In 51 B.C., Ptolemy XII died, leaving the throne to 18-year-old Cleopatra and her brother, 10-year-old Ptolemy XIII. Likely, as was the custom of the day, the two married. Political turmoil and ...

They were in fact Macedonian Greek, which makes Cleopatra about as Egyptian as Elizabeth Taylor. She and her 10-year-old brother assumed control of a country with a weighty past and a wobbly future.

Well, this is certainly what happened with Cleopatra and brother/husband Ptolemy, as when he turned 13 in 49 BCE he quite fancied ruling without his sister/wife. He conspired against her ...

Cleopatra followed, bringing along her young son Ptolemy XV Caesar, also called Caesarion, whom she claimed was the son of Julius Caesar. Romans did not know what to make of her. They were ...

and her older brother Phoenix, 2, is understandably a bit jealous. (It’s OK Phoenix, we are too!) Related story Christina Ricci’s 3-Year-Old Daughter Cleopatra Is Already Taking a Stand ...

Writing of the 1949 black comedy “Kind Hearts and Coronets,” in which Alec Guinness played every member of an eccentric aristocratic family, A.N. Wilson remarked on how “an essentially sad ...