Cleopatra VII Philopator (70 BC or 69 BC - 30 BC) was a female leader of Egypt.
When she was 18 years old, her father, who was king, died. She and her brother, Ptolemy Theos Philopator, became the leaders of Egypt. She was queen and her brother was king. Her brother was only 12 years old, so she was the real leader. But some of the men who worked for her didn't like the way she decided everything. A group of them decided to overthrow her, so she had to flee. The men who had overthrown Cleopatra were Pothinus, Theodotus and Achillas. Ptolemy was still king, but because he was still a boy, Pothinus and his friends were the real leaders of Egypt.
At that time, two generals were fighting to be the leaders of Rome. They were Pompey and Julius Caesar. Julius Caesar defeated Pompey at the Battle of Pharsalus in 48 BC. Pompey fled to Egypt. Achillas decided to kill Pompey. He thought Julius Caesar would be pleased, but he wasn't.
Then Caesar came to Alexandria, the capital of Egypt. Cleopatra decided she must see Caesar. She lay down on a carpet. Then her servants rolled up the carpet with Cleopatra inside. Then the carpet was taken to the palace where Ceasar was staying. The guards saw some people carrying a carpet and they didn't stop them. They carried the carpet to Caesar. Then Cleopatra came out of the carpet. Caesar fell in love with her and they became lovers.
Caesar decided to make Cleopatra Queen again. Ptolemy didn't like that. There was a lot of fighting, but Caesar won. Ptolemy tried to flee, but he fell in the river Nile and drowned. Another younger brother became king, but Cleoptra was again the real leader of Egypt.
Cleopatra didn't marry Julius Caesar, but they did have a son. He was called Caesaron.
Soon afterward Caesar was murdered, and she fell in love with Marcus Antonius. After her kingdom was conquered, she commited suicide by letting a snake bite her.
