Cleopatra VII bore the name of Alexander's sister and had it in her bones to be a queen in Ptolemiac tradition. They were strong, fearless, intelligent and without mercy. From her first regnal year, when she was just eighteen, the coins of her reign carried her portrait only, contrary to Ptolemaic custom. It was almost as though her co ruler and little brother didn't exist. Her coins were clearly stamped Kleopatras Basilisses with no other acknowledgement.

Within a few months of her accession, the sacred bull of Buchis died at the temple of Hermonthis, a few miles from Thebes in Upper Egypt. This white bull, with its coat that seemed to catch and sparkle in the light, contained the terrestrial spirit of the great god Amon-Ra, and the inauguration of a new bull was a deep moment in the religious life of Egypt. The event took place in March 51 BCE and the inscription at the Bucheum recorded that 'the Queen, the Lady of the Two Lands, the Father-Loving Goddess, rowed the bull in the barge of Amon to Hermonthis'. Never before, in the meticulous religious records of Egypt, had it been noted that a Ptolemy performed this reverent act in person. It was a very astute political statement by the young queen, announcing her identification with the spirit and life of an older Egypt. By doing this, she sent notice that she was not just a Macedonian Greek from Alexandria who farmed an alien land for her own benefit from the distant Mediterranean shore. She was an Egyptian whose heart beat in time with the pharaonic tradition, a queen of all her people.

Cleopatra needed whatever help she could get from the body of Egypt, for the scheming at the head, in Alexandria was as busy as usual. The 10 year old king, Ptolemy XII, had been provided with a council of guardians made up of the dioiketes Pothinus, a eunuch in charge of finance and administration, the tropheus Theodotus, the king's tutor, and the army commander Achillas. Ptolemaic law, regarding co rulers, had always given kings precedence over queens. If the guardians wished to advance their own ambitions through the manipulation of a child king, they had a keen interest in limiting and controlling this determined queen.

So her position in the Brucheion palace was full of danger, nor was there any safety in the city beyond. To the habitual wildness of the Alexandrian mob, there was now an added peril from the men of Gabinius. A few years later Julius Caesar found these Gabinians a cause of violent disorder.

The men of Gabinius [Caesar wrote in the Civil War] had grown use to the lax life in Alexandria. Ceasing to think of themselves as Romans and forgetting Roman discipline, they had married and begot children by local wives. And many brigands, pirates, condemned criminals and exiles had joined them. If any were arrested by his master, his comrades would unite to rescue him. A threat to one was a threat to all. So insolent did they become, they demanded the execution of royal favorites, plundered the property of the rich, and besieged the palace for more pay. They dared to try to raise up or pull down kings, as was the ancient Alexandrian tradition.

The Gabinians were a rabble to be feared, but Cleopatra was bold enough to try to limit their influence. When a new Roman proconsul in Syria, Marcus Bibulus, ordered the Gabinians to return to his command for the war against Parthia, the rebel troops killed the envoys, who were Bibulus' two sons. Cleopatra had the murderers arrested immediately and sent to Bibulus in chains. She wished to keep Roman friendship at almost any cost, but it was a brave act for one whose position was so insecure to antagonize these riotous brawlers.

In 50 BCE, the seasonal flood of the Nile had been too low for a good harvest. Drought followed and with it famine. Villages were abandoned and temples grew anxious for their safety. Cleopatra was forced to divert resources from the countryside to feed Alexandria. The decree that ordered this transfer of grain, written in peremptory terms with severe penalties, was jointly signed with her brother king. No doubt she needed to invoke the fullest authority of the Ptolemaic crown and needed to rely on the support of the king. The decree, however was dated 'in the first year which is also the third year' of the reign. The third year for Cleopatra, but only the first for Ptolemy XIII. Once acknowledged, the king and his council grew in opposition to her sole authority.

In Alexandria, the strains of joint rule, made worse by the impending Roman civil war, had destroyed the already fragile harmony within the royal family. Alexandrians had always detested signs of subservience to Rome; the Gabinians resisted the break up of their community. Pothinus and the council acting (as Caesar wrote) through the king's 'friends and relatives', fastened the blame on Cleopatra as the senior of the co-rulers and the dominating figure in government. By the end of 49 BCE, the sentiment of the people of Alexandria had turned against her and she was driven from the capital. Decrees began to be issued in the name of Ptolemy XIII alone.

To drive a Ptolemaic queen from Alexandria was one matter. An angry mob could do that. But to prevent her from plotting a return was much harder. We read of Cleopatra in Upper Egypt, in the Thebaid, raising an army where the old Pharaonic traditions were still strong. Cleopatra well understood her subjects in these lands, as she had shown at the inauguration of the bull of Buchis. Within a year she was ready to move against her brother, and Achillas of the king's council was forced to lead an army to confront her at the north eastern border near Pelusium.

It was at this moment that the shadow of Rome once again fell across Egypt. In the summer of 48 BCE Caesar had defeated Pompey in Pharsalus in Thessaly. After this shattering blow, Pompey decided to run for Egypt, the land that had helped him before and where most of the wealth lay. He was, after all, the self appointed guardian of the 13 year old king, who would be likely to deny aid to the great Pompey.

Young Ptolemy's advisors feared that Pompey, if allowed to live, might try to make Egypt his base of operations. If he did, the country would be ravaged in the ensuing struggle with Caesar. Ptolemy already had his hands full with Cleopatra, whose army was encamped near his at Pelusium. His position was by no means secure. It was hoped that killing Pompey would eliminate a threat, place Ptolemy in good stead with Caesar, and end Caesar's immediate business in Egypt. He would then depart, leaving the Egyptians to themselves. Consequently, Pompey was murdered as he was being transported to shore (while his wife and friends watched helplessly from his ship) at Pelusium. Achillas was the Egyptian who orchestrated the deed, but it was made more repugnant by the fact that Septimus, a former officer of Pompey, was the man who stabbed him.

Pompey had been the all conquering general, but now he was merely a fallen hero and a cause for further trouble. In all dealings with Rome, the Ptolemies had always tried to back the winner. Failed men were no longer worth honor or fear. As the king's tutor Theodotus said, "Dead men don't bite."

However Caesar had other ideas for Egypt. When Cleopatra's father had been unable to repay his loan, Caesar had assumed responsibility for the debt. He now informed the Egyptian government that he planned to collect what was due.

Caesar also made it clear that, as Roman consul, he meant to see that the will of his 'old friend' Ptolemy Auletes was carried out to the letter. This mean he was going to adjudicate the disagreement between Cleopatra and her brother and they should mend their quarrel and reconcile. In his official capacity; he summoned Ptolemy, still with his army, to Alexandria. He must have also summoned Cleopatra, who was probably with her troops. Apparently, he did not provide her with an escort since Plutarch describes the following device by which she safely arrived at Caesar's feet.

(Caesar 49.1-2)

What sort of woman did he see when the surprising bundle was unrolled and the 21 year old queen of Egypt tumbled out before him? She was a queen arising out of a famous past, a fabulous history that combined something of the glory of Alexander with the triumphant longevity of Egypt's story. Latin was not included in Plutarch's list of Cleopatra's languages. But it is unlikely that a girl talented enough to learn Ethiopian or Arabic and astute enough to judge the threat to Egypt from Rome, would neglect the tongue of the masters of the Mediterranean world. Whatever language they used, the emotional attachment between the two was undeniable, although Caesar was married and continued to have other mistresses.