The most celebrated of the seven queens of the Ptolemaic dynasty who bore the name, Cleopatra VII succeeded her father Ptolemy XII Auletes, ruling initially with her brother and husband Ptolemy XIII, who expelled her from Egypt in 48 B.C. She appealed (in both senses) to Caesar in Rome, who effected her restoration. Ptolemy XIII was drowned in the Nile; another brother, Ptolemy XIV, was appointed joint ruler with Cleopatra. In 47 B.C. Cleopatra bore a son, Caesarion, whom she insisted was Caesar's child and who was proclaimed king of Egypt as Ptolemy XV. Cleopatra bore her lover, Marcus Antonius, twins, and in 34 B.C. Antony proclaimed Cleopatra 'Queen of Queens' and Ceasarion 'King of Kings'.

Octavian Caesar (Augustus), Caesar's heir, represented Cleopatra as a threat to Rome and intrigued vigorously against her. After the battle of Actium in 30 B.C., when Antony was defeated, like him Cleopatra committed suicide, rather than be taken in triumph to Rome.