Original subtitles

CLEOPATRA.

FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS, HISTORIANS HAVE BLAMED HER

FOR THE COLLAPSE OF ANCIENT EGYPT.

A RULER BLINDED BY HER LUST FOR POWER

AND HER ROMAN LOVERS.

SHE'S BEEN PORTRAYED AS THIS BUBBLE HEADED SEX KITTEN

THAT WAS JUMPING IN AND OUT OF BED.

BUT NOW,

NEW RESEARCH IS REWRITING THE HISTORY

OF THE ANCIENT WORLD'S MOST INFAMOUS QUEEN.

SHE WAS FACING SOMETHING THAT WAS COMPLETELY

AND UTTERLY BEYOND EVEN HER CONTROL.

IT REVEALS AN EARTH SHATTERING EVENT

THAT WOULD CHANGE THE PLANET.

ONE OF THE BIGGEST ERUPTIONS

OF THE LAST 2,500 YEARS.

THIS IS OFF THE CHARTS.

IT WAS A TIME WHEN STRANGE VISIONS IN THE SKY

HERALDED DISASTERS TO COME.

THAT WOULD HAVE FELT LIKE

SOME KIND OF DIVINE RETRIBUTION.

AS AN UNKNOWN AND UNSEEN KILLER

PLUNGED CLEOPATRA'S EGYPT INTO DEADLY CHAOS.

IT WAS THE END OF

EGYPTIAN CIVILIZATION AS WE KNOW IT.

AND CONSPIRED AGAINST THE EGYPTIAN QUEEN

AS HER WORLD FELL APART.

EVEN A WOMAN AS POWERFUL AS CLEOPATRA

CAN'T BEAT MOTHER NATURE.

THE RELICS OF THE PAST HOLD SECRETS.

WRITTEN IN GOLD, STONE AND BLOOD.

WE CAN UNLOCK THEM.

THESE ARE THE SECRETS OF HISTORIES GREATEST TREASURES.

ANCIENT EGYPT, ONE OF THE GREATEST AND MOST POWERFUL

CIVILIZATIONS THE WORLD HAS EVER SEEN.

ON THE BANKS OF THE MIGHTY NILE,

EGYPT'S PHARAOHS BUILT SPECTACULAR MONUMENTS,

CREATED DAZZLING TREASURES,

AND FORGED AN EMPIRE

THAT WITHSTOOD WAR, FAMINE AND DISEASE FOR MILLENNIA.

EGYPT WAS INFLUENTIAL, IMPRESSIVE,

IT WAS AN AWESOME PLACE FOR PEOPLE

ALL AROUND THE ANCIENT WORLD.

BUT 30 YEARS BEFORE THE BIRTH OF CHRIST

THIS GLITTERING EMPIRE CAME TO AN ABRUPT AND TRAGIC END.

4,000 YEARS OF GLORIOUS HISTORIES ALL COME TO A CLOSE.

SINCE THEN, THE FALL OF THIS ONCE GREAT NATION

HAS BEEN INEXTRICABLY BOUND

TO THE EXTRAORDINARY STORY OF ITS FINAL PHARAOH,

THE LEGENDARY, NOTORIOUS, CLEOPATRA.

SHE'S BEEN PORTRAYED IN LITERATURE, IN DRAMA,

IN OPERAS AND PLAYS AS THIS BUBBLE HEADED SEX KITTEN

THAT WAS JUMPING IN AND OUT OF BED.

AS A RESULT, HISTORIANS HAVE LONG LAID

THE BLAME FOR THE FALL OF EGYPT AT CLEOPATRA'S FEET.

UNTIL NOW.

BECAUSE A GROUND BREAKING NEW INVESTIGATION

IS UNITING ANCIENT HISTORY WITH 21ST CENTURY SCIENCE,

TO REVEAL A RADICALLY DIFFERENT VERSION OF EVENTS,

THAT SUGGEST CLEOPATRA'S REIGN MAY HAVE BEEN CUT SHORT,

NOT JUST BY HER OWN DEEDS,

BUT BY A PERFECT STORM OF CATASTROPHIC GLOBAL EVENTS,

THE STORY OF HOW THIS MIGHTY CIVILIZATION ENDED

BEGAN IN 69 BC, WHEN CLEOPATRA WAS BORN

INTO THE PTOLEMY DYNASTY,

ONE OF THE MOST DECADENT AND DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILIES

IN EGYPTIAN HISTORY.

REALLY IT WAS A KIND OF NEST OF VIPERS,

SO YOU COULD NOT RELY ON THE LOYALTY OF YOUR FAMILY.

IN FACT, IF ONE OF YOUR FAMILY MEMBERS WALKED IN

THEN YOU HAD TO DEFINITELY WATCH YOUR BACK.

AND CLEOPATRA WASN'T JUST

UNDER THREAT AT HOME,

BECAUSE THERE WAS A NEW PLAYER ON THE WORLD STAGE,

THE AGGRESSIVE, INSATIABLE ROMAN EMPIRE.

ROME HAD SUCCESSIVELY GOBBLED UP

THE ENTIRE MEDITERRANEAN,

FROM SPAIN ALL THE WAY TO SYRIA, PALESTINE, ISRAEL,

AND THE ONLY COUNTRY THAT THEY DID NOT CONQUER WAS EGYPT.

AND NOW IT HAS ABSOLUTELY SET

ITS EYES FIRMLY ON THE EAST,

SO CLEOPATRA AND HER BEAUTIFUL NATION OF EGYPT

IS TOTALLY WITHIN THE SIGHTS OF THE ROMAN POWER MAKERS.

BUT CLEOPATRA HAD LEARNT A VALUABLE LESSON

FROM HER TREACHEROUS FAMILY,

TO SURVIVE SHE WOULD NEED TO KEEP HER FRIENDS CLOSE

AND HER ENEMIES CLOSER.

CLEOPATRA DEFINITELY NEEDED ROME,

SHE NEEDED TO KNOW THAT ROME WAS AN ALLY

RATHER THAN AN ENEMY.

AND BY 48 BC CLEOPATRA HAD MADE MORE

THAN SIMPLY A POLITICAL ALLIANCE

WITH THE ROMAN LEADER JULIUS CAESAR.

WITHIN A YEAR OF MEETING, SHE WAS PREGNANT WITH THEIR SON,

AN HEIR WITH THE POTENTIAL TO UNITE

THE ANCIENT WORLD'S TWO GREAT SUPERPOWERS.

CLEOPATRA'S AFFAIR WITH THE ROMAN LEADER PROTECTED HER,

HER DYNASTY AND HER NATION FROM ROME'S IMPERIAL AMBITIONS.

BUT THIS WAS A MUTUALLY BENEFICIAL ARRANGEMENT,

BECAUSE ROME NEEDED SOMETHING THAT EGYPT HAD.

CAESAR WANTS A STABLE EGYPT

BECAUSE EGYPT IS PRODUCING THE GRAIN

THAT FEEDS THE ROMAN TERRITORIES.

