Suetonius notes that ‘beyond all others, Caesar loved Servilia’. However, Cleopatra was not the only of Caesar’s mistresses to employ charm to influence the dictator’s power in her favour. This was, however, not without limits and Caesar’s refusal to legitimise her son marks a clear boundary to the influence she held over him. Evident in her rise to prominence, Cleopatra shows some control over the immense political personality of Julius Caesar. Therefore, Cleopatra’s influence over Caesar through their personal relationship was not unlimited. Indeed, Suetonius records that when the question of paternity reached the Roman Senate, Gaius Oppius ‘published a book to prove that the boy whom Cleopatra had fathered on Caesar was not his at all’, despite opposition from Antony. Despite her incredibly close relationship with the dictator towards the end of his life, and the disputed levels of recognition he granted Caesarion, Caesar’s final will would name his grand-nephew, Octavian, as his primary heir, with no recognition of Caesarion. Yet there were limits to Cleopatra’s influence over her lover and the greatest test of her power over Caesar would be her attempts have her son legitimised. If publicly legitimised, the child would inherit a legacy of rule over the entire Mediterranean. Even unrecognized claims to Caesar’s legacy held by Caesarion were unsettling for Octavian. Debates, both ancient and modern, over the paternity of Caesarion show the undeniable political ramifications that would emerge from a direct male heir to Julius Caesar. The immense political awareness of the Egyptian Queen is revealed in her unwavering determination to have her child recognised as a legitimate son of Caesar. This plan succeeded in having Caesar secure her power-base in Egypt and honour her as a ‘friend and ally of Rome’. The initiation of the relationship was a carefully orchestrated stratagem, exploiting Caesar’s ‘well-known weakness for women of attraction’. Kleiner emphasises that Cleopatra’s interactions with Caesar were far from coincidence. It was thus through her personal influence over Caesar that she could exploit his political power and subsequently claim rule of Egypt. By the end of Caesar’s military intervention in Egypt, Cleopatra held a firm grip on the throne which she shared, in title only, with her 12 year old brother. Nor could it be coincidence that following this encounter, Caesar embarks on restoring the then dethroned Queen to the rule of Egypt. It was not by mere coincidence that Cleopatra found herself in Caesar’s close company. Plutarch records the Egyptian Queen’s elaborate introduction to Caesar by way of ‘bed-sack’, following which Caesar is said to have been ‘captivated… succumbing to the charm of further intercourse with her’. It was her personal influence over him that allowed her to direct his political decisions. It was through her close proximity to Caesar’s that Cleopatra was able to influence his great political presence with her personal charms. The machinations of Cleopatra have captivated audiences through to the present day, equally did they ‘captivate’ the most powerful man in the quickly fading Roman Republic. Ultimately, however, it would be the political manoeuvring of his mother, Aurelia, that would shape Caesar into the ‘colossus’ of Rome. While the wives of Caesar played their parts in his rise to power, it was his mistresses, namely Cleopatra VII and Servilia, who would flex their influence over his personal and political life. Caesar was a pragmatic, almost unmatched politician, which may be the reason why his greatest influencers, those who sought to mould his immense power and success, were the members of republican society who themselves could never take public office. ‘Julius Caesar remains one of a handful of figures from the ancient world whose name commands instant recognition’, but the man who so drastically shaped the western world was himself influenced by the powerful women who featured prominently in his life.
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