Was Cleopatra Black: The Most Famous Question in 2,000 Years About the Most Famous Woman in History

difference.

Chapter I

Cleopatra, the Last Great Egyptian Pharaoh, a Marvel for the Ages

Cleopatra the Egyptian Queen still dazzles the imagination even though she died over 2,000 years ago. Up to our present time, the Sovereign of the Nile still manages to hold spellbind the minds of humanity as if she existed in our own time eternally regal and mesmerizing. She had an epic personality that was transcendental, spanning the millenniums. Cleopatra has come to symbolize Egypt for a lot of people,¹ says Joyce Tyldesley, an archaeologist at the University of Liverpool and author of Cleopatra: Last Queen of Egypt. Her imperial aspirations would have a major impact on Julius Caesar, Mark Antony and Octavian (Augustus) Rome’s first emperor as well as in the formulation of the Roman Empire and ultimately on Western civilization itself.

Cleopatra has anchored her exploits into our imaginations ever since. She is also referred to as the most renowned female ruler of all time. In history, certain people become so famous that the legends about them appear to be on a superhuman scale. Thus, we have Michelle Goldberg aptly entitled her essay Superwoman referring to Cleopatra in a review of Stacy Schiff’s bestselling book Cleopatra – A Life, for the New Republic. Goldberg also points out the contemporary relevance of this fabled ancient figure. She writes, Given America’s recent and somewhat uneasy fascination with women in politics, it makes sense that we are seeing a revival of interest in Cleopatra…²

Several scholars have explored the many dimensions of the modern Black woman who are often required to be like a super human person, to be all things, to all people at once and its implication stemming from mystique of the Queen of Egypt. Cleopatra was the embodiment of what many think a modern woman is frequently called upon to be namely, a superwoman - successful both in her career and at home. The superwoman designation of Black women is still a modern phenomenon.

Similarly, Giuseppe Pucci who teaches at the University of Siena and writes on Classical Archaeology in his Every Man’s Cleopatra also refers to the superwoman status of the great Pharaoh. Says Pucci: according to Plutarch, the queen used her tongue ‘as a multichord instrument,’ through which she attained an extraordinary … (force of persuasion). That ability of hers appeared to be superhuman…³

The Egyptian Monarch was arguably the most influential women in modern history. Throughout the span of fewer than forty years, she reshaped the ancient world and ultimately human imagination. Few have been able to fascinate every generation over such an extensive length of time measuring in the thousands of years. It is a life that seems larger than life, epic in scale, in grandeur, a spectacle to delight every imaginative impulse on mythical proportions.

Few have lived such an extraordinary life like Cleopatra’s, she was propelled by time and space but never limited by them. Just think, the name Cleopatra and your mind will conjure up its own vivid images of this remarkable Egyptian ruler. Images of sensuality, seduction, beauty, the exotic, bold intelligence, unlimited wealth, beyond the great work of Shakespeare or the worldwide fame of Hollywood’s Elizabeth Taylor who endeavored to imitate The Magnificent One on the silver screen.

As the authors of Susan Walker and Sally-Ann Ashton (2006) in their book Cleopatra explain, at the beginning of their book that the point for this … introduction to the last queen of Egypt is her continued significance to a modern public, who mostly know Cleopatra through the medium of film. We note the origins of the Hollywood Cleopatra in the orientalist imagination of nineteenth-century writers and artists, and show how these ideas of Cleopatra drew upon a hostile tradition developed in the last years of the queen’s life by her Roman enemies. In contrast, we explore the very positive image Cleopatra has enjoyed since antiquity in Egypt. We also note the nineteenth-century American roots of the recently promoted idea of Cleopatra as black African.⁴

Cleopatra the Great was a product of her time yet ever its master. Powerful men could be no more than mere props if they had been less significant. Dion Cassius describes her as most exceedingly beautiful of women. None can equal her allure. Throughout the annals of history, she has clearly overshadowed the most notable figures of that Classical period (Julius Caesar, Mark Antony or Octavian). They were limited to a continental frame of reference (Europe) while she transcends and maintains a global command over the imagination of humanity itself.

