Arsinoe
Source — Wikimedia Commons

How Cleopatra’s Younger Sister Defeated the Male Ego of Julius Caesar

The brave tale of Arsinoe

Kabir
Exploring History
Published in
2 min readAug 10, 2020

--

Arsinoe IV was possibly the fourth daughter of King Ptolemy XII. She was born around 63 BC and was the half-sister of Cleopatra VII.

When Ptolemy XII died in 51 BC, his daughter Cleopatra and his eldest son Ptolemy XIII became the joint rulers of Egypt. The brother-sister married each other overlooking Arsinoe who was around 15 years of age at that time.

Arsinoe and Cleopatra had their own differences. Eventually, Arsinoe won over Ptolemy, and Cleopatra was forced to flee Alexandria.

Arsinoe seized this golden opportunity and proclaimed herself to be the queen of Egypt.

Cleopatra was furious and wanted to take revenge from her younger sister Arsinoe.

Cleopatra seduced Julius Caesar and ensconced on the throne

In 48 BC, Julius Caesar arrived in Alexandra to take revenge from his rival Pompey.

Cleopatra who was banished from the throne of Egypt approached Caesar, seduced him, and asked him to get her the throne back.

Caesar, enthralled by Cleopatra’s beauty followed her command and invaded Alexandria to imprison Arsinoe.

--

--

Kabir
Exploring History

This part of me writes about startups, founder stories & technology. Check my other medium profile for articles on art & culture. https://kamnakabir.medium.com/