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Cleopatra is coming at ya!!

• Message 1.Β 

  Posted by owengriffiths2009 (U14190453) on Friday, 6th November 2009

  Did Cleopatra Queen of Egypt have an influance on the downfall of Julius Caesar and Marc Antony? And if she did how??

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• Message 2

  , in reply to message 1.

  Posted by TonyG (U1830405) on Monday, 9th November 2009

  The Roman attitude towards women was such that they did not approve of women ruling. They did not approve of foreigners either, especially ones they regarded as decadent. Cleopatra ticked all the wrong boxes as far as most Romans were concerned. Her liaison with Julius Caesar was regarded as scandalous and certainly did not help his reputation although I don't think it had any direct bearing on his downfall which was due more to others seeking to prevent him becoming, in effect, a king.
  
  Marc Antony was different. After the empire was split by the triumvirs, some sort of conflict was inevitable eventually. Lepidus was marginalised, with Octavian effectively taking control of the western half of the empire. His propaganda machine moved into overdrive, with Antony being portrayed as un-Roman, controlled by a woman, and having been influenced by the decadence of the east. When Octavian (illegally) revealed that Antony's will left his estate to Cleopatra and said that Antony wished to be buried in Egypt rather than Rome, Antony lost a lot of credibility in Rome. His involvement with Cleopatra was one of the key reasons for his downfall as it turned most Romans against him - at least, if we believe the histories which were, of course, written buy the winenrs.
  

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  Posted by Kryztoffur (U14219125) on Monday, 16th November 2009

  This is just like the Romans pretty much fearing Boudicca, who was the queen of the Iceni. They feared women in power and one of their reasons behind the campaign against her was for the fact that she was a powerful female leader. I know this isn't the only reason, but it is relevant to the topic.
  
  Kryz

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  Posted by poppyanddaisy (U14107848) on Wednesday, 25th November 2009

  Romans viewed women with political power with fear and disgust given their own social values. Though political power was wealded in Rome and other Hellenistic societies by women - it was covert.
  
  The Status of women in Celtic civilisation and obviously Egypt (even though Cleopatra was Greek) varied greatly. Better to be a woman in Gaul than in Rome !!

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  Posted by TonyG (U1830405) on Wednesday, 16th December 2009

  I agree that Boudica was portrayed as a wicked woman by the Romans, but the main reaosn that they turned on her was because she led the rebellion that almost lost them the province. Up until then, she had been a collaborator, a fact that is often overlooked.
  
  It also suited Tacitus to portray her as a woman acting like amn, while the emperor at the time, Nero, was behaving like a woman, going on stage, acting and singing, etc.

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