Legend thy name is Cleopatra. To many the Last Pharaoh has become synonymous with mighty Egypt itself in the Classical Era. Speak the name Cleopatra and a whole host of images invade the mind as if naturally lodged awaiting invocation. First was Elizabeth Taylor who has come to symbolize Cleopatra in the modern mind through Hollywood’s power and influence. Before her perhaps the image of Vivien Leigh springs into mind when at the height of her beauty she played the timeless Egyptian Queen in Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra co-starring with Lawrence Olivier as Mark Antony and a host of others.

However, Cleopatra was so much more, beyond the abilities or inclination of Hollywood to represent in a meaningful or accurate way. She was beyond fiction. She was Cleopatra. Their misrepresentations of her ethnicity have been etched in the modern mind which Hollywood has perpetuated to the disadvantage of objectivity or historical accuracy.

Professor Haley discloses how Hollywood is complicit with obscuring Cleopatra’s true racial identity. "The construction by scholars and filmmakers struck me as I viewed Pascal’s 1945 film version of G. B. Shaw’s Caesar and Cleopatra starring Vivien Leigh. The dialogue intends for us to take Cleopatra as darker than the Roman Caesar, but the visual presence of a very White and European Vivien Leigh contradicts the dialogue."⁵

Of course, Cleopatra was not perfect, but even in her imperfections there are lessons. One may be wealthy yet still have substance. One may have failed yet still succeed as an unforgettable icon. One may give everything for a land and people yet be vilified for the sacrifice as a harlot. One may be a scholar of the first rank, yet portrayed as an empty headed, superficial, temptress. One may be exceedingly intelligent yet be hailed as a scheming sexual object, a femme fatale if you will. Truth however will eventually win out over falsehoods and misrepresentations. Or, as The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King once said, No lie can live forever. Cleopatra refused to let men do the math for her and be reduced to the sum of her seductions or the calculus of a mere woman in a man’s world.

Writing for the New York Times (April 21, 2009) the heralded and remarkable biographer Stacy Schiff outlines some of the outstanding qualities of the Last Independent Monarch of Ancient Egypt. Even if she had every aesthetic weapon in her arsenal, we know already the ones she so expertly deployed. ‘It was impossible to converse with her without being immediately captivated by her,’ asserts one of our two best sources. Her voice was velvety; her conversation stimulating; her powers of persuasion matchless; her presence an event, reports the other.

One writer characterized this peerless ruler as a shrewd strategist and an ingenious negotiator. Professor Marc Vincent (2010) declared that Joyce Tyldesley’s Cleopatra, published in 2008, stripped away many of the misconceptions that had accrued around the iconic ruler, and brought her Egyptian context back to vivid life. Schiff’s ‘Cleopatra’ is another expert reconstruction of a career about which much has been written but very little is known. (Stacy Schiff conjures a fascinating ‘Cleopatra’ )

Cleopatra’s sophistication in thought and speech were the great all-powerful armaments at her command catching all others amazed and subdued to do her bidding willingly or not. Stacy Schiff is a gifted and talented writer who took the scraps of history and erected a monumental pyramid for which could dwell the spirit of Cleopatra to be more authentically understood and appreciated for her greatness. Her book could have been titled Cleopatra – A Magnificent Life.

One of the most unanticipated resource hailed the intellectual genius that we come to know by a single name…Cleopatra. Dr. Joyce Tyldesley, a Cleopatra expert, highlights an encyclopedic source and advances the notion that Muslim scholars, writing after the Arab conquest of Egypt about 640 CE, developed their own version of the queen. Their Cleopatra was first and foremost a scholar and a scientist, a gifted philosopher and a chemist.

In a similar fashion, when depicting Cleopatra’s character, Ancient Egypt Online commences with the following statement about an ethnic group known for its traditional male emphasis yet could still envision her intellectual greatness. The Arab historian Al-Masudi (896 - 956 BCE) described her as a sage, a philosopher, who elevated the ranks of scholars and enjoyed their company. He also claimed that she wrote several books on medicine, charms and cosmetics. She spoke at least five (and possibly nine) languages … She seems to have been a highly competent administrator and the Egyptian bishop John of Nikiou (c 696 BCE) commented that her building projects in Alexandria were ‘the like of which had never been seen before.’ This more revealing view has been adopted by some modern scholars who have rejected the Roman slurs on her character…⁶

It was this same defamation of her character that has been the Roman currency throughout history which some thoughtlessly believed and followed. However, there was an ancient Greek historian who did not share the same harsh and disparaging views as his Roman counterparts in European antiquity.