ACCOUNTS REVEAL, IN A GOOD YEAR,

EGYPT COULD PRODUCE MORE GRAIN

THAN ANY OTHER COUNTRY IN THE ANCIENT WORLD.

SUPPLYING OVER 1,000 CARGO SHIPS OF GRAIN

TO THE CITY OF ROME ALONE.

EGYPT WAS THE BREAD BASKET OF THE ROMAN WORLD,

IT REALLY FED A LOT OF ROMAN CITIES

AND SO IT WAS REALLY

STRATEGICALLY IMPORTANT TO THE ROMANS.

GRAIN WAS THE GOLD THAT MADE EGYPT RICH

AND CLEOPATRA POWERFUL.

BUT HISTORIAN JOE MANNING BELIEVES AN ANCIENT INSCRIPTION

REVEALS THE COUNTRY'S VITAL GRAIN SUPPLY WASN'T GUARANTEED.

KNOWN AS THE CANOPUS DECREE,

IT WAS CARVED TWO CENTURIES BEFORE CLEOPATRA CAME TO POWER,

AND IT RECOUNTS A DARK CHAPTER IN EGYPT'S HISTORY,

WHEN THE PHARAOH PTOLEMY THE THIRD

WAS FORCED TO IMPORT GRAIN.

THE CANOPUS DECREE IS A REMARKABLE DOCUMENT.

IT RECORDS WHAT A GREAT KING HE IS,

AT GREAT PERSONAL EXPENSE,

BUYING GRAIN FROM OUTSIDE TERRITORY

AND IMPORTING THE GRAIN BACK INTO EGYPT

WHICH IS QUITE SHOCKING IN A PLACE

THAT'S A VERY RICH GRAIN BEARING LAND.

THE DECREE STATES THAT WITH THE IMPORTED GRAIN,

THE PHARAOH MAINTAINED THE COUNTRY IN A STATE OF PEACE,

AND PROVIDED LAW AND ORDER FOR ALL THOSE IN THE COUNTRY.

THESE CAREFULLY CHOSEN WORDS SUGGEST THE PHARAOH

USED GRAIN TO RESTORE ORDER,

AND THAT SUGGESTS THE SHORTAGE OF GRAIN

MUST HAVE CAUSED DISORDER.

IT LOOKS LIKE A REAL CRISIS THAT WAS SOLVED

BY PTOLEMY THE THIRD BY IMPORTING ALL THIS GRAIN

AND DISTRIBUTING IT TO A STARVING POPULATION.

AND THIS LINK, BETWEEN HUNGER AND UNREST,

WAS SOMETHING CLEOPATRA WOULD HAVE UNDERSTOOD ALL TOO WELL,

THANKS TO HER DYNASTY'S TURBULENT HISTORY.

THE EGYPTIAN PTOLEMAIC DYNASTY BEGAN IN 305 BC

AND IT ENDED IN 30 BC.

WITHIN THAT 300 YEAR PERIOD OF TIME

THERE IS DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE OF AT LEAST 10 REVOLTS.

IF GRAIN SUPPLIES RAN LOW

CLEOPATRA COULD QUICKLY RUN INTO TROUBLE

WITH HER EGYPTIAN SUBJECTS AND HER ROMAN CLIENTS.

APPEASING BOTH COUNTRIES WAS A DELICATE BALANCING ACT.

BUT ON MARCH 15TH 44 BC,

SOMETHING HAPPENED THAT WOULD THROW CLEOPATRA'S RELATIONSHIP

WITH ROME OUT OF BALANCE.

NOT A FAMINE OR A REVOLT,

BUT A MURDER.

JULIUS CAESAR WAS CLEOPATRA'S LOVER,

BUT HE WAS ALSO HER PROTECTOR,

SO WHEN HE'S ASSASSINATED SHE IS INCREDIBLY EXPOSED,

POLITICALLY AND PERSONALLY.

AND THIS WAS JUST THE BEGINNING

OF CLEOPATRA'S TROUBLES,

AHEAD LAY YEARS OF FAILED HARVESTS AND CRIPPLING FAMINES,

THE THREAT OF VIOLENT INSURRECTION AND WAR WITH ROME.

CLEOPATRA IS AN INCREDIBLE POWERFUL WOMAN,

SHE'S A REAL OPERATOR,

BUT EVEN SOMEBODY OF HER STRENGTH AND ABILITY

IS NO MATCH FOR THE FURY OF MOTHER NATURE.

FAR FROM EGYPT,

AN IMMENSE AND ULTIMATELY INSURMOUNTABLE FORCE OF NATURE,

WAS ABOUT TO SEND THE QUEEN AND HER COUNTRY

SPIRALING TOWARDS DESTRUCTION.

IN 44 BC, ANCIENT EGYPT BEGAN TO FALL APART.

ON THE WORLD STAGE, CLEOPATRA'S ROMAN ALLY AND PROTECTOR

JULIUS CAESAR LAY DEAD,

AND CLEOPATRA WOULD HAVE BEEN IN NO DOUBT

THAT MORE TROUBLE LAY AHEAD,

BECAUSE IT WAS HERALDED IN THE SKIES.

SOMETHING VERY STRANGE WAS HAPPENING

IN THE EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN.

WE HEAR FROM AUTHORS THAT THERE WERE

DARKENINGS OF THE SKY AND THAT THE SUN WAS LOST.

IN THE DAYS AND WEEKS

FOLLOWING CAESAR'S MURDER,

ACCOUNTS DESCRIBE VIVID SUNSETS, STRANGE DARK DAYS

AND THREE SUNS APPEARING OVERHEAD.

THIS WAS A TIME WHEN THE GODS WERE EVERYWHERE,

AND IF SOMETHING STRANGE LIKE THIS WAS HAPPENING,

ALONG WITH THE MURDER OF A GREAT ROMAN RULER,

THAT WOULD HAVE FELT LIKE SOME KIND OF DIVINE RETRIBUTION.

WITHIN A YEAR OF CAESAR'S DEATH

EGYPT WAS GRIPPED BY DROUGHT, FAMINE AND DISEASE.

BUT THIS WASN'T THE WORK OF THE GODS.

A CLUE TO THE ACTUAL CAUSE CAN BE FOUND IN A BOOK

WRITTEN AROUND 100 YEARS AFTER CLEOPATRA'S DEATH

BY THE ROMAN PHILOSOPHER AND HISTORIAN, SENECA.

SO THIS IS THE BOOK OF SENECA'S NATURAL QUESTIONS

AND WE'RE LOOKING AT HERE A REALLY IMPORTANT PASSAGE

WHERE SENECA TELLS US BIOENIO CONTINUO,

FOR TWO YEARS IN A ROW IN THE REIGN OF CLEOPATRA

THERE WAS NO NILE FLOOD.

CLEOPATRA HAD BEEN BETRAYED BY THE RIVER NILE.

IT WAS THE ANNUAL FLOODING OF THE NILE

THAT MADE CROP GROWTH POSSIBLE.

