Cleopatra

by Georg Ebers

If the author should be told that the sentimental love of our day was unknown to the pagan world, he would not cite last the two lovers, Antony and Cleopatra, and the will of the powerful Roman general, in which he expressed the desire, wherever he might die, to be buried beside the woman whom he loved to his latest hour. His wish was fulfilled, and the love-life of these two distinguished mortals, which belongs to history, has more than once afforded to art and poesy a welcome subject

Genres: Historical Fiction

ebook

First published January 1, 1894

About the author

German Egyptologist and novelist Georg Moritz Ebers discovered the Egyptian medical papyrus, circa 1550 BC, named Ebers papyrus, at Luxor (Thebes) in the winter of 1873/74.

Ebers early conceived the idea of popularizing Egyptian lore by means of historical romances. Eine ägyptische Königstochter was published in 1864 and obtained great success. His subsequent works of the same kind—Uarda (1877), Homo sum (1878), Die Schwestern (1880), Der Kaiser (1881), of which the scene is laid in Egypt at the time of Hadrian, Serapis (1885), Die Nilbraut (1887), and Kleopatra (1894), were also well received, and did much to make the public familiar with the discoveries of Egyptologists. Ebers also turned his attention to other fields of historical fiction—especially the 16th century (Die Frau Bürgermeisterin, 1882; Die Gred, 1887)—without, however, attaining the success of his Egyptian novels.

Reviews

[Deborah Linker · Rating 1 out of 5]

Could not finish book. After watching the TV series Rome, I was expecting an exciting inside view of Cleopatra's life. I read chapter after chapter without even the mention of her name, with so many other characters I could keep them straight. I will put this book on the back burner, but I doubt that I ever pick it up again.