The Influence of Context on the Leadership of Cleopatra
By Lindsay Harold, Kerri Anton, Kristen Duca, Cate Henefin
Undergraduate Leadership Review, Vol.2:1 (2010)
Abstract: Many have heard of the great Cleopatra. Some people only know her as a queen of Egypt while others remember her as being a temptress and adulteress with Julius Caesar and Marc Antony. Many scholarly students have read the Shakespearean plays of her multiple affairs and dramatic suicide, but few people know Cleopatra the leader. Her leadership skills are debated to be better than any man’s, yet most people have no idea of the actions she had to take or the power those actions required in her leadership position. Who was the real Cleopatra, and how did her leadership style and decisions affect her people and Egypt?
She was born in 69 B.C.E. in Alexandria, Egypt as part of the Ptolemaic Dynasty. She grew up and led in very turbulent times. Events such as war, famine, and the expansion of the Roman Empire affected Cleopatra in many ways. Her personal history and the historical context, contemporary context, and immediate context of this turbulent time in Egypt explain why she made the decisions she did and what kind of power she utilized as a leader. Her ideas, guiding principles, and public values are also influenced by these variables.
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