Cleopatra (-69 - -30). In art, Cleopatra is portrayed as a symbol of beauty, power, and sensuality, often depicted in scenes that highlight her political influence and dramatic life. In ancient Roman art, she is shown as a regal figure associated with luxury and wealth, sometimes portrayed alongside Julius Caesar or Mark Antony to emphasize her political alliances. Renaissance and Baroque artists, such as Jean-Léon Gérôme and Guido Reni, often depicted her in dramatic, emotional moments like her death by snakebite, emphasizing her exotic allure and tragic fate. In modern art, Cleopatra continues to be a muse, symbolizing both feminine power and the complexities of her legend, with portrayals varying between seductress, queen, and tragic heroine. Cleopatra VII Philopator was the last active ruler of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt, nominally survived as pharaoh by her son Caesarion. As a member of the Ptolemaic dynasty, Cleopatra was a descendant of its founder Ptolemy I Soter, a Macedonian Greek general and companion of Alexander the Great. After the death of Cleopatra, Egypt became a province of the Roman Empire, marking the end of the Hellenistic period that had lasted since the reign of Alexander. Her native language was Koine Greek and she was the first Ptolemaic ruler to learn the Egyptian language. In 58 BC, Cleopatra presumably accompanied her father Ptolemy XII during his exile to Rome after a revolt in Egypt, a Roman client state, allowed his daughter Berenice IV to claim the throne. Berenice was killed in 55 BC when the king returned to Egypt with Roman military assistance. When he died in 51 BC, the joint reign of Cleopatra and her brother Ptolemy XIII began. A falling-out between them led to open civil war. After losing the 48 BC Battle of Pharsalus in Greece against his rival Julius Caesar in Caesar's Civil War, the Roman statesman Pompey fled to Egypt where Ptolemy had him killed while Caesar occupied Alexandria. Caesar attempted to reconcile the siblings. Ptolemy's chief adviser Potheinos viewed Caesar's terms as favoring Cleopatra, so his forces besieged her and Caesar at the palace. Shortly after the siege was lifted by reinforcements, Ptolemy died in the 47 BC Battle of the Nile. His sister Arsinoe IV was eventually exiled to Ephesus for her role in carrying out the siege. Caesar declared Cleopatra and her brother Ptolemy XIV as joint rulers, but maintained a private affair with her that produced Caesarion. Cleopatra traveled to Rome as a client queen in 46 and 44 BC, staying at Caesar's villa. After the assassinations of Caesar and Ptolemy XIV in 44 BC, she named Caesarion as co-ruler. In the Liberators' civil war of 43-42 BC, Cleopatra sided with the Roman Second Triumvirate formed by Caesar's grandnephew and heir Octavian, Mark Antony, and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus. After their meeting at Tarsos in 41 BC, the queen had an affair with Antony. He carried out the execution of Arsinoe at her request, and became increasingly reliant on Cleopatra for both funding and military aid during his invasions of the Parthian Empire and Kingdom of Armenia.