Julius Caesar
When Julius Caesar got to Egypt, he was happy to find out that Pompey was dead. Julius Caesar spent the winter in Egypt, where he met Egypt’s pharaoh, Cleopatra. When he went back to Rome in the spring he took Cleopatra back to Rome with him as his girlfriend. They had a child. But when Caesar declared himself dictator for life, this was too much for the Senators, and they murdered him at a meeting of the Senate in 44 BC.
Coin of the Egyptian pharaoh Cleopatra
A younger group of men then formed another power group: the Second Triumvirate. This time the men in the group were Caesar’s friend Mark Anthony, Lepidus (who was very rich), and Octavian (Caesar’s nephew and adopted son). It worked out just the same way – the leaders could not get along.
Mark Anthony on a coin
Cleopatra soon became Mark Anthony’s girlfriend, and she and Mark Anthony had three more children. Eventually Anthony and Cleopatra forced Lepidus out of power. Then Anthony and Cleopatra and Octavian got into a civil war. In 31 BC Octavian defeated Anthony and Cleopatra in battle at Actium, and Anthony and Cleopatra killed themselves (or that’s what Octavian said, anyway – it’s also possible that Octavian ordered his own soldiers to kill Anthony and Cleopatra).
