DEAR SOPHIA,

THE IMAGE IS CLEOPATRA (VII). ACTUALLY, SHE WAS CLEOPATRA THE VII. THIS IS THE CLEOPATRA THAT HISTORY TALKS ABOUT. HER NAME ACTUALLY MEANS FATHER’S PRIDE. THINK BACK AND YOU’LL REMEMBER PAPOU TOLD YOU THAT. SHE IS THE DESCENDENT OF PTOLEMY. HER LINEAGE GOES ALL THE WAY BACK TO ALEXANDER THE GREAT’S EMPIRE.

HERE’S WHAT I NEVER TOLD YOU AND I NEVER TOLD YOUR MOTHER, I HAD ALWAYS SERIOUSLY CONSIDERED NAMING YOU CLEOPATRA. IN THE END, I DECIDED AGAINST IT BECAUSE MODERN HISTORY DEPICTS HER AS SOMETHING SEXUAL RATHER THAN WHO SHE REALLY WAS. SHE IS THE FAMOUS QUEEN OF EGYPT. SHE SPOKE SEVEN LANGUAGES, WAS CONSIDERED HIGHLY INTELLIGENT, AND HAD THE DREAM OF UNITING THE KNOWN WORLD, WHICH WAS TWO CIVILIZED HALFS, ONE SPEAKING LATIN AND THE OTHER SPEAKING GREEK. SHE WAS FROM THE LATER. IT WAS HER DREAM TO FUFILL ALEXANDER’S GOAL OF UNITING THE WORLD WITH ONE RULER. THIS IS THE QUEEN WHO CONQUERED NOT ONE, NOT TWO, BUT THREE ROMAN GENERALS AND HERE’S HOW SHE DID IT.

FIRST, SHE WAS ABLE TO DEFEAT HER BROTHER BY LETTING HIM MAKE THE STUPID MISTAKE OF KILLING POMPEY MAGNUS, CAESAR’S OPPONENT IN THE ROMAN CIVIL WARS. THEN, SHE WAS ABLE TO MAKE AN ALLIANCE WITH JULIUS CAESAR TO UNITE THE EAST AND THE WEST. THAT IS HER FIRST ROMAN GENERAL THAT SHE CONQUERED. AS HISTORY RECORDS, CAESAR WAS KILLED ON MARCH 15TH BECAUSE OF THIS POLICY.

NEXT, SHE FORMED AN ALLIANCE WITH CAESAR’S SECOND IN COMMAND, MARK ANTHONY.THAT IS THE SECOND ROMAN GENERAL SHE CONQUERED. MARK ANTHONY LOST THE BATTLE FOR THE SAME DREAM WHILE FIGHTING ANOTHER ROMAN GENERAL NAMED OCTAVIUS. AFTER THAT DEFEAT, MARK ANTHONY TOOK HIS LIFE BUT CLEOPATRA REMAINED ALIVE. AS SHE BECAME OCTAVIUS’ PRISONER, HE HAD EVERY INTENTION TO DRAG HER BACK TO ROME AS A PRIZE. SHE DEFEATED HIM BY CLEVERLY TAKING HER OWN LIFE EVEN THOUGH OCTAVIUS HAD HER UNDER OBSERVATION. AND WITH THAT FINAL ACT, SHE DEFEATED THE THIRD ROMAN GENERAL.

MODERN DAY DEPICTIONS, THEY GENERALLY “SEXUALIZE” CLEOPATRA AND DIMINISH HER AS A QUEEN BECAUSE SHE WAS A WOMAN.MAKE NO MISTAKE, SHE WAS MORE CLEVER AND MORE INTELLIGENT THAN THE THREE OF THEM COMBINED. THE FACT THAT SHE HAD NO ARMY AND NO OTHER RESOURCES TO MAKE WAR AND SHE WAS ABLE TO UTILIZE HER BROTHER AND TWO ROMAN GENERALS TO, AGAIN, FUFILL THE DREAM OF ALEXANDER AGAINST ALL THE RESOURCES OF ROME SHOWS HOW INTELLIGENT AND CUNNING SHE WAS.

I HAVE ALWAYS HAD AN ADMIRATION FOR CLEOPATRA. SHE LIVED UP TO HER NAME: FATHER’S PRIDE. BUT BECAUSE THE MODERN CHARACTERIZATION OF HER IS INACCURATE, THAT WAS WHY I CHOSE TO NAME YOU SOPHIA MEANING WISDOM AFTER THE CHURCH IN CONSTANTINOPLE. I NEVER TOLD YOU THIS BEFORE BUT NOW YOU NOW.

SO, ALTHOUGH, I CALL YOU SOPHIA, IN MY HEART, MANY TIMES I REFER TO YOU SILENTLY AS CLEOPATRA. THERE IS MUCH HISTORY FOR YOU TO LEARN! BEHIND YOU ARE FORTY GENERATIONS OF HISTORY AND I WILL MAKE CERTAIN THAT YOU HAVE A CLASSICAL EDUCATION.

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LOVE,

DAD