The 48 Laws Of Power

herself

smuggled

intohis

presence

rolled

up

insidea

carpet,

whichwas

gracefully

unfurledathis

feet,

revealing

the

youngqueen.Cleopatra

imme

diately

wenttoworkontheRoman.She

appealed

tohisloveof

spectacle

andhisinterestin

Egyptianhistory,

and

poured

onherfemininecharms.

Caesarsoonsuccumbedandrestored

Cleopatra

tothethrone.

Cleopatra’ssiblings

seethed—she

had

outrnaneuveredthem.

Ptolemy

XIIIwould notwait to seewhat

happened

next: From his

palace

in

Alexandria,

hesummoneda

greatarmy

tomarchonthe

city

andattack

Caesar.In

response,

Caesar

immediatelyputPtolemy

andtherestofthe

family

underhousearrest.But

Cleopatra’syounger

sisterArsinoe

escaped

fromthe

palace

and

placed

herselfattheheadofthe

approachingEgyptian

troops,proclaiming

herself

queen

of

Egypt.

Now

Cleopatrafinally

sawher

chance:SheconvincedCaesartorelease

Ptolemy

fromhouse

arrest,

under

the

agreement

thathewouldbrokera.truce.Ofcoursesheknewhewould

dothe

opposite—that

hewould

fight

Arsinoeforcontrolofthe

Egyptian

army.

Butthiswasto

Cleopatra’s

benefit,

foritwoulddividethe

royal

fam-

ily.

Better

still,

itwould

give

Caesarthechancetodefeatandkillhersib-

lings

inbattle.

Reinforced

bytroops

from

Rome,

Caesar

swiftly

defeatedtherebels.

Inthe

Egyptians’

retreat,

Ptolemy

drownedintheNile.Caesar

captured

Arsinoeandhad
hersent
toRomeasa

prisoner.

Healsoexecutedthenu»

merous

enemies

who

had

conspiredagainstCleopatra,

and

imprisoned

otherswhohad

opposed

her.Toreinforceher

position

asuncontested

queen,Cleopatra

nowmarriedthe

onlysibling

left,

Ptolemy

XIV

—only

elevenatthe

time,

andtheweakestofthelot.Four

years

later

Ptolemy

mysteriously

died,

of

poison.

In 41

B.C.,

Cleopatraemployed

onasecond Roman

leader,

Marc

Antony,

thesametacticsshehadusedsowellon

Julius

Caesar.Afterse-

ducing
him,
shehintedtohimthathersister
Arsinoe,
stilla

prisoner

in

Rome,

had

conspired

to

destroy

him.Marc

Antony

believedherand

promptly

hadArsinoe

executed,

therebygetting

ridofthelastofthesib

lings

who

had

posed

such

athreat

to

Cleopatra.

Interpretation

Legend

hasitthat

Cleopatra

succeeded

through

herseductive

charms,

but

in

reality

her

power

camefroman

ability

to

getpeople

to

doher

bidding

without

realizingthey

were

beingmanipulated.

Caesarand

Antony

not

only

ridherofhermost

dangerous

siblings—Ptolemy

XIIIandArsinoe—

they

decimatedallofher

enemies,

inboththe

government

andthemili-

tary.

Thetwomenbecameher

cat’s—paws.They

enteredthefirefor

her,

didthe

ugly

butnecessary

work,

while

shielding

her

from

appearing

as

the

destroyer

of

herlsiblings

andfellow

Egyptians.

Andinthe

end,

bothmen

acquiesced

toherldesiretorule

Egypt

notasaRoman

colony

butasanin-

dependent

allied

kingdom.

And

they

didallthisforherwithout

realizing

howshehad

manipulated

them.Thiswas

persuasion

ofthesubtlestand

most

powerful

kind.

andrra/mmer/litinhis

jaw.

Now(.‘(lIVll’the

slzining

Mislrms

of

(he

farm/.

Ami

uffin

hrlstethe

momarauclerv

scampercd.

Tom

for

hisshare

of

the

plunder

hadthe

pain.

VWtil.\‘l

Pug

his

/mlan:

with

therlairztim

pampered.

h\BLhS.

Jam:1)}:LAFUN

IAIN!-_‘,

16214695

T|lIi(lR()\3;-ill-1.\'.

TIIF

(.()I3Rr\.«VDTill",

l,«\(.|\'M.

Once

u[Ir)r1

11 timethere

waritCrowand/tis

wife

whohadbuilt(1nextin

11

lzanymi

tree./1

big

wzakecrawledinto{he

hollowIrurtkandare

up

mychicks

as

they

werehmclwd.Thecrow

didnotwanttomove.

sincehelovedthetree

dearly,

Sohewentto

his

friend

the

jackalfor

advire.A

plannfaclizm

waszlewlved.

The

crow

andhis

wifeflew

about

in

implemenmlimz.

Asthe

wifeapproached

ti

pond,

shesawthe

women

of

the

king

'5

court

bathing,

Willi

pearls,

rzecklaccs,

gems,

garments.

and:1

golden

rhum

laying

on/he

5/mrrr.

T/11-'

crow-hen

seized

the

gulrlerr

chain

inherbeakand

flew

towardthe

btmytm

tree

wirhIheeunuchs

in

pursuit.

Whenshe

reachedthetree.she

dropped

thechainmm

(hehole.Asthe

kings

'

LAW 26 207