BUT NOW EGYPT'S GREATEST ASSET,

HAD BECOME ITS BIGGEST LIABILITY.

NO FLOOD AT ALL FOR TWO YEARS IN A ROW.

THIS IS A REALLY SIGNIFICANT EVENT,

IT WOULD HAVE DRAMATIC IMPACTS ON EGYPTIAN SOCIETY.

THIS WAS A DISASTER,

THE MIGHTY RIVER NILE WAS THE SECRET OF EGYPT'S SUCCESS,

IT MADE THIS DESERT NATION

THE BREAD BASKET OF THE ANCIENT WORLD.

I THINK IT'S VERY DIFFICULT TO OVERSTATE

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE RIVER NILE TO THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.

THE ENTIRE EGYPTIAN ECONOMY REVOLVES AROUND THE RIVER.

THE LUSH NILE VALLEY CUTS THROUGH

THE ARID EGYPTIAN LANDSCAPE,

A FERTILE 670-MILE-LONG GREEN RIBBON

FLANKED BY A VAST EXPANSE OF ROCK AND SAND.

EACH SUMMER, STORMS AND MELTING SNOWS HIGH IN THE MOUNTAINS

OF ETHIOPIA AND CENTRAL AFRICA FLOOD INTO THE NILE.

THEY BURST THE RIVER'S BANKS,

DEPOSITING NOURISHING MINERALS

THAT TURN BARREN DESERT INTO FERTILE FARMLAND.

BUT AS SENECA'S ACCOUNT REVEALS,

THIS LIFE-GIVING FLOOD, THAT MADE EGYPT RICH,

WASN'T GUARANTEED.

IF THE NILE FLOOD WASN'T HIGH ENOUGH

THEN YOU WOULDN'T GET ENOUGH WATER

AND FERTILIZING SILT ON THE FIELDS,

THE CROPS WOULDN'T GROW

AND IT WOULDN'T BE TOO LONG BEFORE THE FOOD RAN OUT.

FOR THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS,

THE HEIGHT OF THE NILE WAS THE DIFFERENCE

BETWEEN LIFE AND DEATH.

BUT IN THE YEARS FOLLOWING CAESAR'S MURDER,

EGYPT SUFFERED AT LEAST TWO CONSECUTIVE YEARS

OF FAILED FLOODS.

WITH NO WATER OR NUTRIENTS TO FEED THE FIELDS,

HARVESTS FAILED, FAMINE FOLLOWED,

AND THE STARVING FARMERS AND LABORERS

LEFT THE LAND IN SEARCH OF FOOD.

WHEN YOU ABANDON A BIT OF LAND

YOU GET MORE LAND ABANDONED

BECAUSE YOU'RE NOT MAINTAINING THE IRRIGATION, CANALS

AND THE DYKES AND SO ON.

SO IT HAS A VERY BAD FEEDBACK EFFECT.

IN THIS WAY, TWO YEARS OF FAILED FLOODS

QUICKLY SNOWBALLED INTO MANY MORE YEARS

OF POOR HARVESTS AND FAMINE.

AND, FOR CLEOPATRA, WHAT HAD BEGUN WITH A FAILED FLOOD

THREATENED TO TRIGGER A REVOLT,

TURNING A NATURAL DISASTER INTO A POLITICAL CATASTROPHE.

CLEOPATRA'S SEEN THIS IN HER LIFETIME,

SHE'S SEEN MASSIVE PROTESTS IN ALEXANDRIA

AND IN HER FATHER'S DAY.

PEOPLE WOULD TAKE TO THE STREET,

THEY WOULD PROTEST, THEY WOULD REBEL, THEY WOULD RIOT.

RAVAGED BY RELENTLESS FAMINE,

THREATENED BY HER PEOPLE, HER FAMILY

AND A NEWLY UNSTABLE ROME,

AND HAUNTED BY STRANGE OMENS IN THE SKY.

TO CLEOPATRA IT MUST HAVE SEEMED THE FAILED FLOODS

WERE THE WRATH OF THE GODS.

BUT GROUND BREAKING NEW RESEARCH

HAS REVEALED A VERY DIFFERENT CULPRIT.

AND THE EVIDENCE WAS DISCOVERED A WORLD AWAY

FROM THE HEAT AND DUST OF EGYPT, FROZEN IN TIME,

DEEP IN THE TWO MILE THICK ICE SHEETS OF GREENLAND.

ON THE SURFACE IT SEEMS VERY UNUSUAL TO GO TO GREENLAND

TO BE ABLE TO TRY TO UNDERSTAND WHAT WAS CAUSING EVENTS

OR WHAT WAS CONTRIBUTING TO EVENTS

IN A DESERT THOUSANDS OF MILES AWAY IN EGYPT.

ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORIAN FRANCIS LUDLOW

HAS TRAVELED TO A SPECIALIST SUB-ZERO FACILITY

IN COPENHAGEN, DENMARK, WHERE THE SAMPLES OF ICE,

KNOWN AS ICE CORES, ARE STORED.

ICE CORES ARE NATURAL ARCHIVES THAT COME FROM

DRILLING DEEP INTO POLAR ICE SHEETS

AND EXTRACTING THESE LONG CORES

AND READING THEM FOR A WHOLE TREASURE TROVE

OF PAST ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION.

EACH YEAR AS A NEW LAYER OF ICE FREEZES,

GASES AND PARTICLES PRESENT IN

THE WATER AND AIR ARE TRAPPED.

SO BY ANALYZING THE CHEMICAL COMPOSITION

OF INDIVIDUAL LAYERS GOING BACK 10S OF 1,000S OF YEARS,

SCIENTISTS CAN BUILD UP A PICTURE

OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS AT ANY GIVEN TIME.

FRANCIS BELIEVES THAT A PARTICULAR GROUP OF CHEMICALS

TRAPPED IN THE ICE DURING CLEOPATRA'S TIME

PLAYED A CRITICAL ROLE IN HER STORY,

THEY'RE CALLED SULFATES

AND THEY'RE FORMED FROM SULPHUR DIOXIDE.

TODAY SULPHUR DIOXIDE IS

PRODUCED BY BURNING FOSSIL FUELS.

BUT 2,000 YEARS AGO, THERE WAS ONLY ONE POSSIBLE SOURCE,

A VOLCANIC ERUPTION.

WHEN YOU SEE A SUDDEN SPIKE

THAT STANDS OUT THREE, FOUR,

10 OR MORE TIMES ABOVE THE BACKGROUND LEVEL

THAT IS REALLY THE TELLTAIL SIGN

THAT THERE HAS BEEN A MAJOR VOLCANIC ERUPTION

EITHER IN THAT YEAR OR MAYBE THE YEAR BEFORE.

USING THESE SULFATE SPIKES,

SCIENTISTS HAVE PINPOINTED THE DATE

OF EVERY MAJOR VOLCANIC ERUPTION BACK TO AROUND 500 BC,

AND THERE'S ONE SPIKE THAT TOWERS OVER ALL THE OTHERS.

