Cleopatra : a life (udgave 2010)

She writes with long, wordy sentences within even longer, wordier paragraphs, which sometimes necessitated reading portions twice; I felt like even her punctuation was a bit wonky. Even so, she excellently tells the story of the Roman civil war from an unusual perspective - Alexandria. She keeps the story moving, not getting lost in the details and minor characters of the battles or the politics, but instead focusing on Cleopatra's influence on the politicking men. She manages to keep it easy to read and interesting, especially when it comes to the dynamics, the balances of power among the major players. I enjoyed this book very much, not only because of the humorous little one-liners but also because of the clarity and sheer enjoyability. ( )

Cleopatra is perhaps one of the most famous women in history. She ruled an empire, was fabulously wealthy, and slept with the most famous Roman men of her time. However, history is written by the conquerors, and ultimately Cleopatra lost. Her story has been shifted, misinterpreted, and changed to suit those in power. In this book, the author attempts to separate fact from fiction, and unravel the truth behind Cleopatra.

This book was well researched and presented. Like most non-fiction books, this book was slow and tedious at times however, it was able to hold my attention. The author did a good job of blending what was written about Cleopatra, and speculating about the truth. Overall, 4 out of 5 stars. ( )

I am so grateful for a group read I participated in because I never would have finished this book. I didn’t like the author’s style. She’s pretentious and often assumes you already know so much already, when she throws sentences in with a wink and a nod like we’re in on her personal remark. But that aside, I learned so much and I’m glad for it. I generally liked Cleopatra—she wielded power and wealth considerably well under extremely trying times. ( )

Recommended for anyone interested in Egyptian or Roman history. Also recommended for feminists of all ages! ( )

38. Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff
reader: Robin Miles
published: 2010
format: 14:16 audible audiobook (369 pages in hardcover)
acquired: Jun 22
listened: Jun 23 – Jul 16
rating: 3
locations: Roman Empire
about the author born 1961 in Adams, MA

Cleopatra is famous because, well... because of the men who fathered her children and because she is history's great seductress who first conquered Julius Caesar, and later wooed Mark Antony to his ruin. That's the myth, the one in Roman accounts, and in Shakespeare's play and in Elizabeth Taylor's movie. The crazy-sexualized-lady-who-ruined-everything myth—which, I imagine, is the one most of us know and believed at some point; and treasured as fascinating. Schiff here tries to get around all this to the true historical figure.

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For some perspective, the Ptolemaic empire founded after the death of Alexander the Great in 323 bce, came to end here, with this queen, as Octavius Caesar strolled into Alexandria on August 1, 30 bce. At Cleopatra's birth the City of Alexandria was the world's leading cultural center, and probably by far the richest city in the world. And it had, of course, the most famous library in history. Rome, an empire based on constant pillaging, was parochial in comparison, a cultural back water. The Ptolemy's, Macedonian, not Egyptian, controlled and overshadowed a wide assortment of cultures and wealth. Power stakes were high and the royal family was awash in brutal gruesome power politics and, with no other comparable power figures to mingle with, a kind of regimented inbreeding where siblings were routinely married to each other. Strange stuff. But the royal family was also exceptionally well educated, hired the best scholars in their known world as educators and had pretty good access to some reading material. Cleopatra would have learned to speak several languages fluently and learned to banter with whatever intellectuals came around. When she became queen of Egypt, she became the richest person in the world. To put it simply, she would have been far more cultured and sophisticated than the Roman leadership. The point is, the myth is impossible.

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Some facts. Cleopatra used Julius Caesar and his army to win her throne and become queen of the wealthiest kingdom in the world, and she had his children. She came to Rome and bantered with Cicero. When Caesar was assassinated, his will left his inheritance to his great nephew, Gaius Octavius, and not to his half-Ptolemaic children by Cleopatra. Cleopatra fled Rome. As the Roman Republic went through its final death spasm, she sided with Mark Antony and had his children and funded his army. Apparently seeing an impossible military situation they had stumbled into, they abandoned their army at the battle of Actium, saved the money and ran for Alexandria, making a probable military defeat catastrophic. They lost the Roman civil war and both committed suicide as Octavius entered Alexandria. Cleopatra's oldest child by Julius Caesar was murdered. Her children by Mark Antony were brought to Rome and raised as full Roman citizens. Octavius, of course, became Augustus Caesar, the first Roman emperor.

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Some other facts. There is not much else. After Octavius won, he controlled the narrative and used it, overwriting the true story with his a kind of propaganda version. The real historical Cleopatra and all her records are lost and buried under Roman myth.

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I enjoyed this but I wasn't crazy about what Schiff does. Certainly it's well grounded in the solid facts available and her end note makes clear just how much scholarship went into this. But, there is a but. The book is challenged because it sticks to the evidence and there isn't much of a record of Cleopatra, the person. It's lost. This means the biography is kind of missing a subject. Schiff handles this in a variety of ways and I found the changing approaches mixed and a little frustrating. The way I put it in my Litsy review was that Schiff's "guidance through all the unknowns felt unsatisfying".

2020
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