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00:01Cleopatra was Egypt's greatest queen, and yet she had to fight to conserve power in the face of the nest
00:08of vipers plotting against her at the court in Alexandria.
00:11The Ptolemaic dynasty is violent, chaotic, and really brutal.
00:17To retain her throne, the queen had to eliminate all of her enemies, including those within her own family.
00:24And Cleopatra wasn't going to let anyone else take her crown.
00:27She was 28 years old when she disposed of her final rival.
00:32The archaeologists found a very strange building, spectacular but mysterious in the same way.
00:38Cleopatra was now free to reign over an ever more prosperous Egypt.
00:43She joined forces with the Roman general Mark Anthony, and together this iconic couple played a strategic game of chess
00:49to allow them to rule over Egypt and dominate the Roman Empire.
00:53He clearly saw that it was in his best interest politically to forge an alliance with Cleopatra, for better or
00:59for worse.
01:01Cleopatra and Mark Anthony were swept up in an impassioned love affair that would ultimately lead to their deaths.
01:06More than anything else, she lives and reigns and dies at one of the most pivotal moments in world history.
01:15What led to the downfall of the most legendary queen of all time?
01:20Cleopatra's death signaled the end of three millennia of pharaonic dynasties and marked the final chapter of ancient Egypt's rich
01:28history.
01:29For centuries, archaeologists across the globe have come to the land of the pharaohs to find her tomb.
01:35Their search for clues led them to the desert, but also underwater, off the coast of Alexandria.
01:41Finding this tomb would give us an insight to this legendary figure's final secrets.
01:46There's so many unanswered questions that could be answered if we were to find Cleopatra's tomb.
01:52Previously, we revealed how Cleopatra had seized power in Alexandria with the support of Julius Caesar after disposing of her
02:00sworn enemy, who also happened to be her brother.
02:04Thanks to top archaeologists and the latest scientific techniques, we will now reveal the owner of the only Ptolemaic tomb
02:11to ever be discovered
02:13and come closer to the ultimate treasure, Cleopatra's tomb.
02:23Commentatorает his life in the future.
02:32He was born in the future.
02:33Can I have a dream?
02:37Can I have a dream of a dream?
02:38What was the story of the new Ptolemaic tomb?
02:38Do you have a dream?
02:45Probably do you also have a dream?
02:45You're a dream of a dream.
02:45Are there an dream of a dream?
02:50What a dream?
03:01Among the ancient ruins that we know of, there are no traces of Cleopatra's family, the Ptolemies.
03:08Their reign over Egypt lasted for three centuries, yet it remains an enigma even today.
03:17However, with the help of some Egyptologists, this situation could be about to change.
03:26At first sight, it seems like an ordinary stone tomb.
03:30When they opened the sarcophagus in the 1920s, only a few bones were left there.
03:37Now, there's actually nothing inside, nothing at all.
03:41We've checked the whole sarcophagus, there is no inscription at all, unfortunately.
03:47With this find, the question became, who's the owner of the grave?
03:52But it is, in fact, the most significant account we have of the last dynasty of the Egyptian pharaohs.
03:59An international team of archaeologists is currently studying this tomb that was discovered a century ago, which sheds light on
04:07a lesser-known aspect of Cleopatra's personality, that of a queen who was capable of murder.
04:16This fits the description of a formidable woman who fought fiercely to retain power within her own family.
04:24She was a queen who navigated the most treacherous political landscape in ancient Egyptian history.
04:30This is a very chaotic family where brother and sister are not afraid to kill each other, father's not afraid
04:36to kill daughter.
04:38This was a family that took the expression, kill or be killed, quite literally.
04:44Despite being destined for greatness, Cleopatra met a tragic end.
04:48Who was responsible for her downfall?
04:52What were the events that sealed her fate?
04:55To answer these questions, we have to go back in time.
05:00When Cleopatra was just 18 years old, her father died and she ascended to the throne of Egypt in 51
05:07BCE.
05:08As per Ptolemaic tradition, she married her younger brother.
05:14As previously mentioned, the two spouses did not get along and both were determined to rule alone.
05:21Sharing power was out of the question.
05:27This power struggle resulted in numerous casualties.
05:32Yet there is no record of these deaths.
05:36Interestingly, the tombs belonging to the Ptolemaic dynasty have yet to be found.
05:41One of the greatest mysteries of Cleopatra and the Ptolemaic family is their missing tombs.
05:49Although the tombs of pharaohs from previous dynasties have been uncovered in the Valley of the Kings near Luxor,
05:55none of the tombs belonging to the Ptolemaic dynasty have been found to date.
06:02Historians believe that the burial site of the last rulers of Egypt may be underwater in the inaccessible bay of
06:08Alexandria.
06:11In the Ptolemaic dynasty, they purportedly took on full Egyptian burial customs, including the preservation of the body and having
06:18an elaborate tomb.
06:19So, we should be able to know where these tombs are, but we have never found them.
06:24This has been an ongoing quest since the beginning of archaeology.
06:27A mystery that remained unsolved until an excavation in 1926.
06:36The search for Cleopatra's tomb took us outside of Egypt, to the shores of the Icarian Sea in Turkey.