For (as they say) it was not because her [Cleopatra’s] beauty in itself was so striking that it stunned the onlooker, but the inescapable impression produced by daily contact with her: the attractiveness in the persuasiveness of her talk, and the character that surrounded her conversation was stimulating. It was a pleasure to hear the sound of her voice, and she tuned her tongue like a many-stringed instrument expertly to whatever language she chose… (From Plutarch’s Life of Mark Antony)

Contrary to the character assassination by the Romans, a historical website noted that she was a great scholar and stateswoman who did her best to protect the country she loved from the powerful Roman state… Combined with high intelligence, a melodious voice, along with a lively, persuasive personality, they made the Cleopatra experience a pleasure to be in its enchanting company and a force to be reckoned with at a moment’s notice, all in the service of maintaining the prosperity and independence of Ancient Egypt.

Flawed yet flawless in her executions to manage a nation’s freedom for a generation while keeping it protected from the ravenous claws of the colonial Roman wolves, hell-bent on warring and raiding an ancient land for its abundant riches. It was her goal in life to protect her native country at all costs.

Historically speaking, the precarious nature of events during that time made the insatiable Roman appetite for exploiting others quite a threat to all. Nigel Spivey, a professor of Classic Art and Archeology at Cambridge, points out that, For some decades Rome have been viewing the kingdom of Egypt with predatory intent: the country offered rich pickings from its productive economy, and in particular a copious grain supply…⁷

The Queen of Egypt had to deflect and obstruct their advances at every turn possible to keep the Roman hordes at bay if her nation was to remain sovereign. Marie Arana of the Washington Post provides contrast between Rome and Alexandria with a viewpoint that refers to the imperialistic European nation interests and the consequences it produced in relationships to other nations. As war-loving Rome hungrily gobbled its way through the Mediterranean, Egypt lost one neighbor after another…⁸

In addition, she commented on the contrast between the pervasive militaristic attitudes of Rome and the sophisticated culture of Alexandria. The Romans were hooked on conquest, hard on women. To make wealth they needed to build empire. The Egyptians of Alexandria, on the other hand, were cultured, inventive, masters of the intellect. They built a vast library to prove it. They were astronomers for centuries before Rome even existed. Theirs was a city of mechanical marvels, and it boasted among its novelties ‘automatic doors and hydraulic lifts, hidden treadmills and coin-operated machines.’ But Alexandria was also a paradise of perfumes, a repository of the arts, an agricultural wonder -- a center that could feed and amuse its people in equal measure. If Cleopatra had needed to, she single-handedly could have fed all of Rome.

In the end, she did as Octavian (Augustus) used Cleopatra’s Egypt as a Roman province to feed the Roman Empire. Judith Thurman of A Critic at Large in her review of Schiff’s work titled Cleopatra – A Life observe that, Compared with gorgeous, cosmopolitan Alexandria, the filthy, ramshackle city of a million people which the Queen saw from her perch in the hills ‘qualified as a provincial backwater …’ (Cleopatriad, November 15, 2010)

Joann Loviglio of the Washington Post deferentially wrote: By the time Cleopatra began her reign as an 18-year-old in 51 B.C., Alexandria was, as the exhibition says, ‘the Manhattan of its time.’ It was the world center of music, entertainment, art and intellectual pursuit, and a hard-drinking party town with surprisingly liberal attitudes about sex. (Cleopatra exhibit tells an intriguing tale, June 5, 2010)

How does one truly understand this Icon of icons? Though wealthy beyond measure, still Cleopatra sought spiritual identification with the Great Shrines of Egypt in particular Mother Isis (Auset), and she paid homage to Them despite her own limitations. She was ever mindful of the awesome responsibility she had to protect the survival of Egypt as an independent nation.

