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 CLEOPATRA 667 fail, and that failure would ruin him. But complete success crowned his labors, and the Spartans were forced to surrender. Although the merit of the military exploit is principal- ly due to Demosthenes, the Athenian general, it is undeniable that Cleon's arrival on the scene of operations infused new spirit into the assailants, whose numbers were overwhelming. His political character was nevertheless bit- terly assailed by Aristophanes in his comedies, " The Knights " and " The Wasps." The close of Cleon's career was marked by his misman- agement of an expedition into Macedonia, to operate against the Spartan Brasidas. The Athenians were totally defeated at Amphipo- lis, Cleon being slain and Brasidas mortally wounded. Cleon is represented by Thucydi- des. and Aristophanes as a mere demagogue ; but Grote and others have zealously endeav- ored to effect a reversal of the unfavorable judgment pronounced against him by his ene- mies, and by the writers of the aristocratic faction, of which he was the leading opponent. CLEOPATRA, the last queen of Egypt, third and eldest surviving daughter of King Ptolemy Auletes, born in Alexandria in 69, died there, August 30, 30 B. C. In 51 her father died, and left her by his will the joint heir of the throne with her brother Ptolemy, who was also, according to a not uncommon practice of the Egyptian royal families, to become nomi- nally her husband. Cleopatra was at this time only 17 years of age ; but her remarkable pre- cocity, her great talents, and the unbridled am- bition of which she already gave unmistakable indications, soon showed the intriguing cour- tiers who surrounded her and the still younger Ptolemy that so long as she shared the throne they could not hope for that uncontrolled pow- er which they had expected to enjoy on ac- count of the youth and inexperience of the two rulers. Desirous therefore of ridding them- selves of the young queen, they succeeded with- out difficulty in turning her brother against her; and taking advantage of one of the pop- ular riots then frequent in Alexandria, they excited the. people by accusing her of scheming for undivided power, and expelled her from the city in the year 49. Pothinus, Ptolemy's guardian, and Achillas, the commander of the army, were the leaders in this movement. Cleo- patra at once began preparations for regaining her rights. Rome, where she might have sought aid, as the senate had confirmed her father's will, was in too disturbed a state to answer any appeal, and she attempted none ; but col- lecting her adherents and such forces as she could procure on the Arabian boundary of Egypt, she began to advance upon the country, and prepared for an engagement with the army of Achillas sent against her. In the mean time important events were happening elsewhere. The war between Csesar and Pompey had been ended by the overwhelming defeat of the latter at Pharsalia (Aug. 9, 48) ; and the conquered general fled to Egypt, where he hoped to find a friendly reception, more espe- cially as his party had proclaimed themselves in favor of Ptolemy in his strife against his sister. The treacherous assassination of the Roman leader near Pelusium showed how fatal- ly mistaken was his plan of flight ; but the Egyptians failed to gain by his murder the ex- pected end, that of keeping the conqueror away from their country. Pompey had been dead but a few days when the ships of Caesar ap- peared in the harbor of Alexandria, early in the month of October. In want of money, and perhaps disposed to interfere in Egyptian affairs, he landed in the city and took up his residence there for the winter months, in spite of the opposition of the people. Several wri- ters even represent him as having been before this attracted by the report of Cleopatra's beauty, which was certainly already famous, and as having prior to his coming received secret agents bringing appeals from her, so that he was even now prejudiced in her favor and ready to embrace her cause ; but this is by no means certain. His first act was an impartial one. When he had established him- self in the royal palace, suppressing the vio- lent resistance of the Alexandrians, and had the young king entirely in his power, he com- manded both the combatants for the throne to lay down their arms and submit the question of their rights to him. Achillas, encamped with his army at Pelusium, refused to obey the order, in spite of the fact that the young Ptolemy was held a virtual prisoner in the city. But Cleopatra at once obeyed, and dis- banded her army. She now determined to seek Caesar in person, and resolved upon the daring venture which forms a celebrated epi- sode in her career. With a single trusted at- tendant, a Sicilian named Apollodorus, she made her way at twilight, in a little boat, from a larger vessel out at sea, into the harbor of Alexandria, and succeeded in reaching unob- served the steps leading from the royal palace to the water. Wrapped in a roll of heavy carpet tied with cords, she was now carried by Apollodorus into Caesar's presence. The car- pet was unrolled, and the queen, whose beauty at this period of her life must, according to the old historians, have been most brilliant and perfect, appeared for the first time before the astonished Roman. By the added influence of her personal fascination and this daring coup de theatre, Cleopatra's end was gained at once, and from this moment until Caasar's death her power over him does not appear to have de- creased. He now interfered actively, in her interest, in Egyptian affairs, and at first brought about a kind of reconciliation between her and her brother ; but this was not lasting, and a complication of intrigues ensued, by which first one and then another of Cleopatra's fami- ly endeavored to gain possession of the throne and to drive Caesar and the queen from the country. A war followed in which Csesar, cut off in a foreign port, and with only the