Cleopatra VII, The Oueen of Kings

Cleopatra was the daughter of Ptolemy XII, whom she originally shared power with and later shared power with her brothers/husbands Ptolemy XIII and Ptolemy XIV, but she eventually gained sole power of Egypt. She became the Pharaoh of Egypt at the age of eighteen when her farther died. Her greatest accomplishment was her union with Mark Antony in which later in their infatuation he gave her Cyprus, the Cilician coast, Phoenicia, Coele-Syria, Judea and Arabia in return for his three children, a set of twins, one boy and one girl, and another son. Cleopatra's largest challenge was keeping role of Egypt. She was forced to have many consorts so that she could remain the sole ruler. She was in war with Rome do to both of her lovers, Julius Caesar and Mark Antony. Antony and Cleopatra came in to war with Octavian, the brother of Octavia who was Antony's wife at one point. Antony committed suicide during the war which gave Octavian power over Cleopatra. He had sentenced her to become a slave in the lands she had once rulered as Pharaoh. Cleopatra could not bare the thought of this so she had an asp, an Egyptian cobra, brought to her hidden in a basket of figs. She died on August 12, 30 BC at the age of 39. I chose Cleopatra because she had brilliance and a devotion to her country. She was a quick-witted woman who was fluent in nine languages, a mathematician and a very good business woman. She fought for her country, had a charismatic personality, and was a born leader.