Just to clarify something (and I'm not trying to be snotty here, since I understand many people don't know much about history), it's possible for someone from one national group to rule over another. It happens all the time. For example... read more
She was a full blooded Greek and she ruled Egypt. The two things aren’t mutually exclusive. Alexander the Great conquered Egypt in the fourth century BC, and, as was customary, was declared a pharaoh and hence semi divine. read more
She and the rest of the Ptolemys were of almost pure Macedonian Greek ancestry, possibly of some Iranian but no Egyptian ancestry. 58 BCE: Ptolemy XII, Cleopatra's father, is expelled from Egypt. 51 BCE: Ptolemy XII is returned to power by a Roman army. read more
While Cleopatra was born in Egypt, she traced her family origins to Macedonian Greece and Ptolemy I Soter, one of Alexander the Great’s generals. Ptolemy took the reigns of Egypt after Alexander’s death in 323 B.C., and he launched a dynasty of Greek-speaking rulers that lasted for nearly three centuries. read more