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4:28
Transcript
0:06
"Order, order.
0:07
So who do we have here?"
0:09
"Your Honor, this is Cleopatra,
0:11
the Egyptian queen whose lurid affairs
destroyed two of Rome's finest generals
0:16
and brought the end of the Republic."
0:19
"Your Honor, this is Cleopatra,
0:22
one of the most powerful women in history
0:24
whose reign brought Egypt nearly
22 years of stability and prosperity."
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0:30
"Uh, why don't we even know
what she looked like?"
0:33
"Most of the art and descriptions
came long after her lifetime
0:37
in the first century BCE,
0:39
just like most of
the things written about her."
0:42
"So what do we actually know?
0:44
Cleopatra VII was the last
of the Ptolemaic dynasty,
0:48
a Macedonian Greek family
that governed Egypt
0:51
after its conquest by Alexander the Great.
0:54
She ruled jointly in Alexandria
with her brother-
0:58
to whom she was also married-
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1:00
until he had her exiled."
1:03
"But what does all this
have to do with Rome?"
1:05
"Egypt had long been a Roman client state,
1:08
and Cleopatra's father incurred
large debts to the Republic.
1:12
After being defeated by Julius Caesar
in Rome's civil war,
1:15
the General Pompey sought refuge in Egypt
1:18
but was executed
by Cleopatra's brother instead."
1:22
"Caesar must have liked that."
1:24
"Actually, he found the murder unseemly
and demanded repayment of Egypt's debt.
1:29
He could have annexed Egypt,
1:31
but Cleopatra convinced him to restore
her to the throne instead."
1:35
"We hear she was quite convincing."
1:38
"And why not? Cleopatra
was a fascinating woman.
1:41
She commanded armies at 21,
1:43
spoke several languages,
1:45
and was educated in a city
with the world's finest library
1:48
and some of the greatest
scholars of the time."
1:51
"Hmm."
1:52
"She kept Caesar lounging
in Egypt for months when Rome needed him."
1:56
"Caesar did more than lounge.
1:59
He was fascinated by Egypt's culture
and knowledge,
2:01
and he learned much during his time there.
2:04
When he returned to Rome,
he reformed the calendar,
2:06
commissioned a census,
2:07
made plans for a public library,
2:10
and proposed many
new infrastructure projects."
2:13
"Yes, all very ambitious,
exactly what got him assassinated."
2:17
"Don't blame the Queen for Rome's
strange politics.
2:20
Her job was ruling Egypt,
and she did it well.
2:23
She stabilized the economy,
2:25
managed the vast bureaucracy,
2:27
and curbed corruption by priests
and officials.
2:30
When drought hit, she opened
the granaries to the public
2:33
and passed a tax amnesty,
2:35
all while preserving her kingdom's
stability and independence
2:39
with no revolts during
the rest of her reign."
2:42
"So what went wrong?"
2:43
"After Caesar's death, this foreign Queen
couldn't stop meddling in Roman matters."
2:48
"Actually, it was the Roman factions who
came demanding her aid.
2:52
And of course she had no choice
but to support Octavian and Marc Antony
2:57
in avenging Caesar,
if only for the sake of their son."
3:00
"And again, she provided her particular
kind of support to Marc Antony."
3:06
"Why does that matter?
3:07
Why doesn't anyone seem to care about
3:08
Caesar or Antony's
countless other affairs?
3:12
Why do we assume she instigated
the relationships?
3:14
And why are only powerful women
defined by their sexuality?"
3:19
"Order."
3:20
"Cleopatra and Antony were a disaster.
3:22
They offended the Republic
with their ridiculous celebrations
3:25
sitting on golden thrones
3:27
and dressing up as gods
3:28
until Octavian had all of Rome convinced
of their megalomania."
3:33
"And yet Octavian was the one
who attacked Antony,
3:36
annexed Egypt,
3:37
and declared himself Emperor.
3:40
It was the Roman's fear of a woman
in power that ended their Republic,
3:45
not the woman herself."
3:46
"How ironic."
3:48
Cleopatra's story survived mainly
in the accounts of her enemies in Rome,
3:53
and later writers filled the gaps
with rumors and stereotypes.
3:57
We may never know the full truth
of her life and her reign,
4:00
but we can separate fact from rumor
by putting history on trial.
— end of transcript —
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