Cleopatra
By:Duane W. Roller
Published on 2010-04-01 by Oxford University Press
Few personalities from classical antiquity are more famous--yet more poorly understood--than Cleopatra VII, queen of Egypt. In this major biography, Duane Roller reveals that Cleopatra was in fact a learned and visionary leader whose overarching goal was always the preservation of her dynasty and kingdom. Roller's authoritative account is the first to be based solely on primary materials from the Greco-Roman period: literary sources, Egyptian documents (Cleopatra's own writings), and representations in art and coinage produced while she was alive. His compelling portrait of the queen illuminates her prowess as a royal administrator who managed a large and diverse kingdom extending from Asia Minor to the interior of Egypt, as a naval commander who led her own fleet in battle, and as a scholar and supporter of the arts. Even her love affairs with Julius Caesar and Marcus Antonius--the source of her reputation as a supreme seductress who drove men to their doom--were carefully crafted state policies: she chose these partners to insure the procreation of successors who would be worthy of her distinguished dynasty. That Cleopatra ultimately lost to her Roman opponents, Roller contends, in no way diminishes her abilities. |Roller tells his tale smoothly and accessibly....The resulting portrait is that of a complex, many-sided figure, a potent Hellenistic ruler who could move the tillers of power as skillfully as any man, and one far and nobly removed from the 'constructed icon' of popular imagination.| --The New York Times Book Review |A rich account of late Ptolemaic culture.| --The New Yorker |Offers a superb panorama of the society and culture of late Ptolemaic Egypt, with vivid sketches of the (remarkably vigorous) intellectual life of Cleopatra's Alexandria and the structural instabilities of the late Ptolemaic state.| --Times Literary Supplement |Besides providing a compelling story and breathing fresh air into a heretofore two-dimensional caricature from history, Roller's 'Cleopatra' provides an interesting commentary on the attitudes still prevalent towards women who rule.| --Christian Science Monitor |Compulsively readable.| --Bookslut |A definitive account of a queen of remarkable strength.| --Publishers Weekly
This Book was ranked at 6 by Google Books for keyword Biography.
Book ID of Cleopatra's Books is 85rikTt-kBEC, Book which was written byDuane W. Rollerhave ETAG "bm6yI0ue9RQ"
Book which was published by Oxford University Press since 2010-04-01 have ISBNs, ISBN 13 Code is 9780199752584 and ISBN 10 Code is 0199752583
Reading Mode in Text Status is true and Reading Mode in Image Status is true
Book which have "272 Pages" is Printed at BOOK under CategoryHistory
This Book was rated by 6 Raters and have average rate at "4"
This eBook Maturity (Adult Book) status is NOT_MATURE
Book was written in en
eBook Version Availability Status at PDF is true and in ePub is true
Book Preview