Passion or Profession: Ruler

Period: 69–30 BC

A queen of ancient Egypt, Cleopatra Thea Philopator (the last two names are Greek for “goddess loving her father”) was the last ruler of the Ptolemaic Dynasty. Cleopatra inherited the kingdom at age 18 and reestablished the dynasty through strategic alliances, diplomacy, and violence. She was notorious in antiquity and since has been romanticized as the lover of both Julius Caesar and Mark Antony.