her own dress, and thus Queen Cleopatra VII ended a legendary, romantic life.

Octavian fulfilled her dying request and buried her with Antony. After the death of Queen Cleopatra VII, Octavian was named "Augustus" and, as a token of his own conquest of Egypt for the people, he had an Egyptian obelisk brought to Rome, and when he had to name a month after himself, Octavian chose not the month of his birth, September, but the month of the Queen's death. When he wanted to name a month after himself, Octavian chose not the September of his birth, but the month of August, when Cleopatra VII died, so that the current August is still August in English.

In addition, Cleopatra VII's son Caesar, who was born to Julius Caesar, and her eldest son Alexander, who was born to Antony, were both executed by Octavian's order. With the death of Cleopatra VII, the 300-year Ptolemaic dynasty of Egypt came to an end and Egypt was incorporated into Rome, becoming the private property of Octavian.