The Heroines of History

MP3 Audio CD. Cleopatra



Whatever might have been the character of the person occupying the throne of the Ptolemies, during the time of the Caesars and the Triumvirate, it may well be doubted, whether the independence of Egypt, under any other circumstances than those which at- tended the complete subjection of that kingdom to the Roman sway, could have been longer maintained in opposition to the colossal power whose victorious standards were planted on the rocky shores of the Atlantic, or fanned by the soft breezes of the Orient ; and, perhaps, it was rather the misfortune than the fault, of the fair, but frail, descendant of a long line of illustrious princes, that she was the last of her dynasty and race who ruled in the home of her ancestors Nay, ? is it not certain, that the charms which captivated Caesar and enthralled the heart of Antony, though powerless to save her country from the doom that awaited it, put far off the evil day of its undoing ? The Egyptian kings had long been the mere allies of Rome ; and such vassalage was almost sure to be the precursor of entire subjugation.

Yet it is for the very reason offered by the Portuguese poet in her condemnation- ? that for, or on account of her, Egypt was vanquished ? that the name of Cleopatra is so famous in history. The poet who has dwelt with delight on her charms and her follies, and the historian whose periods have grown eloquent as he depicted her graces and lamented the weakness with which they were allied, have referred to them more as the causes which produced the downfall of the Egyptian monarchy, than as the effects of that national degeneracy which preceded it.