Who Owns Cleopatra?
Cleopatra VII was the last ruler of Egypt before its annexation by Rome. Her romantic involvement with both Julius Caesar and Marc Antony, as well as her intelligence, political acumen, and supposed beauty, have captured the popular imagination for millennia. It is unsurprising then, that whenever World History Encyclopedia posts about Cleopatra on its social media channels, we see high engagement in the comment section. Instead of fascination, most of the engagement stems from discussions about which nation may claim her as their own. Some Greek person will invariably comment: “She wasn’t actually Egyptian, she was Greek.” To that, a Macedonian person will claim that “she wasn’t Greek, she was Macedonian.” Consequently, both will be accused of colonialist attitudes by an Egyptian person. Let’s not even talk about the precise shade of her skin colour! In essence, these are discussions about who owns Cleopatra nowadays. It’s Complicated As always with things in history, it’s not that simple. Cleopatra was certainly of Macedonian Greek descent. She may or may not have had some Egyptian heritage (this …