06:43Over a century ago, 900 kilometers from Cairo, archaeologists discovered an extraordinary tomb in Ephesus,
06:51which is now shedding light on previously unknown aspects of the mystery surrounding Cleopatra's death.
06:56Martin Stescal is leading the excavation in Ephesus, the ancient provincial capital of the Roman Empire,
07:03where he and his team are searching for additional clues pertaining to the tomb discovered over a century ago by
07:10pure luck.
07:13We are here on top of the grave chamber now, and these are the scarce remains that are still here
07:18to be seen.
07:19From here, a ring of Corinthian columns developed, and on top of this Corinthian order,
07:26they found a pyramidal roof with a very nice big stone ball on top of it.
07:34At the beginning of the 1900s, a team of Austrian archaeologists discovered intriguing remains at the heart of Ephesus.
07:42A very strange building, spectacular, but mysterious in the same way.
07:46Its function remained a mystery.
07:49It took another 20 years until the 1920s, until archaeologists opened the superstructure from the top
07:57and entered a grave chamber, to their surprise.
08:04A century later, it's Martin Stescal's turn to step into the enigmatic tomb.
08:10It wasn't until the 1990s that the hidden entrance to the tomb was discovered.
08:16And until then, it remained concealed from prying eyes, making it impossible to reach the burial chamber.
08:28When scientists ventured into the tomb for the first time, they came across a simple marble sarcophagus,
08:34devoid of any markings or inscriptions that could offer any clues.
08:40When they entered the grave chamber for the very first time, they saw this lid slightly moved already.
08:47So it was obvious that it was already looted.
08:50So they took a look inside, they found one single individual, took out the skull, closed the lid again, and
08:58left the grave chamber.
09:02The skull was taken for analysis.
09:05But despite osteological studies, no definitive conclusions were drawn at the time.
09:13At that point, the archaeologists were still unaware of the connection between the tomb and the Ptolemaic family.
09:21Unfortunately, the skull was lost during the Second World War, robbing us of its secrets forever.
09:27This loss was especially damaging since the tomb itself yielded little information for the archaeologists.
09:34There were no grave goods whatsoever, no inscription that would indicate who the owner of this grave would be.
09:41It took another ten years until the rest of the human remains were removed from the tomb for scientific analysis.
09:49With no inscriptions on the tomb and an incomplete skeleton to work with,
09:54the archaeologists had little to go on to piece together the puzzle and identify the tomb's owner.
10:00So they needed to undertake a more extensive investigation and gather a wider range of clues to trace their way
10:06back to the last Queen of Egypt.
10:09Martin tells us the fascinating story of how they succeeded in this challenging endeavor.
10:14It was an exception to be buried within the city limits.
10:17It was a very prestigious thing to be allowed to be buried inside the city.
10:22It's one of the oldest laws in the ancient world that prohibits burials within the city limits.
10:29So who was this person?
10:34To begin their investigation, the team needed to examine the architectural structure of the tomb,
10:39which dates back to the first century BCE.
10:43Unfortunately, very little of the mausoleum in Ephesus remains today.
10:47Some precious fragments were taken to the Vienna Museum for study in the early 1900s,
10:53which provided valuable insights into its original size and scope.
10:59that's not that easy because what is well preserved is two of the columns, the entablature,
11:04but not the single blocks that might have built the wall of the cellar and even the blocks from the
11:09pyramid roof,
11:10but the reconstruction leads to a height of about 13 meters.
11:14Thirteen meters tall, one of the largest monuments in Ephesus,
11:18made entirely of marble and located on a prominent street in the Roman provincial capital.
11:24Given its size and location, the monument must have been erected as a tomb for a notable figure of the
11:29time.
11:30What quickly caught the attention of the archaeologists at the time was the distinct shape of the building.
11:35It was unlike anything they'd seen before.
11:38There are some traces that might hint to Egyptian architecture,
11:42which is the shape and the building of this monument,
11:46that you have an rectangular basis, that you have an octagonal middle story and probably a pyramidal shaped roof.
11:55The archaeologists spent five years studying the fragments in order to create this 3D reconstruction of the mausoleum.
12:03All of the blocks available were recorded.
12:06So from every single block that was still to be found in situ and here in the museum,
12:123D laser scan was produced and this was the base of the reconstruction.
12:17I think it gives a very good impression how prestigious on the one hand the site was, where it actually
12:23stood,
12:23and give you a better feeling about what this building actually looked like.
12:28The structure's octagonal shape brings to mind a famous building from Cleopatra's reign,
12:34the Lighthouse of Alexandria, which was once one of the seven wonders of the world but is now lost to
12:40history.
12:41The similarity is striking.
12:44But why was a relic that holds such a symbolic significance for Cleopatra
12:48found nearly 1,000 kilometers away from the Ptolemaic capital?
12:53And who is this mysterious person buried in this mysterious tomb?
13:05To gain a better understanding of the significance of the incredible Lighthouse of Alexandria
13:10and what made it so fascinating, we returned to Egypt to speak with Egyptologist Ahmad Khalil.
13:18We have never seen anything like this in antiquity, at all.