THE MOST OBVIOUS,

MOST STRIKING SIGNAL IS THIS BIG SPIKE,

THAT REALLY GOES OFF THE CHARTS

IN TERMS THAT WE'VE HAD TO CUT OFF THE ACTUAL VALUE

AS IT JUST KEEPS GOING UP AND UP AND UP.

AND SO THIS IS ONE OF THE BIGGEST ERUPTIONS

IN THE LAST 2,500 YEARS,

LARGER THAN ANYTHING WE'VE EXPERIENCED

IN THE 20 OR 21ST CENTURY FOR EXAMPLE.

BUT IT'S THE DATE THAT GRABBED THEIR ATTENTION.

BECAUSE THIS ERUPTION HAPPENED

IN THE SAME YEAR AS CAESAR'S MURDER,

WHEN STRANGE VISIONS FILLED THE SKIES,

AND EGYPT DESCENDED INTO FAMINE.

44 BC.

IT COULD BE AN EXTRAORDINARY COINCIDENCE,

BUT HISTORIANS FRANCIS LUDLOW AND JOE MANNING

THINK IT'S MORE THAN THAT,

THEY BELIEVE THIS CATACLYSMIC ERUPTION

PLAYED A CRITICAL ROLE IN PUSHING CLEOPATRA,

AND HER COUNTRY, TOWARDS DESTRUCTION.

44 BC WAS A BAD YEAR FOR CLEOPATRA.

NOT ONLY WAS HER ROMAN LOVER AND PROTECTOR CAESAR MURDERED,

BUT THE WORLD ITSELF SEEMED TO HAVE TURNED AGAINST HER.

STRANGE VISIONS FILLED THE SKIES,

AND IT WAS THE BEGINNING OF YEARS

OF FAILED NILE FLOODS AND FAMINES.

NOW, NEW EVIDENCE FOUND FAR FROM EGYPT,

DEEP IN GREENLAND'S ICE SHEETS

IS REVEALING ANOTHER DISASTER STRUCK IN 44 BC,

A COLOSSAL VOLCANO THAT RELEASED

10S OF 1,000S OF TIMES MORE ENERGY

THAN THE HIROSHIMA ATOMIC BOMB.

WE SEE WHAT IS EFFECTIVELY

THE THIRD LARGEST VOLCANIC ERUPTION

OF THE LAST 2,500 YEARS REGISTERING IN THAT YEAR.

BUT COULD A VOLCANIC ERUPTION

REALLY HAVE CAUSED THE FAMINES

THAT BLIGHTED CLEOPATRA'S REIGN?

MAYBE IT MAKES SENSE

IF THE ERUPTIONS CAN IMPACT THE NILE.

BUT I WANNA SEE IF THIS IS HAPPENING

AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN.

ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORIAN FRANCIS LUDLOW

AND EGYPTOLOGIST JOE MANNING SET OUT TO SOLVE THE MYSTERY,

BY FINDING OTHER EXAMPLES OF VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS

FOLLOWED BY FAILED NILE FLOODS.

AND LUCKILY THE EGYPTIANS HAD LEFT BEHIND

AN EXTRAORDINARY RECORD OF THE NILE FLOOD WATERS.

THE NILE RIVER FLOOD WAS SO IMPORTANT

THAT TO HAVE SOME SORT OF GUESS AS TO WHAT THE HARVEST

WAS GOING TO BE, THE EGYPTIANS FROM EARLIEST DAYS

OF EGYPTIAN CIVILIZATION

WOULD RECORD THE HEIGHT OF THE RIVER.

SINCE AT LEAST 2480 BC

THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS HAD MEASURED THE RIVER LEVEL

TO MONITOR THE ARRIVAL OF THE COMING FLOOD

AND CALCULATE THE POTENTIAL HARVEST.

THESE MEASURING INSTRUMENTS,

THEY'RE CALLED NILEOMETERS,

ARE THE EARLIEST CLIMATE INSTRUMENTS

CREATED BY HUMAN BEINGS.

LINES MARKED ON A COLUMN,

RESTING ON THE RIVER BED,

ALLOWED THE WATER LEVEL TO BE MEASURED.

THE ROMAN HISTORIAN PLINY RECORDED HOW THE EGYPTIANS

USED THESE NILEOMETERS TO DEFINE A GOOD AND A BAD FLOOD.

THIS IS PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY

AND AN IMPORTANT PASSAGE THAT TELLS US

ABOUT THE NILE FLOOD BEHAVIOR,

AND HE GIVES US SPECIFIC NILEOMETER READINGS.

ACCORDING TO PLINY, IN A GOOD FLOOD

THE WATER LEVEL WOULD REACH 16 CUBITS OR 24 FEET.

HAPPINESS, HE ACTUALLY SAYS HOW MUCH THIS

IS CREATING HAPPINESS, How MUCH WATER CREATES HAPPINESS.

WHILE ANYTHING LESS THAN 19 FEET

WOULD TRIGGER WIDESPREAD HUNGER.

BUT IN SOME YEARS, RECORDS SHOW THE WATER

WAS AS LOW AS JUST SEVEN AND A HALF FEET.

PLINY'S TEXT HERE IS A NICE INDICATION,

THAT EGYPT DEPENDS ALMOST FULLY ON THE NILE FLOOD.

FRUSTRATINGLY FOR JOE AND FRANCIS,

THE CRUCIAL NILE MEASUREMENTS

TAKEN DURING CLEOPATRA'S REIGN HAVE BEEN LOST

BUT THEY WERE STILL ABLE TO INVESTIGATE.

BY MATCHING LATER MEASUREMENTS TAKEN AT NILEOMETERS

SUCH AS THIS ONE IN CAIRO BUILT IN 861 AD,

WITH HISTORICAL ACCOUNTS OF VOLCANOES IN THE SAME PERIOD.

WE WERE ABLE TO LOOK AT WHAT HAPPENED TO THE NILE

AFTER FAMOUS, RECENT ERUPTIONS, RECENT FOR AN HISTORIAN.

AND YOU COULD SEE HOW THE NILE

JUST DIDN'T RISE FOR MULTIPLE YEARS.

AND THE MORE THEY LOOKED,

THE MORE THEY WERE CONVINCED THE ERUPTION OF 44 BC

AND THE FAILED NILE FLOODS WERE LINKED

AND NOT SIMPLY A COINCIDENCE.

AND WHEN YOU COMPARE MULTIPLE ERUPTIONS

AGAINST MULTIPLE YEARS IN THE NILEOMETERS

YOU GET TO SEE THIS REPEATED RESPONSE

IN WHICH THE SUMMER FLOOD JUST FALLS OFF.

JOE AND FRANCIS HAD IDENTIFIED

A POWERFUL RECURRING PATTERN OF THE NILE

FAILING TO FLOOD PROPERLY,

AFTER HIGH LEVELS OF SULFATES WERE RELEASED

INTO THE ATMOSPHERE BY VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS.

