born Cleopatra VII Philopator, was the last active ruler of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt. Although she governed Egypt, she descended from a Greek family, and Greek remained her mother tongue.

Her beauty added to her appeal, but it was not her sole asset. Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator was born in 69 BC into the Ptolemaic dynasty, founded by Ptolemy I, a Macedonian Greek, a part of the ...