Claim: Cleopatra speaks the ancient language Egyptian.

Cleopatra VII Philopator -LRB- Κλεοπάτρα Φιλοπάτωρ 69 -- August 12 , 30 BC -RRB- , known to history simply as Cleopatra , was the last active ruler of Ptolemaic Egypt , briefly survived as pharaoh by her son Caesarion . After her reign , Egypt became a province of the recently established Roman Empire .   Cleopatra was a member of the Ptolemaic dynasty , a Greek family of Macedonian origin that ruled Egypt after Alexander the Great 's death during the Hellenistic period . The Ptolemies spoke Greek throughout their dynasty , and refused to speak Egyptian , which is the reason that Greek as well as Egyptian languages were used on official court documents such as the Rosetta Stone . By contrast , Cleopatra did learn to speak Egyptian and represented herself as the reincarnation of the Egyptian goddess Isis .   Cleopatra originally ruled jointly with her father Ptolemy XII Auletes , and later with her brothers Ptolemy XIII and Ptolemy XIV , whom she married as per Egyptian custom , but eventually she became sole ruler . As queen , she consummated a liaison with Julius Caesar that solidified her grip on the throne . She later elevated Caesarion , her son with Caesar , to co-ruler in name .   After Caesar 's assassination in 44 BC , she aligned with Mark Antony in opposition to Caesar 's legal heir Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus -LRB- later known as Augustus -RRB- . With Antony , she bore the twins Cleopatra Selene II and Alexander Helios , and son Ptolemy Philadelphus -LRB- her unions with her brothers had produced no children -RRB- . Antony committed suicide after losing the Battle of Actium to Octavian 's forces , and Cleopatra followed suit . According to a popular belief , she killed herself by means of an asp bite on August 12 , 30 BC . She was outlived by Caesarion , who was declared pharaoh by his supporters , but he was soon killed on Octavian 's orders . Egypt then became the Roman province of Aegyptus .   Her legacy survives in numerous works of art and many dramatizations of incidents from her life in literature and other media , such as William Shakespeare 's tragedy Antony and Cleopatra , George Frideric Handel 's opera Giulio Cesare , George Bernard Shaw 's play Caesar and Cleopatra , Jules Massenet 's opera Cléopâtre , and the films Cleopatra -LRB- 1934 -RRB- and Cleopatra -LRB- 1963 -RRB- .