Cleopatra VII Leadership Analysis Essay Example

Cleopatra VII, the last Pharaoh of Egypt was the most significant and powerful leader of Egypt at the time of her reign. From her rise to leadership she enormously changed the way in which Egypt was seen throughout the world, and being a women at the time of her reign, she proved herself to be a powerful feminist figure for the whole of Egypt. The reign of Cleopatra offers a glimpse into the historical achievements of the world’s last ever Pharaoh.

Cleopatra was born in 69 BC as the third daughter of Ptolemy XII Auletes. She and her younger brother (Ptolemy XIII) became joint monarchs after her father died in 51 BC. During Caesar's civil war with the Roman Senate (49BC), Cleopatra sided with Caesar and eventually was crowned Queen of Egypt in 48B by Caesar. Source 1 evidently shows how This was the beginning of the rise of Cleopatra, from being appointed queen by Caedar she was able to then work on the kingdom and gain control, while doing this she became a lover to Caesar which strongly assisted her in her rise as Queen. She was appointed to the kingdom with her brother Ptolemy XIII who she later on kills in order to gain complete power of the kingdom. Source 2 reveals that although Cleopatra was a strong leader, the patriarchy at the time was prominent so a woman being in charge could cause the nation to rebel. “Caesar overcame Egypt.  But he did not make it subject to the Romans; he gave it to Cleopatra because he had fought the war for her.  But he was afraid that the Egyptians might rebel again because they had a woman ruling them”, because of this Cleopatra was forced to marry her brother in order to rule, she knew that she would obtain complete rule over the kingdom as her brother was too young. There were many factors that contributed to the rise of Cleopatra but the death of her father Ptolemy XII was a key factor in her rise as Pharaoh of Egypt.

Through her time of reign Cleopatra became a well known and significant  feminist figure in Egypt. Cleopatra was perhaps the first women sovereign in history to rule alone for a period of over a decade. Her leadership showed skilled use of public communications and diplomacy. It is clear that female pharaohs had at least some importance in ruling and several may have ruled alone, for short periods at least. However historical records are sadly lacking depth when it comes to the reign of women in power because of the hierarchical beliefs at those times. Until the reign of Cleopatra the records of women in power were lacking however she changed that forever. Source 3, the portrait of Cleopatra emerging from the carpet is a perfect example as to how she was a significant feminist figure, she was able to use her her beauty, charms and intellect as a woman to her advantage and was able to distract Julius caesar, the picture shows Cleopatra standing there while Julius Caesar is distracted by the sight of her. However like many women in society Cleopatra was highly sexualised by men in society, so painting and depictions created by men can be highly sexualised and lack to show how great of a leader she is. In comparison to source 3, source 4 evidently proves how significant Cleopatra was as a leader and not only that a feminist leader, to have a coin with you bust on it meant that you placed a high and important place in society and especially being a women at the time of Cleopatras reign meant she was highly significant in society. Overall Cleopatra proved to be a highly significant feminist figure during her time of reign, changing the views of women throughout history.

Cleopatra not only changed history forever she achieved great things for Egypt. Cleopatra was a highly educated individual who was able to communicate using many languages and because of this she was able to not only speak to members of other nations she was able to use it to her advantage and establish trade and negotiate. Cleopatra ruled the Egyptian empire alone through relative security and prosperity. Her significant and highly historic period of reign as a lone female sovereign is largely obscured by history, however her pioneering of role leading led to Egypt being one of the richest empires in the world, evidently signifying this as one of the achievements by Cleopatra. Source 5 evidently captures the achievement of Cleopatra being not only a lone ruler but a female one, she was able to uphold and excel the kingdom in a strategic and effective way, “Cleopatra proved to be a skilled and strategic ruler. Her relationship with the Roman Empire, including her relations with both Julius Caesar and Mark Antony, indicated her skill in both public and private diplomacy.” Through this quote we are able to see how she effectively used her connections with those of a higher standard to her advantage and used them to help her excel the kingdom. Source six, the primary source written by Plutarch shows how Cleopatra used her ways of attraction and charm as well as her multilingual abilities to her advantage,“she could pass from one language to another, so that there were few of the nations that she needed an interpreter”. Through this Cleopatra was able to influence politics and changed the way western empires would forever be governed.

Cleopatra during her time in reign made the Egyptian empire what it is today. Cleopatra was charismatic and intelligent, and she used both qualities to further Egypt's political aims, and govern it to be one of the strongest and richest empires. During her reign, Cleopatra used advanced public relation models to improve her ability to collect information and listen strategically, relate to the public, control the affairs of the Egyptian Empire, and conduct international relations. Cleopatra's extensive knowledge of the territories she ruled was fueled by extensive research on rulers, laws, and territory assets to aid her in negotiations. Furthermore, her extensive knowledge of the languages of the people with whom she negotiated would have aided her interactions and long-term symmetrical relationships with those people and their reign. Source 7 evidently proves how Cleopatra was a powerful and significant leader, the source shows that she is an experienced leader , changing her speaking style to meet the needs of the people before her. This would allow the people to feel that she understands them and it creates a positive relationship between the ruler and her people. What made straw polling a positive thing? It enabled Cleopatra to allow her people to partake in an informal voting system which allowed her then to understand what the people may or may not have supported. Constantly attempting to be well informed rather than relying on others to tell her what she may possibly want to hear . It put her in control of the information she receives and the message she wants others to receive. Cleopatra proved to be a significant and powerful leader through many tactics such as her lengthy symmetrical relationships with leaders, setting up trade agreements and managing lease agreements within her territories. Source 10, On 23 February 33 BCE, the Queen of Egypt, Cleopatra VII, issued a royal ordinance granting financial privileges to a Roman absentee landlord. This was a strategic strategy used by Cleopatra, shows us how she worked with other nations and symmetrical relationships with leaders, by setting up trade agreements and lease agreements in her territoires excellent record keeping under her administration of leadership, privileges included tax exemptions and protection of his workers and other property from various impositions. Overall Cleopatra’s commitment to the throne made her the powerful and significant leader she came to be as she excelled the Egyptian Empire into greatness. Because of her commitment and recognition that she bought upon not only herself but the Egyptian Empire, a Basalt Statue of Cleopatra VII was made, Many different stones were used for Egyptian portrait sculpture, but basalt was a popular one since the stone is very hard and durable, giving a sense of permanence especially to royal portraiture. 

Cleopatra is presented here as an Egyptian pharaoh. She wears a wig adorned with the royal uraeus and carries an ankh in her right hand. The cornucopia in her left hand is a Greek symbol, but its connotation of bounty is similar to the ankh’s symbolism of life. Also note that one of her feet is advanced. Egyptian women were typically depicted with feet together and men with one foot advanced, but the adoption of masculine traits to represent a ruling queen is also traditionally Egyptian. This statue was intended for an Egyptian audience and meant to convey Cleopatra’s commitment to ruling over her Egyptian subjects through the forms and structures that they had long been accustomed to.

To conclude, the various techniques and large commitment of Cleopatra VII lead to her being a strong, powerful and significant figure of the Egyptian Empire. Being a lone ruling female and being able to complete such high achievements and place an entire Empire as a female at the time only proves how significant Cleopatra VII really was.