Cleopatra: A Biography
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Few personalities from classical antiquity are more familiar yet more poorly grasped than Cleopatra (69-30 BC), queen of Egypt. The theme of a vast repertory of post-antique well loved culture and also a significant figure in literature, art, and composition, Cleopatra herself is surprisingly small known and generally misunderstood. Even in the years immediately after her death her memory was condemned by persons who defeated her. The image of Cleopatra as an unfit ruler and wanton seductress who ruined the careers of two of Rome’s greatest generals-an image first made by Octavian’s propaganda battle-informs the later portrayals of her on stage and screen. Cleopatra was an accomplished diplomat, administrator, linguist (she was probably the first Ptolemy ruler to learn Egyptian), and leader, who, until her very last years, skillfully managed her kingdom in the face of a deteriorating political situation and increasing might and lack of sympathy from Rome. The fact that the wealthy and pivotally placed kingdom of Egypt held out so long against Roman conquest is due primarily to the formidable skills of its last Ptolemaic Queen. Although she is the theme of a vast bibliography, she can be unfairly represented as a person whose physical needs determined her political decisions. Some of the most unbiased data from her own era, the repertory of art and coinage produced while she was alive, are too frequently ignored. In Cleopatra, Duane Roller has written the definitive biography of the queen, not as a figure in well loved culture or even in the arts and literature of the last five hundred years, but as the last Greek queen of Egypt. In addition to providing an engaging narrative of the queen’s life, the leader carefully contextualizes Cleopatra in the revolutionary events of the first century BCE. He highlights the vital heritage of the Ptolemies, rulers in Egypt since the death of Alexander the Fantastic three hundred years earlier, and the growing involvement of Rome in North Africa and the Middle East, culminating in Octavian’s annexation of Egypt in 30 BCE. Roller also considers Cleopatra’s various predecessor queens, who are regularly ignored but were fascinating personalities in their own right, and her descendents: although Cleopatra was seen as “the last of the Ptolemies” her daughter and grandson ruled in Africa for another 70 years and made a Ptolemaic government-in-exile at Mauretanian Caesarea. The result is the most perfect and authoritative portrait of the life and times of this perennially fascinating figure.
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Perhaps it is the scenery of the theme, but there are so many
people with nearly the same names and such a review of multiple
leaders and their relationships, one after another, that my head
spins. Well researched,I guess. It is like trying to follow one
bird when a flight of pigeons takes off. I am a college-teaching
historian by profession. I place the book down about 10% of the way
through. Life is too fleeting to plough through it.
Bought on Kindle from Amazon
Reader’s Rating: 2 / 5
I have just finished reading this biography on Cleopatra and I establish it to be reasonably informative and educational. The book itself is pretty fleeting, about 156 pages long with additional 30 pages or so of appendix information. One of the fundamentals I haven’t considered before was Cleopatra as a Roman citizen. This is more of a conjecture by the book but an appealing mind twister that reflects on the long relationship her family tree had with the Roman Republic. The book tries to cut down the romantic notion of Cleopatra and focus mainly on her abilities as a ruler and the trials and tribulations that went with it. From the book she appears to be a very cunning woman who uses her political wits, female wiles and just about every additional weapons available to her to maintained her power and independence of her kingdom. She was obviously very intelligent, knowledgable and her ability to speak several languages clearly made a strong impression. But as it turned out, in the end, the tide of history was against her and she placed too much hope in Mark Antony who proves to be more of a lapdog then a lion at the end.
I thought the book was well written and its appears that the leader did his research pretty well. It is nice that this book doesn’t fall into the trap of political correctness by even bothering to chat about if Cleopatra was a black woman or not. The book clearly stated that she was of a Macedonian birth although her mother may have been of some Egyptian blood. (Egyptians back then, were not black but more Semitic.) This may have caused her to take a greater interest in her people and her masterly of their customs, way of life and language.
I do not know the previous reviewer comments but for me, I establish the book very simple to read. In reflection, really a quick reading book due to its part.
Reader’s Rating: 4 / 5