13:22Egyptians had a standard shape of temples, you know what temples is, and a standard shape of pyramids, and that's
13:28it.
13:28But to have a complex building which is structured this way is an invention or is an innovation.
13:35During Cleopatra's era, the Lighthouse of Alexandria was an extraordinary construction that became a globally renowned monument.
13:44The Ptolemaic dynasty aimed to showcase their power beyond Egypt by building such an impressive structure.
13:52So why actually did the Ptolemies build something which is so huge?
13:57It was 30 meters shorter than the Great Pyramid of Giza, only 30 meters shorter.
14:02You don't need something which is 110 meters long to guide boats in and out of a harbor.
14:08In fact, the Lighthouse functioned more like a landmark.
14:14In the ancient world, the Lighthouse of Alexandria symbolized the power of the Ptolemies that extended all the way into
14:22the Roman Empire.
14:26The Austrian archaeologists believe that the shape of the tomb found in Ephesus was a replica of the Lighthouse of
14:33Alexandria,
14:35leading them to speculate that the tomb's owner was a prominent Egyptian figure who lived in Ephesus during the first
14:41century BCE.
14:48It took several decades that in 1990 it was Hilke Thur, a colleague working on Ephesus' excavation,
14:55who first brought up this idea to linking the architecture with Egyptian architecture,
15:01and then to search for a person who might have been buried in this very tomb.
15:07Anthropological studies conducted on the bones found in the tomb shed light on the identity, the nameless figure.
15:16They found one young female individual, dead roughly 15 to 18 years age, who's so important to Ephesus at this
15:25age, at this time.
15:26It is still a puzzle, and nothing is 100% secure, but if you put together the elements,
15:36I think there's a very big likelihood that we are dealing here with the tomb of Arsinoe IV.
15:44Cleopatra's sister, Arsinoe IV.
15:49Archaeologists believe that this tomb is the only one ever to be found belonging to a member of Cleopatra's family.
15:56The question remains, how did the tomb of a member of the Egyptian royal family end up so far from
16:02the land of the pharaohs?
16:04And what was the cause of Arsinoe IV's death?
16:07Considering the circumstances of her death are still unclear,
16:11researchers have hired an osteology expert to analyze the few remains found in the sarcophagus
16:16in hopes of unraveling the mystery surrounding Arsinoe.
16:22To better understand the reasons that led to the death of Princess Arsinoe,
16:26we must take a closer look at Cleopatra's tumultuous relationship with her younger sister.
16:36Although Arsinoe was slightly younger and less experienced than Cleopatra,
16:41they both understood that in order to gain full control of power,
16:46they would have to eliminate the male members of their family.
16:51In the summer of 1948, a power struggle erupted in the palace between Cleopatra and her co-ruler Ptolemy XIII.
16:59The conspirators close to her younger brother managed to oust Cleopatra from the throne.
17:05It was at that time that Cleopatra forged an alliance with the most powerful man in the world, Julius Caesar.
17:11Cleopatra's aim when she joins forces with Caesar is essentially to shore up support for her own reign.
17:20This dynasty was unable to engage in any diplomatic efforts without approval from Rome.
17:26This often required interference in Egypt's internal affairs to support particular candidates seeking power.
17:33However, many Egyptians were unhappy with their country's increasing dependence on Rome.
17:40This sentiment provided an opening for Arsinoe, sister of the last queen of Egypt, to step into the spotlight.
17:51Cleopatra's alliance with Julius Caesar was seen by some as an act of treachery,
17:55paving the way for Arsinoe, who was just a teenager, to emerge as a leader against the Roman invader and
18:02her perceived treacherous sister.
18:05Two factions emerged, Arsinoe who sided with Ptolemy XIII on one side and Cleopatra supported by Julius Caesar on the
18:14other.
18:16Although Cleopatra sided with Julius Caesar and Arsinoe with Ptolemy XIII,
18:21both were aware that their struggle was ultimately about gaining control of the throne.
18:26For months in 48 BCE, Alexandria was torn apart by the chaos of war.
18:32Cleopatra's enemy Arsinoe was finally taken captive, but she refused to accept defeat,
18:38escaped and led a rebellion against Julius Caesar.
18:41With her army, she marched on the lighthouse of Alexandria,
18:44which became a powerful symbol of her own claim to power.
18:49She really took on this role of a passionate leader during the rebellion against the Roman invasion of Egypt,
18:54making her political impact all the more profound.
18:57But her victory was short-lived.
18:59The Romans succeeded in turning the odds in their favor.
19:04After being reinstated by her lover Julius Caesar,
19:07Cleopatra VII became once again the undisputed and uncontested queen of Alexandria and of Egypt.
19:14Meanwhile, young Arsinoe was kept under surveillance at the palace, where she was kept as a prisoner.
19:21In 46 BCE, when Julius Caesar returned to Rome victorious,
19:25he brought Arsinoe with him as his spoils of war,
19:29parading her triumphantly through the streets of Rome.
19:37A military parade was held in honor of the victorious general,
19:41during which he rode on a chariot with his face painted with the red mineral pigment called minium.
