BLOODY MARY!!!!

The ghost of Queen Mary I of England stained in blood drinking a Bloody Mary

CLEOPATRA:It was not her beauty but her intelligence

For a long time, Cleopatra was depicted as a young beautiful and sexy woman because of her influence and her ability to seduce two great politicians( Julius Caesar and Mark Anthony) of the Roman empire so as to get what she wanted whenever she wanted. She is said to have changed the face of the world in her time through her beauty and charm. Her beauty was depicted in the 1963 film Cleopatra by Elizabeth Taylor. However, this may not have been the case from the evidence found in Egypt of the coins of her time. From the coins it was found that she had a shallow forehead, pointed chin, thin lips and a witch- like nose(i.e it was big). So how exactly was she able to seduce the two Roman politicians?

Cleopatra, also known as the last pharaoh of Egypt was born in a Ptolemaic family who were the aristocrats of Egypt at the time. Her father was a pharaoh and she had two sisters and two younger brothers;Ptolemy XIII and Ptolemy XIV. When her father died, he left a will which stated that her and her brother would be co- rulers of Egypt and they had to get married. She got married to the younger brother according to the Egyptian law. However, she was strong willed and brilliant and dreamt of a greater world empire which made her exclude the younger brother and husband Ptolemy XIII from the Egyptian coins and the kingdom's activities as she wanted to be the sole ruler of Egypt. However, the brother managed to overthrow her and she was sent to exile.

Cleopatra formed an Arab army which camped outside Alexandria. It happened that Julius Caesar the Roman emperor at the time heard of the sibling rivalry. He decided to visit Alexandria to make peace between the two siblings.So he stayed at one of the royal palaces in order to assemble the siblings the next morning. On hearing this, Cleoptra who had been barred from the city by the brother  asked one of her servants to sneak her into the emperor's palace. From historical sources it is said that she sneaked into the palace by being rolled up in a carpet which her servant was carrying. This amazed Julius Caesar and she became his mistress. By the time Julius Caesar was meeting with the siblings the next morning, Cleoptra had already won his favour which made the brother furious and tried to fight against Julius Caesar's army but he was defeated and he drowned at River Nile while trying to escape.

Because of his death, Cleopatra was now the sole ruler of Egypt. Caesar had restored her position, but she now had to marry her younger brother Ptolemy XIV, who was eleven years old. This was to please the Alexandrians and the Egyptian priests. Surely Caesar went through all of this trouble for more than his infatuation with the queen of Egypt. She became the pharaoh and called herself the New Isis(Isis was the mother goddess of Egypt) after she gave birth to Caesar's son little Caeserion. Her relationship with Caesar continued and she went to reside at his palace even if Caesar already had a wife. He erected a statue of her represented as Isis in one of the temples in Rome. However, Caesar was assasinated and Cleopatra fled back to Alexandria since he had not written her and Caeserion in his will.

Cleopatra did what was necessary to try and save Alexandria from the Roman empire whatever the price. For this reason, she watched for the next rulers of Rome and decided that she would pursue Mark Anthony instead of Octavia as she had learnt his characater; she knew about his limited strategic and tactical abilities,blue-blooded, the drinking, his womanizing, his vulgarity and his ambition. So when Mark Anthony called on her to meet him, she made an impressive entry regardless of the Egyptian economic crisis.  She sailed with silver oars, purple sails with her Erotes fanning her and the Nereid handmaids steering and she was dressed as Aphrodite, the goddess of love. This was a very calculated entrance; considered vulgar by many. It was a vulgar display to attract the attention of a vulgar man. Mark Antony loved the idea of having a blue-blooded Ptolemy woman. Cleopatra had caught his attention.

 Cleopatra could get out of him what she wanted as he was infatuated by the queen. She managed to give all her children royal titles and she also was crowned Queen of kings by Mark Anthony. She was also able to order the execution of her own sister through Mark Anthony. She wanted to be the Empress of the world and her oath was,"As surely as I shall yet dispense justice on the Roman Capital". This made Octavia angry with Mark Anthony and they fought against each other in the battle of Actium where Mark Anthony was defeated and he committed suicide.

After Antony's death, Cleopatra was taken to Octavian where her role in Octavian's triumph was carefully explained to her. He had no interest in any relationship, negotiation or reconciliation with the Queen of Egypt. She would be displayed as a slave in the cities she had ruled over. She must have had memories of her sister, Arsinoe, being humiliated in this way. She would not live this way, so she had an asp, which was an Egyptian cobra, brought to her hidden in a basket of figs. She at the age of 39. The Egyptian religion declared that death by snakebite would secure immortality. With this, she achieved her dying wish, to not be forgotten. 