Rewriting the Myth, Revealing A Woman of Power — a Review of Stacy Schiff’s Cleopatra: A Life. pointed out that Cleopatra added wisdom to her other outstanding attributes in her worship of Isis to ensure Cleopatra’s ‘unquestioned legitimacy, especially her new role as mother of the kingdom … [that] the worship of Isis … ensure[d].’ ⁹

When Schiff writes at length about Cleopatra’s identity as Isis, it is a big deal: ‘Cleopatra played up the role of Isis as provider of wisdom and of spiritual sustenance,’ and she appeared in ‘striking Isis attire’ … On religious occasions, a traditional pharaonic crown of feathers, solar disk, and cow’s horns rested on her head … As Queen, as Isis, Cleopatra ‘was magistrate, high priest, queen, and goddess—and CEO.’ ¹⁰

The Queen of Egypt was setting the stage for greatness that she eventually succeeded in achieving in a legendary fashion. Michael Lloyd in his Cleopatra As Isis argued that Cleopatra’s most striking qualities closely resemble those of the goddess, and Isis may have been suggested by her.¹¹

The Last Pharaoh was one of history’s great models of resiliency when the concept was young and lacked modern relevance. Queen Cleopatra had outstanding mental abilities of adaptability and flexibility which are one of the main features of the intellectually gifted. They were made evident throughout most of her life. As W. Sergeant pointed out that her wonderful adaptability … gave Cleopatra her victories.¹² The Sterling Professor of Humanities at Yale University and a former Charles Eliot Norton Professor at Harvard, Harold Bloom (2017) reminds us that Cleopatra’ identification with the goddess Isis … is crucial for understanding the mythic aspects of her personality.¹³

Similarly, Lydia Hoyt Farmer the author of Cleopatra, The Book of Famous Queens disclosed that, The great secret of Cleopatra’s power of winning was the instructive insight she possessed into men’s dispositions, and her exquisite tact in discovering their vulnerable points … Her irresistible allurement lay in her faculty of adapting herself to men’s peculiar tastes and predilections … her chief fascination was the charming combination of face, form and winning conversation, which rendered her bewitching.¹⁴

With all of these sterling qualities at her command, history shows that the Egyptian Queen was the sole female in the Classical Era to rule alone and play a critical role in the early history and formation of Western Civilization. Where there is a Rome as an early ancestor of Europe, you will find a Cleopatra who modelled for that backwater nation what a high civilization would look like for one to emulate despite their male misogynistic affliction.

One who challenged their Neanderthal notion of women and presented them with the undeniable power of the feminine for she is Cleopatra. She is the one who stands above. She contends with the lowly aspirations of Roman males who see her less as a woman.

One whose genius they fed on to feed and finance on what would later become known as the Roman Empire. And so, when Caesar was unexpectedly and brutally assassinated, Cleopatra was thrown into a potentially disastrous and lethal situation. A lesser person would have been devastated and put into a serious panic, but not Cleopatra; her strong will and determination would not yield to circumstances beyond her control no matter how unfavorable the historical realities. Her resiliency would masterfully come into play, up next Mark Antony

Her great flexibility was in not being limited by what might seem to others as insurmountable obstacles. This key facet of her personality enabled her to adapt to the circumstances at hand to discover what other alternatives might present themselves and how to best utilize them effectively to great advantage. Egyptologists consider her ability to reinvent herself to fit any situation to be a key part of her brilliance in politics… (Cleopatra VII, Ancient-Egypt-Online, J Hill) Personal reinvention they say is an absolute necessity in a fast-changing modern society. A feat Cleopatra mastered 2,000 years ago.

This explains, in part, why her fame seems so everlasting. Where some might have faltered, got discouraged and let the situation dictate to them Cleopatra ever the grandmaster saw with greater clarity what must be done to achieve a more auspicious end for her and more importantly for Egypt.

The mental permutations must have been astounding trying to figure out every possibility and all the probable outcomes. The Queen taught the future how to never give up and how to be open to new possibilities even when things seem hopeless or unresolvable. Cleopatra gives a new meaning to the word resourceful two thousand years ago.

Consider the words of the reviewer Kevin Revolinski who concluded that there was more to Cleopatra than what others imagined as evidenced in Stacy Schiff’s compelling book. Cleopatra: A Life … is a more complex portrait of a clever, powerful woman who reinstates herself as the leader of Egypt after being driven out of Alexandria by her brother, Ptolemy XIII. There’s plenty of plotting, deal making, murder, war, and incestual royal marriages. (Book Review: Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff," The Mad Traveler, January 2, 2012)

Try being in your early twenties ruling a nation of millions with a mammoth military shark like Rome at your throat, family members trying to kill you, the state of the national economy in a downfall then one can imagine what the young Sovereign of Egypt had to go through at such a fragile age.

