It's the same old story: dictator meets queen; queen seduces dictator; they produce bastard heir.
Although Cleopatra looked nothing like Elizabeth Taylor circa 1963, she did have enough charm and wit to bend the most powerful men to her will, and never disdained the use of ploys to enchant her preys, such as rolling out of Persian carpets and... whatnot. During their eventful affair, Cleopatra was married to her 10-year-old brother (as they say, “if you can’t find a good man, raise one”), while Caesar (29 years Cleopatra’s senior) was married to barren Calpurnia. His tryst with the Egyptian ruler was frowned upon not just by his own wife, but also by the entire city of Rome. After Caesar’s violent assassination, the royal mistress suffered one final, major dis, this time at the hands of her deceased lover, who appointed as his successor not their own love child, Caesarion (47BC most popular boy name after Epidural?), but his distant relative, Octavion. This particular event propelled the Egyptian sexpot into the arms of yet another powerful, married Roman and eventually salsa singer (HUH?!??)