The last of the Ptolemies. She became co-ruler of Egypt with Ptolemy XIII in 51, but was driven out in 48. She was restored by Julius Caesar and in 47 bore a son whom she said was his. In 46 they both accompanied him to Rome. After his assassination in 44 she returned to Egypt, and in 41 met Mark Antony at Tarsus. He spent the following winter with her in Alexandria and she in due course gave birth to twins. In 37 Antony acknowledged these children and restored the territories of Cyrene and elsewhere to her; she pledged Egypt’s support to him. In 34 they formally announced the division of Alexander the Great’s former empire between Cleopatra and her children. In 32 Octavian (Augustus) declared war on her and in the following year the Battle of Actium resulted in the collapse of her fortunes. In 30 she committed suicide and Egypt passed into Roman hands.