Crossing the Rubicon

Was Cleopatra smuggled in a rug,
determined to seduce and capture Caesar?
Man gives the rolled up gift a proper tug,
and there she is, dolled up, and when he sees her,
he rids himself of whiny Ptolemy,
no, she will be his empress instead,
and ancient Egypt, now a colony,
will promise Rome her flour and her bread.

The Romans called the queen a witch, and worse.
Caesarian was groomed to be the Pharaoh.
Wise Cicero died warning of the curse
that straying from the path of straight and narrow
would bring onto the crumbling republic.

All swept under the rug to fool the public.