19:48On the same chariot behind him there was a slave holding a laurel crown above his head,
19:53which is the symbol of victory.
19:56The general's entire army marched behind him and the people lined up on the streets on both sides,
20:01cheering for the soldiers and the victorious general.
20:07And the highlight of this parade was Arsinoe.
20:12And as per the ritual of the time, at the end of the procession she was to be killed.
20:16They were to tie a lace around her neck and have the executioner tighten it until she suffocated.
20:23But in a stunning turn of events, the Romans grew fond of the young princess and pardoned her.
20:30Cleopatra wasn't happy at all because she really wanted to eliminate her sister.
20:36She tried to force her lover, Julius Caesar, to kill Arsinoe IV,
20:40but Caesar refused because what counted more in his mind was Roman public opinion.
20:47So he sent her to Ephesus in Asia Minor in modern-day Turkey under house arrest.
20:55Julius Caesar decided to keep the princess away from the Egyptian throne
20:59and exiled her to one of the most widely renowned places of the ancient world.
21:08Ephesus was one of the largest cities in the Roman Empire during Cleopatra's era,
21:13and a major place of worship in the ancient world.
21:18Here, archaeologist Martin Steskal excavated the ruins of the Temple of Artemis,
21:23in which Arsinoe lived in exile for five years.
21:27These are the scarce remains of the famous Temple of Artemis.
21:31140 meters long, 70 meters wide, on an elevated platform of roughly three meters.
21:39It was considered to almost reach the heaven.
21:43It consisted of 127 columns, only one is still here to be seen, and they were 18 meters high.
21:51It must have been an incredible building to be seen here.
21:54The Temple of Artemis was in fact one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.
22:00Here, Princess Arsinoe would serve the goddess of hunting and nature.
22:05It was absolutely a golden cage for her.
22:07She was protected, she was safe, but the rule was she was not allowed to leave this area.
22:16Arsinoe led a far from festive life as she spent it devoted to a goddess,
22:19confined within the walls of a beautiful temple, which, despite its splendor, felt like a prison to her.
22:26But as long as Arsinoe was alive and well inside this golden prison,
22:30she still remained a threat to Cleopatra's rule over Alexandria.
22:34Arsinoe, she still believed she had a powerful claim to the throne in Egypt,
22:39and Cleopatra wasn't going to let anyone else take her crown.
22:42Throughout her reign, the last queen of Egypt never forgot the looming threat her sister posed.
22:47She knew that one day, she would have to dispose of her.
22:52Cleopatra always felt threatened, so she spent 22 years in power,
22:57relentlessly consolidating her iron grip over Egypt.
23:02But unlike previous pharaohs, she didn't focus on building huge temples or impressive palaces,
23:08thus leaving little physical imprint on the land of the pharaohs.
23:12Her reign witnessed a very severe crisis caused by the low flood of the Nile.
23:20She had limited economical resources at the time of her regency.
23:27And today, all the buildings within the Ptolemaic Kingdom's capital have disappeared.
23:32Alexandria was actually vulnerable to some deliberate destructions,
23:40especially in the royal quarters.
23:42The city was also completely submerged by a tsunami in the 3rd century CE.
23:55To uncover clues about this mysterious queen,
23:58we turned our attention to a rare piece of work held at the Senate Library in Paris.
24:06The description of Egypt was penned by scientists,
24:09who accompanied Napoleon during his early 19th century campaign in Egypt.
24:16The reason the description of Egypt is so incredible
24:19is that the artists accurately depicted the hieroglyphs exactly as they appeared,
24:23despite being unable to decipher them.
24:25It wasn't until Jean-Francois Champollion's breakthrough a few years later
24:29that the hieroglyphs could be understood and read.
24:33Egyptologist Jean-Guillaume Ouellette Pelletier
24:35has identified an account of the last queen of Egypt on one of the tablets.
24:40To know more about Cleopatra VII,
24:42we must delve into this particular piece of work.
24:45This is a copy of a bas-relief found of an Egyptian temple,
24:49which provides us with insight into a lesser-known aspect of her life.
24:54Cleopatra's name is inscribed onto the cartouche that we can see here.
24:57And just next to it, you have her son's name, written as Ptolemy Caesar,
25:00who is in actual fact Caesareon, the son she had with Julius Caesar.
25:05So who was this Caesareon, son of Cleopatra and Julius Caesar?
25:16Jean-Guillaume has suggested that we go to Dendera itself
25:19in search of the rare traces of Cleopatra that exist.
25:23We are about to see the only depiction of the queen and her son
25:26that is still visible in Egypt today.
25:30We are back at the Hathor Temple,
25:32one of the most well-preserved temples in Egypt,
25:35and one of the last great constructions of ancient Egypt.
25:39It was built by Ptolemy XII, Cleopatra's father.
25:44Inside, the colors are still vivid and striking.
25:48But the most surprising element is this mirrored representation
25:52of Cleopatra found at the back of the temple.
25:57Wow, this wall is absolutely massive.
25:59It's about 15 meters tall.
26:01It's simply fabulous.
26:03There are two registers, the larger of which depicts Cleopatra and Caesareon
26:07in front of all the local deities.
