The Poison Banquet That Eliminated Rivals

 

The Poison Banquet That Eliminated Rivals

Date: 51 BCE

Story:
At just 18, Cleopatra faced hostile court factions loyal to her younger brother. Instead of direct conflict, she hosted a sumptuous feast for key nobles—including several suspected conspirators.
The evening was filled with fine wine, exotic dishes, and flattery. But soon after, guests began to fall ill. By morning, three of her brother’s top advisors were dead.
Court rumors swirled: poison in the wine? A tainted delicacy? No official inquiry followed, and no one dared accuse the queen.
Within days, Cleopatra assumed full control of the palace bureaucracy.
Later chroniclers suspected she had enlisted her personal physician—trained in both healing and killing.
Though denied in official Egyptian inscriptions, this massacre served as Cleopatra’s silent coronation.
The message: loyalty was rewarded lavishly. Betrayal tasted sweet—then fatal.

Key Characters:

• Cleopatra VII

• Ptolemaic nobles

• Court physician

• Advisors loyal to Ptolemy XIII

Reference:

• Appian, Civil Wars

• Tyldesley, Cleopatra: Last Queen of Egypt

• Papyrus records from the Alexandria Archive