Cleopatra and Rome

by Diana E.E. Kleiner

With the full panorama of her life forever lost, Cleopatra touches us in a series of sensational floating through a perfumed mist down the Nile; dressed as Venus for a tryst at Tarsus; unfurled from a roll of linens before Caesar; couchant, the deadly asp clasped to her breast. Through such images, each immortalizing the Egyptian queen's encounters with legendary Romans--Julius Caesar, Mark Antony, and Octavian Augustus--we might also chart her rendezvous with the destiny of Rome. So Diana Kleiner shows us in this provocative book, which opens an entirely new perspective on one of the most intriguing women who ever lived. Cleopatra and Rome reveals how these iconic episodes, absorbed into a larger historical and political narrative, document a momentous cultural shift from the Hellenistic world to the Roman Empire. In this story, Cleopatra's death was not an end but a beginning--a starting point for a wide variety of appropriations by Augustus and his contemporaries that established a paradigm for cultural conversion. In this beautifully illustrated book, we experience the synthesis of Cleopatra's and Rome's defining moments through surviving works of art and other remnants of what was once an opulent material religious and official architecture, cult statuary, honorary portraiture, villa paintings, tombstones, and coinage, but also the theatrical display of clothing, perfume, and hair styled to perfection for such ephemeral occasions as triumphal processions or barge cruises. It is this visual culture that best chronicles Cleopatra's legend and suggests her subtle but indelible mark on the art of imperial Rome at the critical moment of its inception.

Genres: Egypt, Nonfiction, Ancient History, Biography, History

352 pages, Hardcover

First published September 23, 2005

Reviews

[Bungaku Shoujo · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is very readable, and told in an interesting way that also focuses on figures like Livia and Octavia as well as Cleopatra, but its analysis is too reliant on speculation and assumptions about the major players for my taste. I spotted a few mistakes throughout (Roman women could attend the theater without the special legal rights Livia and Octavia had, and while several writers attribute Egyptian influence to the Julian calendar, Sosigenes himself is not described as Alexandrian.)

Despite the focus on art and architecture, the Kindle edition, which I read, has no pictures in it.

[Alyce Hunt]

Read the first two chapters and the prologue as part of TMA01 for A111. Hoping to read the rest later in my studies, so no rating at present.

[Andres · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my fifth book about Cleopatra, and boy does it pack a lot of information into it.

This is not a straightforward biography of Cleopatra at all. You will learn a lot about her but this doesn't really follow her life in chronological order. That isn't the point of this book but it's not a negative at all.

The point of the book, and one it accomplishes very well, is to explore the influence Cleopatra had after her death. Rome as a political and military force in the Mediterranean was absolute after Egypt was brought under its power. Augustus, a newly minted emperor, had a vast resource in Egypt not only for food and money but most importantly in the power of propaganda for an absolute ruler. Egypt had thousands of years of practice in how to build monuments to their leaders, and the Ptolemaic dynasty had built the most advanced lavish city ever (Alexandria). These are resources he tapped in order to solidify his own standing and to transform Rome from the backwater city it was to the city of power that history remembers. Since Cleopatra was a larger than life force who represented these cultures, her influence in death was profound.

I'm not versed enough in the details of ancient art to know whether all of the book's assertions are on solid ground or are merely hopeful maybes but it's a really solid, informational, and enjoyable read. There are a few quibbles though. The narrative jumps around in time quite a bit and repeats some bits of information over and over (but always in different contexts). Also, even though the text refers to a lot of the full color pictures within the book, sometimes the art comparisons and descriptions don't have a picture to refer to so it makes for difficult or dry reading. None of that should bother the interested reader though.

I don't recommend this for anyone who isn't already somewhat familiar with the history of Cleopatra, Octavian, Julius Caesar, and Mark Antony. Their stories are told in "unchronological" bits and pieces and may be confusing to the uninitiated. If you are familiar with their story, this is a good next step since it fills in a lot of the informational gaps about the surrounding cast of characters that get short shrift in books specifically about Cleopatra (such as the various wives and ex-wives of the aforementioned males).

If you've already read a book or two about Cleopatra and want to read more about her world and the influence she had after her death you can't go wrong with this book.

282 pages of text
70+ photos (most in color)
4 pages of notes
25 pages of bibliography (some annotated, covering books, movies, and internet sources)
5 pages of photo credits
16 pages of index

[Nicole · Rating 1 out of 5]

cannot get through this one...it takes one of the most beautiful love stories of history and reduces it to three trite sentences. I didn't think it was possible but it is slowly but surely destroying the myth of Cleopatra with its hum drum monotony.

[Claire · Rating 3 out of 5]

You have to be interested in the subject (Cleopatra, history, art) but this is a not only a great coffee table book, but just an interesting book on the life and times of Cleopatra.