Cleopatra's ancestry and background -- The Ptolemaic heritage and the involvement with Rome -- Cleopatra's youth and education -- Becoming queen (51-47 B.C.) -- Consolidating the empire (47-40 B.C.) -- The peak years (40-34 B.C.) -- The operation of the kingdom -- Scholarship and culture at the court of Cleopatra -- Downfall (34-30 B.C.) -- Appendices. Outline of Cleopatra's life and career -- Genealogy of the later Ptolemies -- Cleopatra's mother -- Was Cleopatra a Roman citizen? -- Some ancient literary descriptions of Cleopatra -- The iconography of Cleopatra VII.