Editing Cleopatra (section)

==Cleopatra's kingdom and role as a monarch==
{{main|Reign of Cleopatra#Egypt under the monarchy of Cleopatra}}
{{further|Ptolemaic coinage|Ancient Greek coinage}}
[[File:Cleopatra Mint Alexandria.jpg|thumb|Cleopatra on a coin of 40 [[drachm|drachmai]] (1 [[Obol (coin)|obol]]) from 51 to 30 BC, minted at [[Alexandria]]; on the [[obverse]] is a portrait of Cleopatra wearing a [[diadem]], and on the reverse an inscription reading "{{lang|grc|ΒΑΣΙΛΙΣΣΗΣ ΚΛΕΟΠΑΤΡΑΣ}}" ([[Basileus|Basilissēs]] Kleopatras) with an eagle standing on a thunderbolt.<ref>{{Cite web |title=CoinArchives.com Search Results: drachmai |url=https://www.coinarchives.com/a/results.php?search=drachmai |access-date=17 May 2024 |website=www.coinarchives.com}}</ref>]]
Following the tradition of [[List of Macedonian kings|Macedonian rulers]], Cleopatra ruled Egypt and other territories such as Cyprus as an [[absolute monarch]], serving as the [[Ancient Greek law|sole lawgiver]] of her kingdom.{{sfnp|Grant|1972|pp=6–7}} She was the [[High priest|chief religious authority]] in her realm, presiding over religious ceremonies dedicated to the deities of both the [[Egyptian mythology|Egyptian]] and [[Greek mythology|Greek]] polytheistic faiths.{{sfnp|Burstein|2004|p=34}} She oversaw the construction of various temples to Egyptian and Greek gods,{{sfnp|Chauveau|2000|pp=69–71}} a synagogue for the [[Jews in Egypt]], and even built the [[Caesareum of Alexandria]], dedicated to the [[Imperial cult|cult worship]] of her patron and lover Julius Caesar.{{sfnp|Roller|2010|pp=104, 110–113}}{{sfnp|Fletcher|2008|pp=216–217}}

Cleopatra was directly involved in the administrative affairs of her domain,{{sfnp|Burstein|2004|pp=33–34}} tackling crises such as famine by ordering royal granaries to distribute food to the starving populace during a drought at the beginning of her reign.{{sfnp|Roller|2010|pp=103–104}} A study suggested that volcanic eruptions caused the unfavourable climate and that this contributed to Cleopatra's demise,<ref name="McConnell et al. 2020">{{cite journal |last1=McConnell |first1=Joseph R. |last2=Sigl |first2=Michael |last3=Plunkett |first3=Gill |last4=Burke |first4=Andrea |last5=Kim |first5=Woon Mi |last6=Raible |first6=Christoph C. |last7=Wilson |first7=Andrew I. |last8=Manning |first8=Joseph G. |last9=Ludlow |first9=Francis |last10=Chellman |first10=Nathan J. |last11=Innes |first11=Helen M. |last12=Yang |first12=Zhen |last13=Larsen |first13=Jessica F. |last14=Schaefer |first14=Janet R. |last15=Kipfstuhl |first15=Sepp |last16=Mojtabavi |first16=Seyedhamidreza |last17=Wilhelms |first17=Frank |last18=Opel |first18=Thomas |last19=Meyer |first19=Hanno |last20=Steffensen |first20=Jørgen Peder |title=Extreme climate after massive eruption of Alaska's Okmok volcano in 43 BCE and effects on the late Roman Republic and Ptolemaic Kingdom |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |date=7 July 2020 |volume=117 |issue=27 |pages=15443–15449 |doi=10.1073/pnas.2002722117 |doi-access=free |pmid=32571905 |pmc=7354934 |bibcode=2020PNAS..11715443M |hdl=10023/21184 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> although others expressed skepticism about this hypothesis.<ref name="Strunz & Braeckel 2020">{{cite journal |last1=Strunz |first1=Sebastian |last2=Braeckel |first2=Oliver |title=Did volcano eruptions alter the trajectories of the Roman Republic and the Ptolemaic Kingdom? Moving beyond black-box determinism |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |date=22 December 2020 |volume=117 |issue=51 |pages=32207–32208 |doi=10.1073/pnas.2019022117 |doi-access=free |pmid=33234573 |pmc=7768766 |bibcode=2020PNAS..11732207S }}</ref> Although the [[command economy]] that she managed was more of an ideal than a reality,{{sfnp|Burstein|2004|pp=39–41}} the government attempted to impose [[price controls]], [[tariff]]s, and [[state monopolies]] for certain goods, fixed exchange rates for foreign currencies, and rigid laws forcing peasant farmers to stay in their villages during planting and harvesting seasons.{{sfnp|Chauveau|2000|pp=78–80}}{{sfnp|Roller|2010|pp=104–105}}{{sfnp|Burstein|2004|pp=37–38}} Apparent financial troubles led Cleopatra to [[debase]] her coinage, which included silver and bronze currencies but no gold coins like those of some of her distant Ptolemaic predecessors.{{sfnp|Roller|2010|pp=106–107}}