Who doesn’t wonder what Cleopatra the 6th looked like?

Powerful women usually have one of two things happen—they’re replaced by the shadow of a man, or transformed to the role of shameless seductress. The reality, however, is that no matter how seductive a woman is, power itself seduces. Power is the ability to make one irresistible—whether that is by force or fear, having what another does not, mystique, or whatever else one does to bring others to their knees—and Cleopatra knew this. For example, she claimed to be Isis incarnate, which is why she’s depicted as wearing the crescent-shaped headdress. Smart to align with Ancient Egypt’s most famous single mother and Goddess given her own story.

Almost all info about her image comes from 75 or more years after her death. Coins issued during her reign suggest she had a distinguished nose and it’s likely she had a small frame, as she met Caesar by being disguised as a sack carried on someone’s shoulder to avoid her brother’s hired assassins.
I’m betting Cleopatra wasn’t particularly ugly or beautiful—but a person whose exceptionalism was made clear when in her presence, perhaps from an incredible brain, social intelligence, and a magnetism or charm about her that couldn’t be denied.

One thing we know—she definitely looked Mediterranean. More could be said about being at the right place at the right time, having copious amounts of money, and a gift in the arts of propaganda and stagecraft, than any real blood ties with the Egyptian dynastic line. Her family was Macedonian Greek, laying claim through Alexander the Great.

All in all, Cleo couldn’t have possibly succeeded purely by looks or sex appeal alone. Being the wealthiest individual out of the Mediterranean at the time, she used the power of seduction rather than the power of force to keep her kingdom. She used her wit to charm, her money to dazzle, and her children to turn her rule into a living prophecy. She died at 39 but had as legitimate a claim to the Roman Empire as the partners she ruled with. On top of that, she was the sole ruler of the Egyptian dynasty for 21 years!