Yet, it was up to Cleopatra to revive her country’s flagging fortunes. Under such demanding circumstances, to incredibly triumph for a generation was an accomplishment worthy of the Last Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt. To last beyond time to what would seem an eternity of endless fascination was her reward. She was greater than myth. She was … Cleopatra.

Cleopatra, the Immortal

Cleopatra the Immortal One is a title she richly deserves. Immortalized by Renaissance artists, popularized by numerous plays, romanticized by books and glamorized on the modern silver screen, ironically, we possess the barest fragments of her real story especially regarding her ethnicity. Many would cast her as a white Greek of Macedonian descent when in fact she was a Black woman of Egyptian/Nubian ancestry who made major contributions to the West in its early formative period while at the same time signifying the end of the greatest civilization in human history, Ancient Egypt.

One writer inquisitively asks, Who is this woman, Cleopatra, who has captivated our imagination and interest across the ages? A legend, Heroine and a goddess. A glazing star of immortality and mythology …? The answer becomes self-revealing the more we learn of her life without the ugly stained and stench of her Roman propagandists.

The most notorious was Octavian who used her wealth and inspiration to create what would become known as the Roman Empire. Still, who else was there to serve as a better model of regal stature and splendor than Cleopatra? Who else possessed the breadth and depth of her intellectual genius? The Egyptian Monarch effectively ruled over vast territories.

AllEmpires, an online history website, posted an essay Cleopatra by Cornelia who asking the same question. Who was this woman, Cleopatra, who has captivated our imagination and interest across the ages? Cleopatra … has appeared through the ages to contain all the elements of a woman of dreams. She captivated not one, but two Caesars and made another, one who many claim was the greatest of the three, tremble.

Joined by a charm most overwhelming and a voice as to calm a hurricane or engage a tremendous orchestra of many strings, a delicious delight to the ear and mind, astonishingly stupendous might not say it all. One of the few instances where spellbinding seems an understatement.

Time bows to her longevity and millenniums cannot wither her nor cease her infinite variety. Immortality accepts her as a child of its domain and name recognition remains a constant companion among the Ages. There sits and forever endures the Last Queen of Egypt known to all as Cleopatra. Many would come to feast upon this grand design of great achievements. The nineteenth-century author of the book History of Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, Jacob Abbott, a professor of mathematics and natural philosophy at Amherst College mentioned that Cleopatra had a thousand personal accomplishments and charms…

Though few would honestly acknowledge her influence on the Roman emperor Augustus (Octavian), she, as a powerful woman, modelled for him what is takes to be an exceptional leader despite his misogynist views of the female sex. Cleopatra shattered the view that women were less valuable than men even though Octavian would never admit it the facts speak for themselves. Rome only feared two individuals. Cleopatra was one of them.

The Last Pharaoh of Egypt belongs to the pantheon of Immortal names that history will forever record, an eternal clarion call to the other half of humanity to achieve greatness and distinction no matter what the odds. As one writer once said that ‘the earth belongs to the living.’ And to the immortal Cleopatra that covers a lot of ground in history… Even in death there is no dimming of the Great One. The vast Eclipse known as Cleopatra overshadowed all the powerful men of her time, and it seems everyone else for that matter in the realms of captivation and fascination for two thousand years and still counting.

According to Professor Adelman of Yale University’s English department, Cleopatra and her Egypt are both immersed in time and exempt from time: she is ‘wrinkled deep in time’ (1.5.29), but ‘age cannot wither her’ (92.2.235). In Egypt, time itself over flows the measure and moves toward eternity: as Antony determines to obey the strong necessity to time, Cleopatra reminds him that ‘Eternity was in our lips, and eyes’ (1.3.35) Time is the medium of drama as well as of history, but Shakespeare’s manipulation of dramatic time insures that we … will participate in Cleopatra’s eternity.¹⁵

In a similar vein, a scholar from the prestigious Northeastern academy asserts, She is associated with the antiquity of Egypt itself and of its serpents: she is the serpent of old Nile. And although ‘age cannot wither her’ (2.2.235), she is ‘wrinkled deep in time’ (1.5.29) … Cleopatra’s age associates her with an antiquity outside the range of time altogether…¹⁶ (The Common Liar: An Essay on Antony & Cleopatra, 1973)

The comment age cannot wither her is seen in the fact that humanity cannot let the marvelous monarch go. In the book Cleopatra The Sphinx Revisited edited by Professor Mills, one of its contributors, Giuseppe Pucci who teachers at the University of Siena and writes on Classical Archaeology describes the overwhelming popularity of the great storied queen.

