Cleonīcus, a freedman of Seneca, &c. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 15, ch. 45.
Cleonnis, a Messenian who disputed with Aristodemus for the sovereign power of his country. Pausanias, bk. 4, ch. 10.
Cleony̆mus, a son of Cleomenes II., who called Pyrrhus to his assistance, because Areus his brother’s son had been preferred to him in the succession; but the measure was unpopular, and even the women united to repel the foreign prince. His wife was unfaithful to his bed, and committed adultery with Acrotatus. Plutarch, Pyrrhus.—Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 3.——A general who assisted the Tarentines, and was conquered by Æmilius the Roman consul. Strabo, bk. 6.——A person so cowardly that Cleonymo timidior became proverbial.
Cleŏpăter, an officer of Aratus.
Cleŏpātra, the granddaughter of Attalus, betrothed to Philip of Macedonia, after he had divorced Olympias. When Philip was murdered by Pausanias, Cleopatra was seized by order of Olympias, and put to death. Diodorus, bk. 16.—Justin, bk. 9, ch. 7.—Plutarch, Pyrrhus.——A sister of Alexander the Great, who married Perdiccas, and was killed by Antigonus as she attempted to fly to Ptolemy in Egypt. Diodorus, bks. 16 & 20.—Justin, bk. 9, ch. 6; bk. 13, ch. 6.——A harlot of Claudius Cæsar.——A daughter of Boreas. See: [Cleobula].——A daughter of Idas and Marpessa, daughter of Evenus king of Ætolia. She married Meleager son of king Œneus. Homer, Iliad, bk. 9, li. 552.—Pausanias, bk. 5, ch. 2.——One of the Danaides. Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 1.——A daughter of Amyntas of Ephesus. Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 44.——A wife of Tigranes king of Armenia, sister of Mithridates. Justin, bk. 38, ch. 3.——A daughter of Tros and Callirhoe. Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 12.——A daughter of Ptolemy Philometor, who married Alexander Bala, and afterwards Nicanor. She killed Seleucus, Nicanor’s son, because he ascended the throne without her consent. She was suspected of preparing poison for Antiochus her son, and compelled to drink it herself, B.C. 120.——A wife and sister of Ptolemy Evergetes, who raised her son Alexander a minor, to the throne of Egypt, in preference to his elder brother Ptolemy Lathurus, whose interest the people favoured. As Alexander was odious, Cleopatra suffered Lathurus to ascend the throne, on condition, however, that he should repudiate his sister and wife, called Cleopatra, and marry Seleuca his younger sister. She afterwards raised her favourite Alexander to the throne; but her cruelties were so odious, that he fled to avoid her tyranny. Cleopatra laid snares for him; and when Alexander heard it, he put her to death. Justin, bk. 39, chs. 3 & 4.——A queen of Egypt, daughter of Ptolemy Auletes, and sister and wife to Ptolemy Dionysius, celebrated for her beauty and her cunning. She admitted Cæsar to her arms, to influence him to give her the kingdom, in preference to her brother who had expelled her, and had a son by him called Cæsarion. As she had supported Brutus, Antony, in his expedition to Parthia, summoned her to appear before him. She arrayed herself in the most magnificent apparel, and appeared before her judge in the most captivating attire. Her artifice succeeded; Antony became enamoured of her, and publicly married her, forgetful of his connections with Octavia the sister of Augustus. He gave her the greatest part of the eastern provinces of the Roman empire. This behaviour was the cause of a rupture between Augustus and Antony; and these two celebrated Romans met at Actium, where Cleopatra, by flying with 60 sail, ruined the interest of Antony, and he was defeated. Cleopatra had retired to Egypt, where soon after Antony followed. Antony killed himself upon the false information that Cleopatra was dead; and as his wound was not mortal, he was carried to the queen, who drew him up by a cord from one of the windows of the monument, where she had retired and concealed herself. Antony soon after died of his wounds; and Cleopatra, after she had received pressing invitations from Augustus, and even pretended declarations of love, destroyed herself by the bite of an asp not to fall into the conqueror’s hands. She had previously attempted to stab herself, and had once made a resolution to starve herself. Cleopatra was a voluptuous and extravagant woman, and in one of the feasts she gave to Antony at Alexandria, she melted pearls in her drink to render her entertainment more sumptuous and expensive. She was fond of appearing dressed as the goddess Isis; and she advised Antony to make war against the richest nations, to support her debaucheries. Her beauty has been greatly commended, and her mental perfections so highly celebrated, that she has been described as capable of giving audience to the ambassadors of seven different nations, and of speaking their various languages as fluently as her own. In Antony’s absence, she improved the public library of Alexandria, with the addition of that of Pergamus. Two treatises, De medicamene faciei epistolæ eroticæ, and De morbis mulierum, have been falsely attributed to her. She died B.C. 30 years, after a reign of 24 years, aged 39. Egypt became a Roman province at her death. Florus, bk. 4, ch. 11.—Appian, bk. 5, Civil Wars.—Plutarch, Pompey & Antonius.—Horace, bk. 1, ode 37, li. 21, &c.—Strabo, bk. 17.——A daughter of Ptolemy Epiphanes, who married Philometor, and afterwards Physcon of Cyrene.
Cleopatris, or Arsinoe, a fortified town of Egypt on the Arabian gulf.
Cleophănes, an orator.
Cleophanthus, a son of Themistocles, famous for his skill in riding.
Cleŏphes, a queen of India, who submitted to Alexander, by whom, as some suppose, she had a son. Curtius, bk. 8, ch. 10.
Cleophŏlus, a Samian, who wrote an account of Hercules.