AND THEY BELIEVE THERE'S EVERY REASON TO THINK

THE SAME THING HAPPENED FOLLOWING

THE COLOSSAL ERUPTION OF 44 BC.

THE CLIMATE SYSTEM IS STILL PRETTY MUCH THE SAME

AND SO WE HAD CONFIDENCE ON THAT BASIS.

EXCEPT THERE ARE NO VOLCANOES IN EGYPT.

THE ERUPTION MUST HAVE HAPPENED FAR FROM THE NILE VALLEY.

SO HOW COULD A DISTANT VOLCANO

ALTER THE FLOODING OF THE NILE?

FRANCIS BELIEVES THE ANSWER LIES IN THE STRANGE SUNSETS

THAT LIT UP THE SKIES IN THE DAYS AFTER CAESAR'S DEATH.

ANCIENT WRITINGS ARE FULL OF APPARENTLY FANTASTICAL

DESCRIPTIONS OF SECOND SUNS OR SECOND RINGS AROUND THE SUN

OR DARKENED SUNS OR DISCOLORED SUNLIGHT.

AND OFTEN THEY HAVE, THESE DESCRIPTIONS

HAVE BEEN WRITTEN OFF AS FLIGHTS OF FANCY.

BUT WE NOW KNOW THAT THESE ARE REALLY OFTEN BEEN

GIVEN RISE TO BY THE EFFECTS OF MAJOR VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS.

OVER 10 MILES UP, TINY DUST AND GAS PARTICLES,

EJECTED BY THE VOLCANO, FILTER THE SUN'S LIGHT

MAKING THE SKY APPEAR RED OR EVEN PURPLE.

THIS IS WHAT CAUSED THOSE CELESTIAL VISIONS

AFTER CAESAR'S DEATH.

THEY WEREN'T AN OMEN FROM THE GODS

BUT THEY WERE A WARNING,

THAT DISASTER WOULD COME FROM THE HEAVENS

BECAUSE AMONG THE MATERIALS BLASTED

INTO THE SKY WERE THOSE SULFATES.

WHIPPED AROUND THE GLOBE BY POWERFUL HIGH LEVEL WINDS,

THESE TINY PARTICLES HAVE THE POWER

TO CHANGE THE WORLD'S WEATHER.

ONE OF THE THINGS THEY HAPPEN TO BE QUITE GOOD AT

IS REFLECTING INCOMING SOLAR RADIATION BACK TO SPACE.

SO THEY REFLECT SUNLIGHT BACK TO SPACE

AND THEREFORE LESS OF IT GETS TO THE EARTH SURFACE

AND IT GETS COLDER.

AND IT'S THIS DROP IN TEMPERATURE

THAT WOULD HAVE INTERFERED WITH THE ANNUAL NILE FLOOD,

BECAUSE CLIMATE SCIENTISTS BELIEVE THAT,

STRANGE AS IT MAY SOUND,

COLDER TEMPERATURES CAN TRIGGER DROUGHT.

AND THAT DOESN'T SEEM TO MAKE INTUITIVE SENSE AT FIRST.

BUT REALLY, YOU CAN HAVE SEVERE DROUGHTS

ASSOCIATED WITH REDUCED TEMPERATURES.

USUALLY, HOT SUMMER TEMPERATURES AT THE EQUATOR

CAUSE WATER TO EVAPORATE, AND IT RISES INTO THE ATMOSPHERE.

HERE GLOBAL CURRENTS CARRY THE WARM WET AIR NORTH,

AWAY FROM THE EQUATOR.

AS THE TEMPERATURES DROP,

AND THE CLOUDS HIT HIGH GROUND,

THE WATER CONDENSES, AND FALLS AS RAIN.

SO YOU HAVE THE SUMMER RAINS MIGRATING NORTHWARD

DUMPING VAST QUANTITIES OF RAIN IN THE ETHIOPIAN HIGHLANDS

WHERE THE BLUE NILE RISES.

AND IT'S THE BLUE NILE THAT EACH YEAR SUPPLIES

AROUND 85% OF THAT FLOODWATER TO EGYPT.

BUT IN THE AFTERMATH

OF A MAJOR VOLCANIC ERUPTION,

SULFATES IN THE ATMOSPHERE LOWER TEMPERATURES

AND INTERRUPT THE CYCLE OF OF EVAPORATION AND RAINFALL

TRIGGERING A POTENTIALLY CATASTROPHIC CHAIN OF EVENTS

THAT CONTINUES LONG AFTER THE ERUPTION.

SO THERE'S LESS WATER ON THE AGRICULTURAL FIELDS,

WHICH MEANS LESS CROPS GROWN, WHICH CAN LEAD TO FOOD CRISES.

WE ALSO KNOW THAT FLOOD FAILURES IN EGYPT CAN LEAD TO

THE DEATH OF ANIMALS, THE ABANDONMENT OF LAND

AND ALL OF THAT CAN CREATE

A REAL CRISIS OF MANY YEARS LENGTH.

AMAZINGLY, THE ORIGIN OF MANY

OF CLEOPATRA'S PROBLEMS CAN NOW BE TRACED

TO A VOLCANO ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD

BECAUSE THE ERUPTION WAS RECORDED IN ICE CORES

COLLECTED NEAR BOTH THE NORTH AND SOUTH POLES.

AND THIS HELPED JOE AND FRANCIS

TO NARROW DOWN THE VOLCANO'S LOCATION.

IT WAS PROBABLY SOMEWHERE

NEAR ENOUGH TO THE EQUATOR

AND WE KNOW THAT BECAUSE ONLY ERUPTIONS

THAT ARE ALONG THE EQUATOR CAN ACTUALLY MANAGE

TO GET SULFATE INTO BOTH POLES SIMULTANEOUSLY.

SCIENTISTS CAN'T BE SURE

EXACTLY WHERE THE ERUPTION OCCURRED.

BUT THE LIKELIEST SUSPECT IS THE APOYEQUE VOLCANO

ON NICARAGUA'S PACIFIC COAST, 7,000 MILES FROM EGYPT.

IN THE YEARS FOLLOWING CAESAR'S DEATH,

THE FARMERS WHO TRIED TO SCRAPE A LIVING

FROM THE BARREN SOIL,

THE REFUGEES WHO CROWDED INTO THE CITIES,

NONE OF THEM COULD HAVE ANY IDEA

THAT THEIR LIVES WERE BEING DESTROYED BY A DISTANT VOLCANO.

TO THEM, THERE WAS ONLY ONE PERSON TO BLAME, THE PHARAOH.

IN THE ANCIENT EGYPTIAN TRADITION

PHARAOH WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE NILE FLOOD.

WHICH IS GREAT WHEN THE NILE IS FLOODING WELL

AND EVERYONE IS HAPPY, AND FAT AND HEALTHY.

BUT THE REVERSE ALSO APPLIED, WHEN THE NILE FAILED TO FLOOD

IT WAS A STATEMENT FROM THE GODS

THAT THE PHARAOH WAS NO LONGER LEGITIMATE.