"From Jodelle’s Cleopâtre Captive (1552) to Margaret George’s The Memoirs of Cleopatra (1997), at least two hundred plays and novels, forty-five operas, five ballets, and forty-three movies have been inspired by the Queen of Egypt. As for paintings and statues, A. Pigler records no fewer than 230 works in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries alone…Few other historical characters have been significant to so many generation s and different coultures."¹⁷ It is worth noting that the more we learn about Cleopatra only serves to whet our insatiable appetite for her. Our addiction to Cleopatra the Great seems incurable and endless.

Jonathan Yardley in The Washington Post calls Cleopatra, A Queen for the Ages. The journalist’s review of Diana Preston’s Cleopatra and Antony: Power, Love, and Politics in the Ancient World concluded, More than two millennia after it took place, the story of Cleopatra (Shakespeare, Shaw and Sardou), novels, poems, movies (Elizabeth Taylor!), works of art, musical compositions both serious (Handel and Samuel Barber) … and of course histories and biographies … She calls her book ‘Cleopatra and Antony,’ thus reversing the order as immortalized by Shakespeare. History and legend have usually given priority to the two great men in the Egyptian queen’s life, Julius Caesar and Mark Antony, but Preston argues that ‘Cleopatra perhaps deserves first place’ because ‘her tenacity, vision and ambition would have been remarkable in any age but in a female ruler in the ancient world they were unique.’ ¹⁸

The "forever image of Cleopatra has the feel of immortality. Age after age the only thing that does not change is the world’s fascination with the Remarkable One". When she was very young, Cleopatra ascended the Egyptian throne of Horus, not Zeus, not Apollo, not Minerva or any other member of the Greek pantheon. Horus (Heru) is ancient in terms of Egyptian spiritual traditions and beliefs. He was not of a Greek persuasion or origin nor was Cleopatra. In fact, the Egyptian Queen made the Shrines of Egypt so personal and intense that the author of Antony and Cleopatra Adrian Goldsworthy pointed out, In one relief Cleopatra is described as the female Horus, the great one, the mistress of perfection…"¹⁹ (Antony and Cleopatra, 2010)

Author H. Rider Haggard was able to capture the profound majesty of Cleopatra’s African Consciousness of the Divine when he insightfully imagines a conversation during a recorded historical event of Cleopatra’s journey down the Nile with Rome’s master Julius Caesar. Said the Queen of the Nile when they visited the pyramids: ‘Of a truth … there were Gods ruling in Khem in those days, and not men.’ ²⁰

And, if one thinks the Egyptian Shrines were only pagan idols, Egypt responds - duplicate a civilization thousands of years before all others, create the Great Pyramids and the Great Sphinx along with all the Wonders of Ancient Egypt; be the Source of All religions and the Arts & Sciences; then let us talk more about who should be classified as pagans and who, in fact, worshipped idols. The reverence for the Shrines did not end in Egypt during the Ptolemaic period. As the Belgian scholar, Jean Capart added: the architects in Egypt … raised these shrines in honour of the old ancestral deities … succeeded, once again, in producing a design the memory of which will never vanish from the minds of men.

The ancient fourth century Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus records the origins of religion in Ancient Egypt. ‘If one wishes to investigate with attentive mind the many publications on the knowledge of the divine and the origin of divination, he will find that learning of this kind has spread abroad from Egypt through the whole world. There, for the first time, long before other men, they discovered the cradles, so to speak, of the various religions, and now carefully guard the first beginnings of worship, stored up in secret writings.’ (Ammianus xxii. 20ff. The translation is that of J.C. Rolfe, Loeb Classical Library vol. ii, pp. 306f.)"²¹