26:15It's truly magnificent.
26:18Cleopatra is depicted with the same attributes as the goddess Isis
26:21as she presents Caesareon, Ptolemy XV,
26:25the sons she had with Caesar to her subjects.
26:30This wall is truly one of a kind as it shows Ptolemy Caesareon,
26:34the son of Cleopatra and Julius Caesar,
26:36accompanied by his mother,
26:38offering gifts to local and Egyptian deities.
26:41It was a way of naming Caesareon as the future king of Egypt.
26:48And Cleopatra wanted to be very clear.
26:50This was her way of making a statement that she was the queen
26:53and her son would be the one true king.
26:56In 43 BCE, Cleopatra became the sole ruler of Egypt.
27:01She had ousted her rival siblings with the support of Rome.
27:06She was then only surrounded by her son, Caesareon.
27:10As was the tradition, Caesareon became the new pharaoh with Cleopatra serving as queen regent.
27:17She did not want anyone who has legitimacy to the throne except her son from Julius Caesar, Caesareon.
27:27Even the Roman legions in Alexandria recognized her son as the rightful ruler of Egypt.
27:33He was taught to govern from a very young age.
27:38He had a traditional Greek upbringing and participated in the gymnasium when he was about 15 or 16.
27:45As king of upper and lower Egypt, the young Caesareon was set for life.
27:51His mother placed him on the throne to ensure the dynasty's future.
27:57By naming her son Ptolemy XV, she solidified his connection to the throne.
28:03Caesareon was not only the true successor to the Egyptian throne, but also a connection to Rome.
28:08This made him an incredibly dangerous figure as he could also potentially travel to Rome and use his claim as
28:14Julius Caesar's son to request entry into the senatorial class, thus gaining various privileges.
28:20In Rome, Caesareon's bid for power and control over the Roman Empire was viewed as a direct challenge to Octavian's
28:27own ambitions and put him in competition with Julius Caesar's adopted son.
28:31We have a lot to document Caesareon's life because he was a competitor to Octavian.
28:36So you have a lot of people in Rome who wrote about the scandal that was Julius Caesar and Cleopatra's
28:43son Caesareon because they were both married to other people, but they had a child together.
28:49Even though she's the one who in reality possessed the political power, Cleopatra still wanted to support her lineage by
28:56putting her son in the limelight.
29:00Archaeologists have found very few visible traces of her forgotten son.
29:06I'm going to use a mirror because it's the most effective epigraphical way of identifying all of the signs from
29:11the scenes that are out of our reach.
29:14By playing around with the reflection of the sunlight, we can comfortably identify each sign from a distance.
29:20Like here, Cleopatra, and just below it, the name Ptolemy Caesareon.
29:26The inscriptions on this large 10-meter high bar relief can be hard to decipher.
29:32To overcome this challenge, we've dispatched a team of Egyptian engineers to scan and decode the inscriptions on the cartouche.
29:42As a result, we gathered a 3D model of the bar relief, which now needs to be decrypted by experts.
29:59We presented this digital copy to researcher Lorenzo Medini.
30:04He specializes in hieroglyphs from the Ptolemaic period.
30:09With his help, we're going to learn how to read them.
30:13The first thing to understand is the direction of the writing.
30:17The lion appears to be alive and is facing towards the left, indicating that we should read Cleopatra's cartouche from
30:26left to right and from top to bottom, following each sign in order.
30:30The lion is followed by papyrus and rope symbols, which together mean Cleo, and then you've got the throne and
30:36the vulture symbols, which mean Pa.
30:38And finally, you've got the hand, the mouth, and the bread, which make up the sound Tra.
30:44So together, Cleopatra.
30:51The description goes on to identify her son, the prince, as the king of Upper and Lower Egypt, the sovereign
30:58of the two lands, a title traditionally used by the pharaohs.
31:01This reference to her son is accompanied by the start of a second cartouche.
31:06By meticulously decrypting this cartouche, we found the name Ptolemy XV depicted as the reigning king of Egypt.
31:20However, Cleopatra needed the approval of a powerful Roman figure to establish Caesarion as the rightful ruler of Egypt.
31:27That man was none other than Mark Anthony, with whom the last queen of Egypt forged one last alliance.
31:40It was 44 BCE, and Julius Caesar had just been assassinated, leaving Cleopatra without her trusted ally and protector.
31:49The control of the vast Roman Empire fell into the hands of a triumvirate, with Octavian, Lepidus, and Mark Anthony
31:55sharing power.
31:57The latter was in charge of the eastern part of the Roman Empire, including Egypt.
32:01Mark Anthony was born to a prominent Roman family.
32:05He started out his life with a bit of excitement, and he racked up some debt, being young and having
32:10fun.
32:11He eventually joins the army, where people realize he's a talented soldier.
32:15Mark Anthony embodied the archetypical Roman man, very masculine, quite handsome, and incredibly charismatic.
32:21He was known to have a love for good food, and being an Epicurean who savored his wine.
32:26He was very hands-on, and took pleasure in being among soldiers.
32:30He seemed to be friendly, engaging. He was a man's man, and the soldiers liked him.
