In the year 48 B.C., Ptolemy XIV of Egypt managed to depose and exile
his sister and wife, Queen Cleopatra. He secured the country's borders
against her return and began to rule on his own. Later that year, Julius Cae-
sar came to Alexandria to ensure that despite the local power struggles,
Egypt would remain loyal to Rome.
One night Caesar was meeting with his generals in the Egyptian palace,
discussing strategy, when a guard entered to report that a Greek merchant
was at the door bearing a large and valuable gift for the Roman leader.
Caesar, in the mood for a little fun, gave the merchant permission to enter.
The man came in, carrying on his shoulders a large rolled-up carpet. He
undid the rope around the bundle and with a snap of his wrists unfurled
it—revealing the young Cleopatra, who had been hidden inside, and who
rose up half clothed before Caesar and his guests, like Venus emerging from
the waves.
Everyone was dazzled at the sight of the beautiful young queen (only
twenty-one at the time) appearing before them suddenly as if in a dream.
They were astounded at her daring and theatricality—smuggled into the
harbor at night with only one man to protect her, risking everything on a
bold move. No one was more enchanted than Caesar. According to the
Roman writer Dio Cassius, "Cleopatra was in the prime of life. She had a
delightful voice which could not fail to cast a spell over all who heard it.
Such was the charm of her person and her speech that they drew the cold-
est and most determined misogynist into her toils. Caesar was spellbound as
soon as he set eyes on her and she opened her mouth to speak." That same
evening Cleopatra became Caesar s lover.
Caesar had had numerous mistresses before, to divert him from the rig-
ors of his campaigns. But he had always disposed of them quickly to return
to what really thrilled him—political intrigue, the challenges of warfare,
the Roman theater. Caesar had seen women try anything to keep him un-
der their spell. Yet nothing prepared him for Cleopatra. One night she
would tell him how together they could revive the glory of Alexander the
Great, and rule the world like gods. The next she would entertain him
dressed as the goddess Isis, surrounded by the opulence of her court.
Cleopatra initiated Caesar in the most decadent revelries, presenting herself
as the incarnation of the Egyptian exotic. His life with her was a constant
game, as challenging as warfare, for the moment he felt secure with her she would suddenly turn cold or angry and he would have to find a way to re-
gain her favor.
The weeks went by. Caesar got rid of all Cleopatra's rivals and found
excuses to stay in Egypt. At one point she led him on a lavish historical ex-
pedition down the Nile. In a boat of unimaginable splendor—towering
fifty-four feet out of the water, including several terraced levels and a pil-
lared temple to the god Dionysus—Caesar became one of the few Romans
to gaze on the pyramids. And while he stayed long in Egypt, away from
his throne in Rome, all kinds of turmoil erupted throughout the Roman
Empire.
When Caesar was murdered, in 44 B.C., he was succeeded by a triumvi-
rate of rulers including Mark Antony, a brave soldier who loved pleasure
and spectacle and fancied himself a kind of Roman Dionysus. A few years
later, while Antony was in Syria, Cleopatra invited him to come meet her
in the Egyptian town of Tarsus. There—once she had made him wait for
her—her appearance was as startling in its way as her first before Caesar. A
magnificent gold barge with purple sails appeared on the river Cydnus. The
oarsmen rowed to the accompaniment of ethereal music; all around the
boat were beautiful young girls dressed as nymphs and mythological figures.
Cleopatra sat on deck, surrounded and fanned by cupids and posed as the
goddess Aphrodite, whose name the crowd chanted enthusiastically.
Like all of Cleopatra's victims, Antony felt mixed emotions. The exotic
pleasures she offered were hard to resist. But he also wanted to tame her—to
defeat this proud and illustrious woman would prove his greatness. And so
he stayed, and, like Caesar, fell slowly under her spell. She indulged him in
all of his weaknesses—gambling, raucous parties, elaborate rituals, lavish
spectacles. To get him to come back to Rome, Octavius, another member of
the Roman triumvirate, offered him a wife: Octavius's own sister, Octavia,
one of the most beautiful women in Rome. Known for her virtue and
goodness, she could surely keep Antony away from the "Egyptian whore."
The ploy worked for a while, but Antony was unable to forget Cleopatra,
and after three years he went back to her. This time it was for good: he had
in essence become Cleopatra's slave, granting her immense powers, adopting
Egyptian dress and customs, and renouncing the ways of Rome.
Only one image of Cleopatra survives—a barely visible profile on a coin—
but we have numerous written descriptions. She had a long thin face and a
somewhat pointed nose; her dominant features were her wonderfully large
eyes. Her seductive power, however, did not lie in her looks—indeed many
among the women of Alexandria were considered more beautiful than she.
What she did have above all other women was the ability to distract a man.
In reality, Cleopatra was physically unexceptional and had no political
power, yet both Caesar and Antony, brave and clever men, saw none of
this. What they saw was a woman who constantly transformed herself be-
fore their eyes, a one-woman spectacle. Her dress and makeup changed
from day to day, but always gave her a heightened, goddesslike appearance. Her voice, which all writers talk of, was lilting and intoxicating. Her words
could be banal enough, but were spoken so sweetly that listeners would
find themselves remembering not what she said but how she said it.
Cleopatra provided constant variety—tributes, mock battles, expedi-
tions, costumed orgies. Everything had a touch of drama and was accom-
plished with great energy. By the time your head lay on the pillow beside
her, your mind was spinning with images and dreams. And just when you
thought you had this fluid, larger-than-life woman, she would turn distant
or angry, making it clear that everything was on her terms. You never pos-
sessed Cleopatra, you worshiped her. In this way a woman who had been
exiled and destined for an early death managed to turn it all around and
rule Egypt for close to twenty years.
From Cleopatra we learn that it is not beauty that makes a Siren but
rather a theatrical streak that allows a woman to embody a man's fantasies.
A man grows bored with a woman, no matter how beautiful; he yearns for
different pleasures, and for adventure. All a woman needs to turn this
around is to create the illusion that she offers such variety and adventure. A
man is easily deceived by appearances; he has a weakness for the visual.
Create the physical presence of a Siren (heightened sexual allure mixed
with a regal and theatrical manner) and he is trapped. He cannot grow
bored with you yet he cannot discard you. Keep up the distractions, and
never let him see who you really are. He will follow you until he drowns.