13. Her Two Sisters Were Both Failed Queens (And Cleopatra Had One of Them Killed)
In addition to her brother-husbands, Cleopatra had two sisters, Berenice IV and Arsinoe IV. Berenice was the oldest of the five siblings, and, when her father decided to run away to Rome for a bit, she made herself queen in his absence in 58 BC (perhaps after another mysterious relative took the throne).
Berenice married a cousin named Seleucus to solidify her claim to the throne, but he was killed within a week of the wedding, and a second marriage didn’t fare much better. When her dad came home, he had Daughter Dearest executed in 56 BC.
Cleopatra’s little sister, Arsinoe, was just as ambitious as the rest of her family. When Caesar came to Egypt, he gave Arsinoe the island of Cyprus to rule as her own (in name only, probably). Eager for power, Arsinoe and her tutor garnered the support of a native Egyptian army, who named her queen in 48 BC. But the Romans defeated them, and Arsinoe was sent to Rome in chains as a symbolf of Caesar’s triumph. In 41 BC, Cleopatra convinced Antony to execute her little sis
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