32:38He was a part of the Roman aristocracy, and climbed the ranks step by step.
32:43One pivotal event in Mark Anthony's life was when he met Julius Caesar.
32:48He was Julius Caesar's right-hand man, his master of the horse.
32:54What ultimately led Mark Anthony to differentiate himself from others was that he was a talented leader and military commander.
33:08After Julius Caesar's death in 44 BCE, Cleopatra needed a new ally to consolidate her political power,
33:15and Mark Anthony would be the one to rise to the occasion.
33:18Mark Anthony based himself in Tarsus, which is a part of Anatolia.
33:26And, of course, this was very significant for Cleopatra.
33:30She was going to need to strike a new personal relationship with the new authority in Rome.
33:39And, in fact, Mark Anthony wrote to her a number of times, inviting her to visit him in Tarsus, and
33:45she initially rejected those overtures.
33:50But, in 41 BCE, Cleopatra changed her mind and decided to pay him a visit.
33:56And, once again, she would make a grand entrance.
34:02She arrived in Tarsus on a magnificent boat that had a golden prowl that shimmered in the Turkish sunlight and
34:08crimson sails.
34:10Crimson dye at the time was worth a fortune.
34:13The oars were plated with silver, and as they dipped into the water, they seemed to glisten in the sunlight.
34:21It was a truly breathtaking sight, and the entire crew was made up of women who were wearing very, very
34:28little clothing.
34:30So this well-lit, beautiful, perfume flower barge comes sailing down the river with Cleopatra standing there as the goddess
34:36Isis.
34:37Mark Anthony must have been taken aback.
34:42Her boat arrived at the military port, but Cleopatra refused to leave the boat and sent him a message.
34:50If you want to see me, meet me on my boat tonight.
34:54Mark Anthony, accustomed to being flattered and revered by all, felt a sting of pride.
35:04He arrived and got on the absolutely sublime boat, which was illuminated by flickering oil lamps.
35:10In the center of the salon stood Cleopatra.
35:14So you can imagine that she was probably dressed in her queenly jewels and finery.
35:19Cleopatra told all of her handmaidens to flirt with all of the Romans as possible.
35:23So not only was she seducing Mark Anthony, she was seducing all of the Romans that came with him.
35:29And the two of them dined for three days on this boat together.
35:34And it was after that that Mark Anthony was hers and she was his.
35:40The Triumvirate immediately fell under her spell.
35:43This extraordinary encounter would give rise to a political and romantic partnership that would last over ten years.
35:49They would both endorse each other politically with unwavering support.
35:54In exchange for Mark Anthony's backing to preserve Egypt's independence,
35:58Cleopatra supplied him with funds and armed contingents.
36:01But she had one additional request, the assassination of Arsinoe.
36:07Cleopatra was acutely aware of the looming threat posed by her younger sister, Arsinoe IV,
36:12who was still being held captive in that golden cage in Turkey.
36:15As long as she remained alive, she posed a real danger to Cleopatra's reign.
36:20She implored her new lover to have Arsinoe IV assassinated.
36:27By agreeing to this sacrilegious act and running the risk of facing divine retribution,
36:32he clearly saw that it was in his best interest politically to forge an alliance with Cleopatra,
36:37for better or for worse.
36:41In 41 BCE, Princess Arsinoe was found dead on the steps of the Temple of Artemis.
36:48To have committed a murder on the steps of a temple at Holy Place was rather offensive to many people
36:53in the Roman Republic.
36:55It was a scandal that was reported through the Empire that it was something that was unimaginable to be killed
37:05in a sanctuary like the Artemision.
37:08It sent a shockwave throughout the whole empire.
37:11An Egyptian princess, sister of the Queen of Egypt, had been assassinated in a sacred sanctuary.
37:24But how did this young woman die?
37:28That's the question on all of the archaeologists' minds.
37:32Martin Steskal has sent the remains found in the tomb to Ephesus for analysis.
37:37A German scientist has set in motion a highly innovative protocol which could lead to a major breakthrough in archaeological
37:44research.
37:46We recently met with him in Göttingen, Germany.
37:51Professor Schultz had previously examined Arsinoe's remains in Ephesus back in 2010.
37:56The post-cranial skeleton shows us that this was a young woman, probably died between 20 to 25 years.
38:08There were no external changes which gave us information on the cause of death.
38:17To conduct his investigation, Professor Schultz was granted exceptional authorization to take bone samples from the tomb and study them
38:26in his laboratory in Göttingen.
38:29He's going to use a fascinating technique.
38:32The sample of the bone is cut down to a thickness of 300 micron.
38:40After being cut into very thin slices, the samples will be polished and covered with a thin layer of glass,
38:47allowing them to be examined under a microscope.
38:50In the skeleton of Arsinoe, we found that we have a lot of resorption holes,
38:58which means that bone-eating cells.
39:03The scientist was able to identify that Arsinoe had experienced a bone infection.
39:08Despite this, the holes resulting from the infection have since disappeared.
39:14He has a theory that explains this.
39:17So the possibility is that she was poisoned.
39:25The poison caused a reaction in the bone, which were due to the resorption holes.