AND I THINK IF I WERE THE PTOLEMIES,

IN THIS CASE IF I WERE CLEOPATRA,

I WOULD WORRY THAT PEOPLE WOULD READ THIS IN A VERY BAD WAY.

CLEOPATRA'S FATE WAS BOUND TO THE NILE FLOOD.

WHEN THE MASSIVE 44 BC VOLCANO BEGAN TO TAKE EFFECT,

AND THE WATERS FAILED TO RISE,

THE PHARAOH FACED A CRISIS

UNLIKE ANYTHING SHE'D EVER EXPERIENCED,

AND IT COULD ONLY GET WORSE,

BECAUSE THE VULTURES OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE WERE CIRCLING.

IN 44 BC THE WORLD EXPERIENCED

A DEVASTATING VOLCANIC ERUPTION.

ITS EFFECTS WERE GLOBAL

AND IT HIT ANCIENT EGYPT HARD,

CAUSING CATASTROPHIC FAILURES OF THE LIFE GIVING NILE FLOOD,

AND YEARS OF FAMINE,

PUSHING CLEOPATRA AND HER COUNTRY

TOWARDS SELF DESTRUCTION AND POLITICAL RUIN.

SHE WAS FACING THIS VERY, VERY CHALLENGING SITUATION

BROUGHT ABOUT BY SOMETHING THAT WAS COMPLETELY

AND UTTERLY BEYOND EVEN HER CONTROL.

CLEOPATRA COULD HAVE HAD NO IDEA

OF THE IMMENSE FORCES PITCHED AGAINST HER,

BUT SHE KNEW THE CONSEQUENCES OF FAILED FLOODS

AND THE FAMINE THEY UNLEASHED

FROM HER FAMILY'S TURBULENT HISTORY.

REVOLT WAS A RECURRING THEME

THROUGHOUT THE PTOLEMAIC PERIOD.

THE MANY REVOLTS EXPERIENCED BY HER ANCESTORS

HAD TAUGHT CLEOPATRA THAT HUNGER MAKES PEOPLE DESPERATE,

DESPERATION MAKES PEOPLE DANGEROUS,

AND FOR THE BELEAGUERED QUEEN,

NOWHERE WAS MORE DANGEROUS THAN EGYPT'S CITIES.

THE LABORERS, FARMERS WERE JUST ABANDONING THE LAND,

THEY CAN'T GROW ANYTHING,

SO THEY ARE MIGRATING TO THE URBAN AREAS.

SO YOU'VE GOT THIS PILING UP OF PEOPLE IN URBAN AREAS,

WHICH CAN OBVIOUSLY LEAD TO A SORT OF POWDER KEG SITUATION.

AND THE BIGGEST,

AND MOST POTENTIALLY EXPLOSIVE CITY IN EGYPT

WAS ITS CAPITAL, AND CLEOPATRA'S HOME, ALEXANDRIA.

GRAIN SUPPLIES WERE NOW DANGEROUSLY LOW,

YET SOMEHOW CLEOPATRA HAD TO KEEP

ALEXANDRIA'S HUNGRY CITIZENS ON HER SIDE.

CLASSICS SCHOLAR BETTANY HUGHES BELIEVES

A 2,000-YEAR-OLD DOCUMENT IN BERLIN'S NEUES MUSEUM

REVEALS HOW THE QUEEN SET OUT TO KEEP THE PEACE

IN THE CITY'S PRESSURE COOKER ATMOSPHERE.

THIS IS A REALLY FANTASTIC LITTLE PAPYRUS HERE,

IT'S A SMALL THING, BUT IT SPEAKS ABSOLUTELY VOLUMES.

THE DECREE APPEARS TO HAVE BEEN WRITTEN

BY ONE OF CLEOPATRA'S OFFICIALS

AND IT STIPULATES THAT GRAIN MUST BE KEPT WITHIN ALEXANDRIA.

AND IT'S KIND OF MAKING THE POINT VERY FORCEFULLY,

IT SAYS ON THE PAIN OF DEATH THE GRAIN HAS TO STAY.

SO IT MUST BE THAT THE FOOD SUPPLIES ARE RUNNING LOW,

BECAUSE ON THE PAIN OF DEATH,

YOU KNOW WHOEVER WROTE THIS REALLY MEANT IT.

THE EVIDENCE SUGGESTS CLEOPATRA

TOOK A PROACTIVE APPROACH TO DEALING WITH

THE UNPREDICTABLE NILE FLOODS,

TAKING TOUGH DECISIONS TO KEEP THE MOST VOLATILE PEOPLE FED,

AND ON HER SIDE.

BITS OF EVIDENCE LIKE THIS TELL US THAT CLEOPATRA

HAD A REALLY INTIMATE AND NUANCED UNDERSTANDING

OF HER COUNTRY AND HOW IT WORKED

AND ACTUALLY THE KIND OF PSYCHE

AND PSYCHOLOGY OF HER PEOPLE.

SHE KNEW YOU COULDN'T JUST THROW YOUR WEIGHT AROUND,

YOU HAD TO DO IT IN A KIND OF SUBTLE AND STRATEGIC WAY.

BUT EVEN AS CLEOPATRA TRIED

TO SOLVE ONE PROBLEM,

IT CAUSED HER ANOTHER CHALLENGE,

THIS TIME ON THE INTERNATIONAL STAGE,

BECAUSE KEEPING GRAIN FOR HER PEOPLE,

MEANT LESS GRAIN TO SELL OVERSEAS.

AND THAT RISKED ANGERING EGYPT'S BEST CUSTOMER

AND WORST ENEMY, ROME.

THE MURDER OF CLEOPATRA'S ROMAN PROTECTOR AND ALLY CAESAR

IN 44 BC, HAD MADE ROME MORE UNSTABLE

AND MORE THREATENING THAN EVER.

ROME IS IN CIVIL WAR WHICH IS BOTH VERY DIFFICULT

FOR CLEOPATRA, BUT IN A WAY PUTS HER IN QUITE

AN INTERESTING POSITION OF POWER,

BECAUSE SHE'S STILL THE CONDUIT TO EGYPT

AND ALL THE WEALTH OF EGYPT.

RIVAL FACTIONS TURNED TO CLEOPATRA

FOR FINANCIAL AND LOGISTICAL AID.

THE DIFFERENT FACTIONS START TO PLAY FOR HER HAND

SO THERE'S A KIND OF BRIEF MOMENT IN TIME WHERE

ACTUALLY SHE'S CARRYING ALL THE POLITICAL CARDS.

IN RICHER TIMES, IT'S POSSIBLE THE QUEEN

COULD HAVE BACKED BOTH SIDES, AND HEDGED HER BETS,

BUT WITH HER COUNTRY CRIPPLED BY FAMINE

CLEOPATRA WAS FORCED TO MAKE A DECISION

THAT COULD COST HER EVERYTHING.

