The Life Times Of Cleopatra Queen Of Egypt Illustrated Edition

Cleopatra the biographer may approach his subject from one of several directions. He may, for example, regard the Queen of Egypt as a thoroughly bad woman, or as an irresponsible sinner, or as a moderately good woman in a difficult situation. In this book it is my object to point out the difficulty of the situation, and to realise the adverse circumstances against which the Queen had to contend; and by so doing a fairer complexion will be given to certain actions which otherwise must inevitably be regarded as darkly sinful. The biographer need not, for the sake of his principles, turn his back on the sinner and refuse to consider the possibility of extenuating circumstances.

This comprehensive treatment of Cleopatra and the political and social world in which she lived will be an indispensable resource for anyone interested in Cleopatra or in ancient Egypt. Laying bare the "injustice, the adverse partiality, of the attitude assumed by classical authors," the author offers the reader a new, more balanced look at the life of one of history's most important women. The book is divided into sections on Cleopatra and Caesar and Cleopatra and Antony and is supplemented by a number of maps and illustrations.

Cleopatra originally ruled jointly with her father Ptolemy XII Auletes, and later with her brothers Ptolemy XIII and Ptolemy XIV, whom she married as per Egyptian custom, but eventually she became sole ruler. As pharaoh, she consummated a liaison with Julius Caesar that solidified her grip on the throne. She later elevated Caesarion, her son with Caesar, to co-ruler in name. After Caesar's assassination in 44 BC, she aligned with Mark Antony in opposition to Caesar's legal heir Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus (later known as Augustus). With Antony, she bore the twins Cleopatra Selene II and Alexander Helios, and son Ptolemy Philadelphus (her unions with her brothers had produced no children). Antony committed suicide after losing the Battle of Actium to Octavian's forces, and Cleopatra followed suit.

In the following pages it will be observed that, in order not to distract the reader, I have refrained from adding large numbers of notes, references, and discussions, such as are customary in works of this kind. I am aware that by telling a straightforward story in this manner I lay myself open to the suspicions of my fellow-workers, for there is always some tendency to take not absolutely seriously a book which neither prints chapter and verse for its every statement, nor often interrupts the text with erudite arguments. In the case of the subject which is here treated, however, it has seemed to me unnecessary to encumber the pages in this manner, since the sources of my information are all so well known; and I have thus been able to present the book to the reader in a style consonant with a principle of archæological and historical study to which I have always endeavoured to adhere—namely, the avoidance of as many of those attestations of learning as may be discarded without real loss. A friend of mine, an eminent scholar, in discussing with me the scheme of this volume, earnestly exhorted me on the present occasion not to abide by this principle. Remarkingxiv that the trouble with my interpretation of history was that I attempted to make the characters live, he urged me at least to justify the manner of their resuscitation in the eyes of the doctors of science by cramming my pages with extracts from my working notes, relevant or otherwise, and by smattering my text with Latin and Greek quotations. I trust, however, that he was speaking in behalf of a very small company, for the sooner this kind of jargon of scholarship is swept into the world's dust-bin, the better will it be for public education. To my mind a knowledge of the past is so necessary to a happy mental poise that it seems absolutely essential for historical studies to be placed before the general reader in a manner sympathetic to him. "History," said Emerson, "no longer shall be a dull book.

This comprehensive treatment of Cleopatra and the political and social world in which she lived will be an indispensable resource for anyone interested in Cleopatra or in ancient Egypt. Laying bare the "injustice, the adverse partiality, of the attitude assumed by classical authors," the author offers the reader a new, more balanced look at the life of one of history's most important women. The book is divided into sections on Cleopatra and Caesar and Cleopatra and Antony and is supplemented by a number of maps and illustrations.

This comprehensive treatment of Cleopatra and the political and social world in which she lived will be an indispensable resource for anyone interested in Cleopatra or in ancient Egypt. Laying bare the "injustice, the adverse partiality, of the attitude assumed by classical authors," the author offers the reader a new, more balanced look at the life of one of history's most important women. The book is divided into sections on Cleopatra and Caesar and Cleopatra and Antony and is supplemented by a number of maps and illustrations.

An illustrated study of the queens of ancient Egypt ranges from the early dynastic period to the death of Cleopatra in 30 BC, offering a biographical portrait of each queen, along with information on the era in which she lived and her influence on Egyptian history.

This book, originally published in 1914, is a unique telling of the life of Cleopatra. The author, a well-learned historian of his time, offers a truer glimpse of the queen if we can rid ourselves of the influence of any one period and ignore that aspect of morality that has developed in us by contact with the age in which we live. Good and evil are relative qualities defined largely by public opinion, and it must always be remembered that certain things considered good and evil today may have the acceptance and denunciation of yesterday and tomorrow. The author does not presume to offer an apology for the much-maligned Queen, but he describes the events of her troubled life fairly. The actions of Cleopatra will, without any particular advocacy, assume a character that is no uglier than that of every other actor in the strange drama surrounding her life.