A contemporary of Cleopatra, the Greek geographer Strabo (ca. 64 B.C.E.–24 C.E.) spent much of his life traveling, acquiring an extensive firsthand knowledge of the Roman world in the process. The culmination of his scholarly expeditions was his Geography, a descriptive history of the diverse peoples he encountered that was meant to serve as an aid to Roman statesmen, generals, and officials. In the excerpt from the Geography included here, Strabo traced the rule of the Ptolemies in Egypt from its beginnings through the reign of Cleopatra. As you read it, ask yourself how Strabo’s version of Egyptian history might have been used to support and legitimize Roman imperialism.

Ptolemy, son of Lagus, succeeded Alexander; Philadelphus succeeded him; then came Euegertes; then Philopater, son of Agathocleia; then Epiphanes; then Philometor, the son always succeeding the father. Philometor, however, was succeeded by his brother, the second Euegertes, also known as Physcon; then came the Ptolemy referred to as Lathyrus; then came Auletes, our contemporary, who was the father of Cleopatra. All the Ptolemies after the third, led astray by luxury, ruled rather poorly, but the worst were the fourth, the seventh, and the last, Auletes. In addition to his other extravagances, he was trained to accompany choruses with the flute and he took such pride in this activity that he did not hesitate to hold competitions in the palace, where he would enter himself to compete against the other competitors. The Alexandrians exiled him, but since there were three daughters, the oldest of whom was legitimate, they appointed her queen. His two infant sons were completely left out of these affairs. Once she had been placed on the throne, they sent her a husband from Syria named Cybiosactes, who has passed himself off as an heir to the Syrian throne. Within a few days, he was dead by strangulation, on the queens’ orders: she could not stand his vulgar and slavish nature. His replacement was a man who pretended to be the son of Mithradates Eupator. He was Archelaus, son of the Archelaus who fought against Sulla, was honored afterwards by the Romans, was the grandfather of the last king of the Cappadocians in our time, and was a priest of the Comanae in Pontus. He had, at that time, been spending time with Gabinius, in order to fight with him against the Parthians, but, in secret from Gabinius, some men escorted him to the queen and appointed him king. At the same time, Auletes had arrived at Rome and was welcomed by Pompey the Great, who presented him to the Senate and negotiated reinstatement for him and ruin for most of the one hundred ambassadors who had undertaken the embassy against him. The head ambassador among these was Dion, the Academic. After being restored to power by Gabinius, Ptolemy executed both his daughter and Archelaus. His reign did not last much longer, however, as he died from a disease, leaving two sons and two daughters, the eldest of whom was Cleopatra. The Alexandrians appointed the elder of the sons and Cleopatra to rule, but the boy’s partisans formed a faction and exiled Cleopatra, who fled to Syria with her sister. At the same time, Pompey the Great had arrived, fleeing from Palaepharsalus to Pelusium and Mt. Casius. The king’s followers treacherously killed Pompey, but Caesar, when he arrived, killed the young king, recalled Cleopatra from exile, put her on the Egyptian throne, and appointed her remaining brother to rule with her, despite his tender age. After Caesar’s death and the Battle of Philippi, Antony crossed into Asia and bestowed upon Cleopatra the honor of choosing her as his wife and having children with her. He fought at her side in the Battle of Actium and fled with her too. Then, Augustus Caesar, after pursuing them, brought about both their deaths and ended the drunken abuse of Egypt.

Source: Prudence J. Jones, ed., Cleopatra: A Sourcebook (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2006), pp. 29–30.

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER