She may well have been wearing the famous pearl earrings retrieved from Mithridates (which were estimated to be worth 10 million sesterces each) in addition to other costly pieces of jewellery, and would certainly have been beautifully made up and manicured to make the most of her beauty. Knowing that he had recently declared himself the incarnation of Dionysius (who was often associated with Osiris in Egypt) she was dressed as Isis-Aphrodite (the consort of Dionysius). In 41 BC, despite her limited finances and the famine currently sweeping through Egypt, Cleopatra set out at the head of an ostentatiously equipped fleet to impress and seduce Antony. However, Mark Antony (who needed Cleopatra’s financial assistance in his expansionist wars in the East) used these rumours as a pretext for summoning Cleopatra to Tarsus. This is, of course, unlikely and a near contemporary source suggests that Serapion was acting unilaterally. However, there had been rumours (probably encouraged by Cleopatra’s sister Arsinoe who was exiled in Ephesus) that Cleopatra had ordered the governor Serapion to give Cassius and Brutus a fleet which was moored at Cyprus during his war against Mark Antony and Octavian during the aftermath of the assassination of Julius Caesar. There is no doubt that they became allies during her stay in Rome when she was in a relationship with Julius Caesar and their friendship continued following his assassination.
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