39:34This extraordinary discovery means that researchers could prove for the first time ever that a member of the Ptolemaic dynasty
39:41was poisoned.
39:42It might be a poison which caused a special inflammatory reaction in the organism.
39:53This would be consistent with poisoning by arsenic.
39:56The last queen of Egypt is believed to have had Arsinoe poison because she was getting in her way and
40:03she saw her as a threat to her reign.
40:05This murder was a crucial element in Cleopatra's alliance with Roman general Mark Anthony, with whom she had her last
40:13passionate relationship.
40:17Following Arsinoe's assassination, Cleopatra and Mark Anthony were finally able to settle in Alexandria and continue to live out their
40:24romance.
40:26Their daily life was generally full of happiness.
40:28In the warm climate of the south, there had always been a tradition of these great feasts, which actually come
40:34from Egyptian tradition.
40:36It was very common to have jugglers and actors come to liven up the meal.
40:40It was also common for men and women to mix, whereas for a very long time, in the Greek and
40:45Roman traditions, men and women didn't eat together.
40:49The two lovers led a lavish lifestyle, a very different one in comparison to Roman Republic traditions.
40:56Mark Anthony was behaving like a king. He wasn't king of Egypt, but he was somewhat the prince consort.
41:01Mark Anthony and Cleopatra got to experience the life of a divine king in Egypt.
41:06And certainly for Mark Anthony, being a Roman, this must have been an incredibly exciting and appealing experience to be
41:13treated like a god on earth.
41:15Cleopatra introduced him to Ptolemaic traditions and treated her lover like a god.
41:21They embraced the goddess Isis and the god Dionysus, and they treated themselves as royals and directly connected to the
41:29gods.
41:31Cleopatra went all out to seduce Mark Anthony, who gladly embraced the lavish lifestyle that was being offered to him.
41:41Mark Anthony was not necessarily the scholastic ruler that Julius Caesar might have been.
41:46No, Mark Anthony was a little bit of a bad boy. He liked to have a good time, and Cleopatra
41:51also was a bit of a bad girl.
41:53The two of them together, well, you know, let's leave it to history.
41:58They lived a life of pure extravagance with endless feasts and parties. In fact, they created a club exclusively for
42:05those who lived an unparalleled lifestyle.
42:08The unparalleled lifestyle. It was a club comprised of Egyptian elites, where members came together to revel in extravagant and
42:16pointless parties.
42:17The atmosphere was similar to what we see today, where the aim is to enjoy oneself and spend as much
42:22money as possible.
42:24One of the most famous competitions in this club was between Mark Anthony and Cleopatra.
42:29They vied to outdo each other by throwing the most lavish and costly soirees.
42:35Mark Anthony kicked things off by hosting a lavish dinner.
42:39He made sure to serve the most expensive wines and the most extravagant dishes.
42:44It was an incredible evening that cost an arm and a leg, and then Cleopatra was up next.
42:51The meal was good, though not quite as opulent as Mark Anthony's.
42:55When he jokingly declared himself the winner, she wasn't having it.
43:01To prove him wrong, she dropped her pearl earring, worth a small fortune, into her glass of wine.
43:09She watched as it dissolved, and with a challenging look in her eye, she downed the whole glass in one
43:16go.
43:20It would have been about 10 million dollars' worth of jewelry in modern day. It was incredible.
43:25She was about to do the same with the second earring. He stopped her and said,
43:29you win.
43:35Roman historians gave us this account of their extravagant lifestyle,
43:39meaning that the news of their debauchery had traveled all the way to Rome.
43:44Octavian, Julius Caesar's adopted son and Mark Anthony's rival in the race for control over the empire,
43:50was highly critical of their behavior.
43:52He went on to launch a propaganda campaign against the Queen of Egypt.
43:58Octavian was an expert propagandist, especially when it came to vilifying a foreign queen.
44:05Cleopatra was portrayed as a seductive and cunning femme fatale who had enchanted the Roman imperator
44:11and who sought to dominate Rome.
44:13Octavian's propaganda painted her as a perverse and dangerous woman
44:17who had castrated Mark Anthony as part of her plan to control him.
44:23Octavian sought to discredit Cleopatra by spreading the message that Mark Anthony was under the influence of a foreign threat.
44:33Octavian, who aimed to gain control of the Roman Empire, used what he judged as a scandalous affair between Cleopatra
44:39and Mark Anthony as a means to eliminate his rival.
44:44This message would be repeated by historians of the time.
44:48They saw her very much as a sort of seductress, quite a sexy woman.
44:55This was all sort of word of mouth that would have come from Egypt all the way over to Rome
44:59because of course the perception of the Romans about Cleopatra was that she had seduced two of their leaders,
45:06first Julius Caesar and then Mark Anthony.
45:10Yet the love they shared was real.
45:13The relationship between Mark Anthony and Cleopatra lasted for more than ten years.
45:18However, they weren't always together.
45:20In 40 BCE, in order to make peace with Octavian, Mark Anthony married the Roman leader's sister, Octavia.
45:28He lived with her in Rome for three years.
45:32However, Mark Anthony's heart never stopped beating for Cleopatra.
