46 BC story
Ptolemy XIII has been killed and Arsinoe captured. Cleopatra tells Caesar that she's pregnant with a son (Caesarion). Caesar invites Cleopatra to follow him to Rome. Caesar decides to publicly recognize Caesarion as his son and puts a statue of Cleopatra in the temple of Venus Genetrix. Caesar discusses being made king with Mark Antony and Cleopatra. He tells Cleopatra he's going off to fight the Parthians, in his absence his friend Senna will propose a law allowing Caesar to have as many wives as he wishes, so he can marry Cleopatra and keep his wife Calpurnia. But Caesar is assassinated. Apparently he never made a new will, Cleopatra is not mentioned. Cleopatra returns to Egypt with her younger brother Ptolemy XIV. She finds she's unpopular and there is a movement to depose her in favor of Ptolemy. However he promptly dies of a stomach upset. Cleopatra then reigns jointly with her infant son Caesarion (Ptolemy XV). Cassius sends a request for Egyptian help against Antony; having exhausted all excuses, Cleopatra agrees, but her fleet dallies until Cassius has lost his battle. Mark Antony, having, with Octavian, defeated Brutus and Cassius, invites Cleopatra to see him at Tarsus. She ignores him but he persists; he has heard of her offered assistance to Cassius and wants an explanation. Cleopatra goes to Tarsus on a royal barge and seduces Mark Antony.
17 total · 2 choice · 8 major · 7 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| courtly intrigues | choice | The plot turns on people jockeying for power in the royal court of Ptolemaic Egypt and Rome in the years surrounding 46 BC. Julius Caesar and Cleopatra VII were two remarkably ambitious rulers. Cleopatra VII said outright that she wanted to become Caesar's lover because of his power. Caesar planned, outrageously, to make himself king of Rome despite that ancient Republic's renowned aversion to monarchs. He was assassinated for his efforts. Cleopatra seduced Mark Anthony, again pointedly because she considered him the most powerful man in the world following Caesar's death. |
| engaged couple | choice | Julius Caesar had a wife but had a law passed in the Senate which would allow him to marry as many women he liked. The point of this was that he wanted to marry Cleopatra VII without divorcing his faithful original spouse, Calpurnia. |
| civil war | major | Mark Antony and Octavian prevailed in a civil war that erupted in the wake of Julius Caesar's assassination. |
| coping with the death of a lover | major | Cleopatra VII was sadden by the news, when it reached her, of Julius Caesar's untimely death. She blamed herself for indirectly causing it by spurring Caesar on to proclaim himself king. |
| female attraction to powerful men | major | Cleopatra VII wanted to marry Julius Caesar because he was the most powerful man in the world. After his assassination, she turned her attentions to those vying to be his successor. |
| flirtation | major | Cleopatra VII pointedly went on a mission to seduce Mark Antony, who was now, she argued, the most powerful man in the world after Julius Caesar's death. |
| life in the ancient Greco-Roman world | major | The story is set in the royal court of Ptolemaic Egypt and the city of Rome in the years surrounding 46 BC. |
| paramour and paramour | major | Julius Caesar and Cleopatra VII were openly in a relationship despite the fact that Caesar had another wife. |
| political assassination | major | The story leads up to the famous assassination of Julius Caesar by a group of Republican conspirators who abhorred the prospect of returning to monarchical rule. |
| polygamy | major | Julius Caesar had a wife but worked on having a law passed in the Senate which would allow him to marry as many women he liked. The point of this was that he wanted to marry Cleopatra VII without divorcing his faithful original spouse, Calpurnia. |