ACCORDING TO THE ALEXANDRIAN HISTORIAN APPIAN,

SHE TRIED TO BUY HERSELF SOME TIME

BEFORE MAKING HER FATEFUL CHOICE.

CLEOPATRA, WE'RE TOLD BY APPIAN,

USES AS AN EXCUSE THE FACT THAT EGYPT IS EXPERIENCING FAMINE

AND PLAGUE AND SO IS NOT ABLE TO HELP.

FOR CENTURIES HISTORIANS, LIKE APPIAN,

HAVE INTERPRETED THE REFERENCE TO PLAGUE

AS A CUNNING EXCUSE,

A PLOY THAT WOULD ALLOW CLEOPATRA TO IDENTIFY

THE STRONGER SIDE BEFORE DECLARING HER ALLEGIANCE.

BUT EXPERTS NOW BELIEVE THAT CLEOPATRA'S EXCUSE

FOR FAILING TO COME TO THE FIGHT MAY WELL HAVE BEEN TRUE.

AND THE FAMINE AND DISEASE SHE WAS DESCRIBING

WERE THE AFTER EFFECTS OF THE VOLCANIC ERUPTION IN 44 BC

AS THOUSANDS OF STARVING REFUGEES

SWARMED INTO THE CITY IN SEARCH OF FOOD.

MASS MIGRATION OF PEOPLE

AND THE WHOLE MOVEMENT OF POPULATIONS FROM PLACE TO PLACE

ENCOURAGES THE RISK OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES

BEING TRANSMITTED, PEOPLE ARE COMING TOGETHER,

THEY'RE SHARING FOOD, THEY'RE SHARING LIQUIDS

AND THEY'RE SHARING AN ENVIRONMENT

WHICH ENCOURAGES THE SPREADING OF DISEASES.

DR. HUTAN ASHRAFIAN,

CHIEF SCIENTIFIC ADVISOR

AT IMPERIAL COLLEGE IN LONDON, HAS BEEN INVESTIGATING

THE LATE EGYPTIAN EMPIRE FOR YEARS.

HE BELIEVES A MEDICAL TEXT REVEALS THE NILE FLOOD FAILURES

HAD A DIRECT AND DEADLY EFFECT

ON THE HEALTH OF CLEOPATRA'S PEOPLE.

THERE WAS A DESCRIPTION BY A PHYSICIAN

AT THE COURT OF CLEOPATRA CALLED DIESCORIDIES PHACAS,

WHO DID DESCRIBE A TIME WHEN THE QUEEN WAS BUSY

AND UNABLE TO HELP NEIGHBORS

BECAUSE SHE HAD TO MANAGE THE ISSUE OF THE NILE

AND THE DISEASES ASSOCIATED WITH THAT.

THE TEXT REVEALS CLEOPATRA REALLY WAS

DEALING WITH OUTBREAKS OF DISEASE,

INCLUDING SOME OF THE DEADLIEST

AND MOST VIRULENT KNOWN TO MEDICINE.

THERE ARE SANITATION DISEASES AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES

AND THESE INCLUDE THINGS LIKE TYPHOID, CHOLERA,

BUT ACTUALLY THE SYMPTOMS THAT WERE DESCRIBED

BY DIESCORIDIES PHACAS WERE THOSE OF FEVER, MALAISE, BOILS

AND DELIRIUM AND ALL OF THESE WHEN YOU ADD THEM TOGETHER

FIT VERY CLOSELY TO BUBONIC PLAGUE.

THE 44 BC ERUPTION WAS NOW PLAYING

A CRUCIAL ROLE IN THE VIOLENT WORLD OF ANCIENT POLITICS,

BECAUSE WITH HER COUNTRY RAVAGED BY DISEASE AND FAMINE,

CLEOPATRA COULDN'T FIGHT THE ROMANS.

FOR HER, THE ONLY WAY TO COUNTER THEIR THREAT,

WAS TO GET IN BED WITH THE ENEMY.

SHE REALIZED FROM PAST EXPERIENCE THAT ROMAN MONEY

AND ROMAN ARMIES WOULD HELP UNDERWRITE

AND MAINTAIN HER THRONE.

AND WITH THE DEATH OF CAESAR,

SHE HAD REALLY NO ONE TO TURN TO,

SO SHE HAD TO CAST A WIDE NET AS IT WERE,

TO FIND ANOTHER ALLY.

BY 41 BC, THREE YEARS AFTER THE FATEFUL

ERUPTION BROUGHT DROUGHT AND DISEASE TO EGYPT,

CLEOPATRA COULDN'T STALL ANY LONGER,

SHE HAD TO CHOOSE A SIDE IN THE ROMAN CIVIL WAR.

AND THAT CHOICE WOULD PROVE FATAL.

IN 44 BC A VIOLENT VOLCANIC ERUPTION

ROCKED THE ANCIENT WORLD,

TRIGGERING YEARS OF RELENTLESS DROUGHT, FAMINE

AND DISEASE IN EGYPT,

AND FORCING CLEOPATRA TO TAKE EXTREME MEASURES,

TO KEEP HER COUNTRY FED AND THE ROMAN EMPIRE FROM INVADING.

IN AN ATTEMPT TO QUELL AN UPRISING AT HOME,

SHE GAVE GRAIN TO HER STARVING PEOPLE,

AND ON THE WORLD STAGE,

SHE COZIED UP TO ONE OF THE NEW ROMAN MEN OF POWER,

A CELEBRATED AND POPULAR GENERAL WHO CONTROLLED

A LARGE SWATHE OF ROMAN TERRITORY, MARC ANTONY.

HE'S THIS WILD, HEADY,

GORGEOUSLY ATTRACTIVE, POTENT GENERAL.

HE'S REALLY SMART, HE'S VERY POPULAR,

PARTICULARLY WITH ROMAN SOLDIERS,

AND HE SEEMS LIKE A REALLY GOOD BET.

THEIR ALLIANCE WAS POLITICAL AND PASSIONATE.

BUT LIKE CAESAR BEFORE HIM,

MARC ANTONY'S SUPPORT CAME AT A PRICE.

THIS DOCUMENT, DRAFTED BY AN OFFICIAL

IN CLEOPATRA'S COURT, SHOWS SHE APPROVED

A VALUABLE TAX BREAK FOR A FRIEND OF MARC ANTONY,

LIFTING ALL TRADE SANCTIONS,

AND ALLOWING EGYPT'S PRECIOUS GRAIN TO BE EXPORTED.

THIS IS A TIME

WHEN GRAIN IS A REALLY PRECIOUS COMMODITY

BECAUSE THERE JUST ISN'T ENOUGH OF IT,

BUT SHE'S JUST LET HIM EXPORT 1,000 MEASURES OF IT

COMPLETELY FOR FREE.

AND IT'S CLEAR THIS WAS

CLEOPATRA'S PERSONAL DECISION.

THERE'S ONE WORD WHICH IS WRITTEN IN GREEK

AND IT IS GESINTHO AND WHAT THAT MEANS IS MAKE IT HAPPEN,

SO IT'S AN INSTRUCTION FROM SOMEBODY

THAT THEY CAN'T IGNORE THIS.

BUT WHAT IS UNBELIEVABLY EXCITING IS THAT RECENTLY

IT'S BEEN IDENTIFIED AS BEING WRITTEN BY CLEOPATRA HERSELF,

SO THIS IS CLEOPATRA'S HANDWRITING.

I MEAN HUNDREDS OF THINGS WERE BEING PRODUCED EVERY DAY,

SO THE FACT THAT CLEOPATRA'S BOTHERED TO AUTOGRAPH IT

SHOWS THAT THIS IS SOMETHING SHE

REALLY, REALLY, REALLY WANTS TO MAKE SURE HAPPENS.

CLEOPATRA WAS WORKING FRANTICALLY

TO KEEP HER COUNTRY FED, STABLE, AND SAFE FROM INVASION,

JUDICIOUSLY SHARING OUT EGYPT'S DWINDLING GRAIN

BETWEEN HER HUNGRY PEOPLE AND HER ROMAN ALLIES.

THANKS TO VOLCANIC ACTIVITY

HER SITUATION WAS BECOMING

SO DIFFICULT THAT EVENTUALLY

IT WAS GOING TO BECOME IMPOSSIBLE FOR HER.

EVEN AS THE NILE FLOOD RETURNED

AND FAMINE RETREATED OVER THE FOLLOWING DECADE,

THE DECISIONS CLEOPATRA MADE AFTER CATASTROPHE STRUCK

IN 44 BC WERE ABOUT TO COME BACK TO HAUNT HER.

BECAUSE IN CHOOSING MARC ANTONY,

CLEOPATRA HAD MADE A FATAL MISTAKE,

AND A DANGEROUS ENEMY.

MARC ANTONY IS ACTUALLY MARRIED TO OCTAVIA

WHO IS THE SISTER OF OCTAVIAN.

AND OCTAVIAN IS ACTUALLY THE EMERGING POWER

IN ROME AT THIS TIME.

OCTAVIAN WAS CAESAR'S GREAT NEPHEW

AND APPOINTED HEIR,

AND MARK ANTHONY'S RIVAL FOR THE TOP JOB IN ROME,

AND HE LOATHED ANTONY'S AFFAIR WITH CLEOPATRA.

AND HE OBVIOUSLY FELT

THAT HIS SISTER WAS BEING AFFRONTED

AND OCTAVIAN, FRANKLY, WAS NOT A MAN TO CROSS.

BUT ALSO AT THE SAME TIME HE KNOWS THAT TOGETHER,

ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA,

ARE A SERIOUS THREAT TO HIS OWN HOLD ON POWER.

IN 31 BC THE SITUATION REACHED BOILING POINT,

OCTAVIAN DEFEATED CLEOPATRA AND MARK ANTONY

IN AN EPIC NAVAL BATTLE.

CLEOPATRA HAD BACKED THE WRONG ROMAN.

A YEAR LATER, WITH NO WAY OUT,

THE DOOMED LOVERS TOOK THEIR OWN LIVES.

CLEOPATRA'S DEATH MEANT THAT IT WAS THE END

OF EGYPTIAN CIVILIZATION AS WE KNOW IT.

AND SLOWLY OVER THE COURSE OF THE NEXT DECADES

EGYPTIAN CIVILIZATION AS WE COME TO KNOW AND LOVE IT, DIES.

THE ROMAN EMPIRE WOULD RULE EGYPT

FOR ANOTHER 700 YEARS,

AND WRITE THE HISTORY THAT BLAMED CLEOPATRA

FOR THE DEMISE OF EGYPT'S GLITTERING CIVILIZATION.

BUT NOW, THANKS TO THE WORK OF JOE MANNING

AND FRANCIS LUDLOW, THE STORY OF THESE FINAL,

TURBULENT YEARS, CAN BE REWRITTEN,

BECAUSE THEY'VE DISCOVERED

NOT ONLY WAS CLEOPATRA'S REIGN SHAPED

BY ONE OF THE LARGEST VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS IN HISTORY,

BUT SHE INHERITED A COUNTRY ALREADY CURSED

BY 300 YEARS OF RELENTLESS VOLCANIC ACTIVITY.

THE HISTORIAN POLYBIUS TELLS US THAT THE REASON

THE PTOLEMIES LAST SO LONG IS THEY WERE LUCKY.

IN FACT, THE PTOLEMIES LOOK LIKE THEY WERE

EXTRAORDINARILY UNLUCKY, BEING SLAMMED BY A LOT OF

VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS THAT ARE AFFECTING THE NILE RIVER.

LUDLOW AND MANNING SUSPECT THERE WERE AT LEAST

12 UPRISINGS DURING THE PTOLEMIES' REIGN

PROMPTED BY FAMINE AND DROUGHT CAUSED BY VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS.

IN STRIKING CONTRAST, THE PERIOD OF ROMAN RULE

THAT FOLLOWED CLEOPATRA'S DEATH WAS UNUSUALLY CALM.

SO THE ROMAN EMPIRE AT ITS HEIGHT, WAS EXTRAORDINARILY

LUCKY IN ITS RATHER OPTIMUM KIND OF CLIMATE.

THIS BRAND NEW CLIMATE DATA REWRITES

THE HISTORY OF TWO EVENTS THAT SHAPED OUR WORLD,

THE FALL OF EGYPT AND THE RISE OF ROME,

BECAUSE THESE MOMENTOUS EVENTS WERE MORE

THAN THE CONSEQUENCE OF

AMBITIOUS RULERS AND EPIC BATTLES,

THEY WERE SHAPED BY UNSEEN, AND UNTIL NOW, UNKNOWN FORCES.

WHAT MAKES THIS SO EXCITING IS WE HAVE ANOTHER TOOL

IN OUR BOX AND THAT BROADENS THE PICTURE

AND GIVES US A WIDER WINDOW UPON HOW NATURAL PHENOMENON

MAY HAVE IMPACTED ON THE COURSE OF HISTORY.

THANKS TO ICE CORES FROM GREENLAND,

THE METICULOUS RECORD TAKING OF THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS,

AND SOME CLEVER 21ST CENTURY DETECTIVE WORK,

IT'S FINALLY POSSIBLE TO PEEL BACK

OVER TWO MILLENNIA OF MYTH AND MISINFORMATION,

TO PICTURE THE FALL OF ANCIENT EGYPT

AND THE DEMISE OF ITS LAST PHARAOH IN ITS TRUE CONTEXT,

AS A RESULT OF A COLOSSAL VOLCANO

AND A POLITICAL STORM ERUPTING IN THE SAME, FATEFUL YEAR.

CLEOPATRA WAS AN EXTRAORDINARY PERSON

FACED WITH EXTRAORDINARY PROBLEMS.

SHE'S A REAL OPERATOR,

BUT EVEN A WOMAN AS POWERFUL AS CLEOPATRA

CAN'T BEAT MOTHER NATURE.