45:36He divorced Octavian's sister to be by his queen's side once again.
45:41And in 37 BCE, the couple reunited in Antioch, Anatolia.
45:46Cleopatra then demanded some of Mark Anthony's territories as a pledge in a bid to reconstruct the empire of her
45:52predecessors.
45:53Mark Anthony was continuously engaging in warfare to try to conquer lands in the east, and sometimes Cleopatra was with
46:00him, but sometimes she was based in Alexandria.
46:03The Roman general racked up a series of impressive military triumphs.
46:07By returning the ports of Phoenicia and Anatolia to Cleopatra, as well as Cyprus, he secured a major victory for
46:14the Queen of Egypt, who was able to rebuild the empire established by the Ptolemaic rulers.
46:22The relationship between the two lovers was a blend of strategy, politics, and physical attraction.
46:28As a result of their intense affair, the last Queen of Egypt bore three children.
46:35However, little is known about these offspring.
46:38So we set out to find depictions of them.
46:42Our search took us through the maze-like corridors of the grandiose Cairo Museum.
46:50Until Meredith Brand pointed us towards a statue of the twins.
46:56This is one of the only known examples that we have of the twins, Alexander Helios and Cleopatra Selene.
47:07The twins, Alexander and Cleopatra, were born roughly a year after Marc Antony and Cleopatra started their romance.
47:14They were born into a conflict with their parents trying to take over the eastern part of the known Mediterranean
47:20world.
47:21These children were forgotten, even though they were destined for a bright political future.
47:26Marc Antony conquered Armenia and various areas to the east.
47:31He came back to Alexandria and raised up the power of his children and donating them lands,
47:37so that when they got older, they would be the rulers of many different places in the Mediterranean.
47:43So Cleopatra and Marc Antony were building up an empire to give to their children.
47:51Cleopatra and Marc Antony organized the transfer of power to their successors in both Ptolemaic Egypt and the wider eastern
47:57Roman Empire.
48:00They planned to take over the Roman Empire and to raise the status and power of Cleopatra's son with Julius
48:07Caesar and their own three children.
48:09To ensure that her destiny lived on, Cleopatra funded Marc Antony's campaigns to conquer new territories in the east.
48:17Rather than bringing these lands under Rome's rule, Marc Antony retained control over them for his own successors.
48:27And Marc Antony does at one point state that he desires for Alexandria to become the new capital of the
48:34Roman Republic.
48:35This is another way in which he enraged the Senate in Rome.
48:39But it seems that the two of them wanted to create the idea of a new eastern republic or empire
48:48with Egypt at its heart.
48:51This was unacceptable for Octavian, who had aspirations of becoming emperor and ruling over the entire empire.
48:59He saw that Marc Antony had won territories in the eastern empire.
49:06And instead of giving them over to Rome, he was passing them on to his and Cleopatra's children.
49:13Effectively, he was handing down Roman territories in his will to his children with the Queen of Egypt.
49:18And the fact that he was calling Cleopatra the Queen of Kings only served to heighten Rome's displeasure.
49:36In Rome, Marc Antony was viewed as a traitor to their cause, particularly after Octavian became aware of Antony's will,
49:44which revealed his intention to relinquish the Roman Empire to his children with the Egyptian Queen.
49:51Throughout her reign, Cleopatra successfully eliminated the threats from within her own family,
49:57going so far as to have her younger sister Arsinoe assassinated and likely poisoned.
50:03With the support of Rome, this political genius ruled her kingdom with an iron grip.
50:09Her love affairs enabled her to forge alliances with the ancient world's most powerful figures,
50:14first with the great Julius Caesar, and later with the passionate figure of Marc Antony.
50:21But gradually, the Roman Empire grew wary of this powerful Queen,
50:25who was far from the depraved figure that Roman propaganda portrayed her to be.
50:30It was all too much for Octavian, the future Emperor Augustus,
50:34who was in the process of consolidating his control over the Empire.
50:38In the final battle between Cleopatra and Marc Antony on one side, and Octavian on the other,
50:44the fate of the Roman Empire hung in the balance, and with it, the end of Egypt's Pharaonic era.
50:51Cleopatra's reign was a moment of decisive peril for Ptolemaic Egypt.
50:55If Cleopatra didn't somehow do something that would preserve the Ptolemaic dynasty,
51:01everything would be lost and Egypt would be a Roman province.
51:04A war that would lead to a naval battle of epic proportions,
51:09one that had the potential to alter the course of history.
51:12If Cleopatra and Marc Antony had actually won the Battle of Actium,
51:16Egypt would have been a central world power.
51:20Alexandria would have been one of the most important cities in the world.
51:23And the children of Cleopatra with Caesar and with Marc Antony,
51:27they would have ruled all the parts of the known world.
51:30In the final episode, we will recount the epic battle that changed the course of ancient history,
51:36as well as the last days of the two lovers, Cleopatra and Marc Antony.
51:41We will also embark on a quest to uncover the submerged tomb of this enigmatic Queen of Egypt.
51:47By the way,!!!
52:17Transcription by CastingWords
52:19CastingWords