the reign of cleopatra vii of the ptolemaic kingdom of egypt began with the death of her father, the ruling pharaoh ptolemy xii auletes, by march 52 bc. it ended with her death on 10 or 11 august 31 bc. following the reign of cleopatra, the country of egypt was transformed into a province of the roman empire and the hellenistic period came to an end. during her reign she ruled egypt and other territories as an absolute monarch, in the tradition of the ptolemaic dynasty's founder ptolemy i soter (r. 305–276 bc) as well as alexander the great (r. 336–301 bc) of macedon, who captured egypt from the achaemenid persian empire.