Cleopatra may have been beautiful, ugly, or somewhere in between. Certainly, she was intelligent, a good diplomat, and queen of an area important for Rome, so it is no wonder that leaders of Rome like Caesar and Mark Antony, would fall in love with Cleopatra, while another Roman leader, Octavian (the future Emperor Augustus), would fear and hate her.

Cleopatra is not know for her brilliance and her devotion to her country. She was a mathematician and a very good businesswoman. Her astronomer is known to have discovered the leap years and she introduced him to Caesar. She had a genuine respect for Caesar, whose intelligence matched her own. Antony on the other hand almost drove her insane with his lack of intelligence and his excesses.She used this fact to her advantage. She fought for her country. She had a charismatic personality, was a born leader and an ambitious monarch.

 "Cleopatra was a mistress of disguise she could reinvent herself to suit the occassion..."

Love made the world go round or was it lust?

Ever heard the theory that women rule the world? Do you believe it?Well, I would like you to ask yourself the same question right after you hear of one great historical icon known as Anne Boleyn who basically reformed England back in the 15th century because of her beauty and charm.


Okay so have you ever heard of King Henry VIII? The one who had six wives? Yeah that is who I am talking about. So Henry married Catherine of Aragon who was the widow of his elder brother Arthur when he became king. This was done because the marriage between Catherine and the brother was not consumated as he was sick and he passed later on. So this means that Catherine was much older than King Henry VIII. What man would be pleased by their wife being older than them? Therefore their marriage was based on tradition and not romance. They gave birth to a child know as Mary, Have you heard of Queen Mary I? Bloody Mary?( Anyway, that is besides the point).

So during this marriage there happened to be a lady who was one of court maids;brunette, dark-eyed and olive-skinned, Anne Boleyn. She caught the king's attention with her beauty, charm and how social she was. The king decided to pursue her as a mistress,however,she refused to be seduced by the king so that she could be his mistress. This made him fall in love with her or maybe it might have been infatuation. He decided that he would marry her and make her queen since Catherine had not given him a son and he also did not love her. These are the words he used to describe her(Anne) in his letter to her,"Wishing myself...in my sweetheart's arms, whose pretty dukkys [breasts] I trust shortly to kiss...". Well that is King Henry for you.

Since the English church was linked to Rome and they were all under the pope, King Henry VIII decided to seek the pope's permission to marry Anne Boleyn. The pope refused this since it went against the laws of the church. This made King Henry VIII furious and he decided to break the English church also known as the Anglican church away from the Roman Catholic church and made himself Supreme head of the church instead of the pope. Though the two churches had earlier conflict this was the first time they divided. This made the pope excommunicate Henry from the church hence made the two churches exist separately.

Well, after all that was done, the King married Anne Boleyn and made her Queen. Their love was consumated and they gave birth to a girl known as Elizabeth, I know your wondering if this is Queen Elizabeth I( The virgin Queen);Yes it is her. However, Anne did not please the King as much because she did not give birth to any son. This made him fall in love with one of Queen Anne's maids, Jane Seymour. Rumours spread of Queen Anne being adulterous and practising witchcraft . King Henry who had already fallen in love with Jane, was quick to execute Anne Boleyn for treason; so was it love or lust for Boleyn?

Despite the sad ending of Anne Boleyn, we see how much the lady had over King Henry VIII and how she controled his thoughts and feelings to lead to the reformation of the church so that she could be made Queen. So I ask you again, Who exactly rules the world?Women?Maybe if your not convinced you should stay tuned to this blog so that I tell you about another icon, Cleopatra....

Feel free to post ypur comments I would love to know your views

Its just me,making an entry

Okay am not much of an author just a 19 year old student struggling with her actuarial books and who is fascinated with world history. I always tell my friends of what am fascinated with..and how excited i am with some stories but i always get this look from them like "ummm...okay?" So i will try and explain to you what exactly fascinates me about it and why my eyes lighten up each time i tell or read the stories.

One thing you might not know about me may need to know is that I LOVE the old fashioned lifestyle; classical music, fashion from the 60s ,vintage interiors and cars,the language(french and english accents take me to a whole new level), the elegance they had in those days was breathtaking.At times I tend to believe that I am a reincarnation from the 15th century but this goes against my religous beliefs so I brush the thoughts away and also in the movie, Midnight in Paris by Owen Wilson it was termed as a condition.

This blog may not be interesting to all but let me call it an exclusive one, you know the 'Members-only blog'. Anyway i hope you enjoy everybit of it.