Cleopatra VII was born into the Ptolemaic dynasty, a Macedonian Greek royal line that ruled Egypt after Alexander the Great and maintained power through generations of sibling marriage. Like many of her ancestors, Cleopatra’s parents were likely full siblings, and she later co‑ruled, and possibly married, her brothers Ptolemy XIII and XIV. By her birth in 69 BC, this tradition had been practiced for nearly 300 years, creating a tangled family tree that fueled succession struggles while reinforci