Ptolemaic Dynasty Quotes

“The Ptolemies were in fact Macedonian Greek, which makes Cleopatra approximately as Egyptian as Elizabeth Taylor. The word ‘honey skinned’ recurs in descriptions of her relatives and would presumably applied to hers as well, despite the inexactitudes surrounding her mother and paternal grandmother. There was certainly Persian blood in the family, but even an Egyptian mistress is a rarity among the Ptolemies. She was not dark skinned.”
― Stacy Schiff, Cleopatra: A Life

“What exactly was it about Egypt that encouraged women rulers to set their caps so high? The historian Herodotus proposed that things were just different there: 'The people, in most of their manners and customs, exactly reverse the common practice of mankind. For example women attend the markets and trade, while men sit at home at the loom..., Women urinate standing up, men sitting down....”
― Kris Waldherr, Doomed Queens: Royal Women Who Met Bad Ends, From Cleopatra to Princess Di

“Bernice III was the first queen of Egypt to rule without a consort in over a millennium. Though her reign was brief, her example inspired her descendant Cleopatra to rule alone.”
― Kris Waldherr, Doomed Queens: Royal Women Who Met Bad Ends, From Cleopatra to Princess Di