Cleopatra's power over Caesar

This is the very first moment that we see Cleopatra stand up against Caesar and show the audience that she does in fact have power. Having seen the entirety of their relationship play out on screen it is interesting to glimpse the moment that the audience is given a hint of the control that Cleopatra will have over the Roman ruler. The power is clearly expressed by the director in Cleopatra's positioning with Caesar, in all previous scenes he was standing in the foreground or looking down on her but this is the first eye level shot where they are looking at each other with equal positions of power. Her outfit is fitting for this as well because she has bands on her arms that look similar to the armor of the Roman's and her dress is the same color of his armor. While they show she how power in this scene they also make her look remarkably Roman considering she is the queen of Egypt in an effort to link the idea of power with Roman-ism in the minds of the viewers.