Queen Cleopatra: 7 Surprising Takeaways From the Netflix Docuseries

Cleopatra Had a Baby With Julius Caesar

Speaking of Cleopatra’s son Caesarion, you can probably tell by his name who his father was. That’s right — the great Roman dictator Julius Caesar.

The docuseries explains that Cleopatra and Julius Caesar met for political reasons and ended up sparking a romantic relationship. Cleopatra was seeking an alliance with Rome in order to gain a powerful advantage over her siblings, who were all basically trying to kill each other in order to seize total power over Egypt.

Cleopatra’s brother, Ptolemy XIII, had Caesar’s former son-in-law, Pompey, killed in the hopes that it would please Caesar since he and Pomepy had been feuding. But Ptolemy XIII didn’t realize that Caesar still loved Pompey despite their differences, and by killing him, he accidentally angered Caesar. This presented a great opportunity for Cleopatra to swoop in and convince Caesar that he should side with her instead, and they began a long and politically influential relationship.

Cleopatra and Caesar had a baby together named Caesarion. Though Caesar never claimed Caesarion as his heir, he has been widely acknowledged as the son of Julius Caesar in the eyes of history. Caesar and Cleopatra continued their romantic relationship until Caesar’s death on March 15, 44 B.C.

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