Ascending to the throne at 18 to rule alongside her 12-year-old brother Ptolemy, she was deposed soon after by a cabal of patriarchic loyalists who felt that her rule should be subordinate to her male sibling. While she was in exile, Ptolemy muddied his fortunes by assassinating Pompey, who had fled Rome after angering Julius Caesar. Ptolemy had hoped to win Caesar's favor with this stunt, but Caesar was maddened by such treachery, Pompey also having been his son-in-law. War is one thing, treachery quite another, as Caesar was soon to find out.

Cleopatra took advantage of this situation and became Caesar's lover. She bore him a son, Ptolemy Caesar, or Caesarion (Little Caesar.) Big Caesar named his grand-nephew Octavian his legal heir instead of acknowledging his child with Cleopatra. She visited Rome at the time of Caesar's assassination, and was summoned to Mark Antony's side in 42 BC so that he could question her loyalty, Antony having been placed in a triumvirate after Caesar's death. The twins she bore Antony no doubt resolved the loyalty question.

Cleopatra's ending is no less dramatic. Antony may have married Cleopatra in Egypt, but he was in fact married to Octavia, Octavian's sister. Octavian was outraged and convinced the Senate to go to war against Egypt. After a disastrous naval battle at Actium, Octavian invaded Egypt and Antony's armies deserted to Rome. Antony and Cleopatra both committed suicide, Cleopatra using a venomous asp.

Ramses, also known as Ramesses, could be any one of the 11 Egyptian Pharaohs of the New Kingdom, the 19th and 20th Dynasties of Egypt, but is most likely Ramses the Great. Memorialized at the famous complex of Abu Simbel, he ruled for 66 years in the 13th Century BC, living to be 90. Although warlike, he is also a signatory on the earliest known peace treaty in history.