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Her name is synonymous with beauty, power, intrigue1 and ultimately tragedy. In 69 BC, Cleopatra was born into Egypt's Ptolemaic Dynasty, a dynasty in decline and under the protection of Rome. At the age of 18, she assumed the throne along with her younger brother as husband, Ptolemy XIII, according to Egyptian royal custom. But these royal siblings2 were hostile to each other, and Cleopatra was soon forced from power.
Down but not out, Cleopatra waited for the right opportunity to prove her political cunning. That opportunity came when Julius Caesar, the newly minted victor in Rome Civil War, arrived in Alexandria, Egypt in pursuit of a renegade Roman general. As legend has it, Cleopatra smuggled3 herself into his inner sanctum, rolled up inside a rug. Caesar was captivated and they soon fell in love. He took arms against Cleopatra's rivals and restored her to the throne. Shortly after, she gave birth to a boy, Caesarian, whom she claimed was Caesar's son.
Egypt was a vastly wealthy country, and Cleopatra sought to keep it independent of Rome. Her affair with Caesar kept the Romans from taking direct control of Egypt, but his assassination4 made her status and that of her country uncertain.
Searching for allies among Rome's new leaders, she was delighted when Mark Antony, one of Caesar's heir apparents, sent for her. Mark Antony fell head over heels for the Egyptian queen and her richness. Together they set up court in Alexandria, an arrangement that elevated Cleopatra from protected sovereign to a fully5 independent monarch6.
Cleopatra and Antony shared a legendary7 love matched by their insatiable appetite for empire. They eventually married and became the “Power Couple” of the eastern Mediterranean8. Antony tried to bring some Roman territories under her domain9 and he declared Cleopatra's son Caesarian to be the son and rightful heir to Julius Caesar. That infuriated Mark Antony's Roman rival Octavian, who went to war against them. Antony and Cleopatra were quickly defeated at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC.
Legend tells us that Cleopatra spread false rumors10 of her death. Consumed by grief over her death, Antony stabbed himself. But word came she was still alive, and Antony's followers11 carried him to Cleopatra, where he died in her arms.
After 22 years as queen, Cleopatra's fortunes were fast unraveling. She tried in vain to make peace with Octavian. Rather than be humiliated12 by the Romans in defeat, she took hold of an asp, permitting it to inflict13 a poisonous and mortal wound.
With her death, the fate of the Ptolemaic Dynasty was sealed and Egypt fell firmly into Roman hands. Although her ambitions were never realized, Cleopatra has achieved immortality14 through her personal story of love and tragedy.
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1 intrigue | |
vt.激起兴趣,迷住;vi.耍阴谋;n.阴谋,密谋 | |
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2 siblings | |
n.兄弟,姐妹( sibling的名词复数 ) | |
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3 smuggled | |
水货 | |
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4 assassination | |
n.暗杀;暗杀事件 | |
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5 fully | |
adv.完全地,全部地,彻底地;充分地 | |
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6 monarch | |
n.帝王,君主,最高统治者 | |
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7 legendary | |
adj.传奇(中)的,闻名遐迩的;n.传奇(文学) | |
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8 Mediterranean | |
adj.地中海的;地中海沿岸的 | |
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9 domain | |
n.(活动等)领域,范围;领地,势力范围 | |
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10 rumors | |
n.传闻( rumor的名词复数 );[古]名誉;咕哝;[古]喧嚷v.传闻( rumor的第三人称单数 );[古]名誉;咕哝;[古]喧嚷 | |
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11 followers | |
追随者( follower的名词复数 ); 用户; 契据的附面; 从动件 | |
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12 humiliated | |
感到羞愧的 | |
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13 inflict | |
vt.(on)把…强加给,使遭受,使承担 | |
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14 immortality | |
n.不死,不朽 | |
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