Professor Margaret Alice Murray of University College London, an Egyptologist, archaeologist, anthropologist, historian, who was the first woman to be appointed as a lecturer in archaeology in the United Kingdom maintained that For every student of our modern civilization Egypt is the great storehouse from which to obtain information, for within the narrow limits of that country are preserved the origins of most (perhaps all) of our knowledge. In Egypt are found … the beginnings of the sciences--physics, astronomy, medicine, engineering; the beginnings of the imponderables--law, government, religion.²²

History records that the wonders of Egypt like the Great Pyramids, Sphinx, Egyptian civilization and the line of Pharaohs of which she belongs are of greater import than one can imagine. Cleopatra becomes the Great Female Sphinx like her male counterpart, timeless. This might be one of the reasons why Professor Margaret Mills in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures at Ohio State University would entitle her work Cleopatra: A Sphinx Revisited. (2011).

Professor Tyldesley noted that the Cleopatra’s story has continued to grow with the years, and still lacks a definite ending. The final chapter is therefore a metabiography – an exploration of the development of a cultural afterlife that, over 2,000 years since Cleopatra’s death, shows no sign of dying.²³ Given all the things we know of her, one can see why C F Kocol (2009) would entitle his novel, Cleopatra, Immortal Queen. Along with her apparent immortality, Cleopatra patterned herself after the Immortal Egyptian Shrine Isis (Auset) adding wisdom to her other outstanding attributes in the worship and service of the Great Mother Goddess and to ensure Cleopatra’s legitimacy as a genuine Egyptian ruler, not a Greek one.

The annals of history record that her story began at the age of eighteen when the young Cleopatra VII was thrust into the limelight of world affairs and became the queen of Egypt in 51 B.C. over a weakened nation on the precipice of crumbling under the mighty colonial threat of the burgeoning yet powerful Roman onslaught. The fate of Ancient Egypt’s sovereignty was held in her delicate yet capable hands despite every challenge imaginable, beginning with a nation in economic crisis and decline due to the long-term incompetence and wasteful management of the Ptolemies, and the ever-present threat of a Roman invasion.

Still, the Queen persevered and succeeded. Cleopatra had not once but twice conquered two of the mightiest conquerors of her time - Julius Caesar and Mark Antony. An article appropriately titled Cleopatra: She Ruled the Men Who Ruled the World, stated that the Egyptian Sovereign, Captured the hearts of people all over the world and is remembered as a beautiful, charismatic and powerful woman, the elegant Queen of Egypt Cleopatra has many after lives in film life, but with all this she is still shrouded in mystery.²⁴

In part, it was her mastery over the most powerful men of that time that helped chisel her indelible mark in the West. More important was the circumstances in which she achieved the impossible: ruling a country of millions as the sole leader, thwarting the advances of the superpower of that day, a mother with four children as well as the richest person in the world all in a world completely dominated by men where women were an unwelcome guest at the table of power. Cleopatra’s massive achievements mark her singular distinction in the annals of history and beyond.

As far as historic figures in the ancient world go, the Last Queen of Egypt could be rightly called, Cleopatra the Eternal like the symbol of Eternity, the Great Pyramids. She seems to belong to that timeless class of immortal images in the minds of mankind. The changing tides of history have found Cleopatra an impregnable barrier to their advance; two thousand years later Cleopatra is still an object of universal fascination. Kruger Chaddie might share the same sentiment which could explain the title of his post, Cleopatra The Eternal. (Calliope, November 2004, Vol. 15, Issue 3)

The Queen of Egypt came from a civilization whose very essence embodied the concept Built to Last millenniums ago that is why she had a mentality to build not only institutions to last but for nations to last as well. This was Cleopatra. This was the Female African Marvel of the Ages.

The Professor Emeritus of Greek and Latin at Ohio State University Duane Roller (2010) wrote. Cleopatra was blessed with megawatt charisma as well as a formidable intelligence — again using biology to shape destiny.²⁵ He went on to assert, Cleopatra VII was an accomplished diploma, naval commander, administrator, linguist, and author, who skillfully managed her kingdom… To which he injected: The force of her personality far outweighed any physical attractiveness. Sources agree that her charm was outstanding and her presence remarkable, something still noticeable even a few days before her death

Thus, the militaristic power of Rome was held at bay by the force of her talents and abilities as nurtured in the most ancient of lands. The Conqueror was made ready to meet the Roman conquerors with Weapons of Massive Instruction on how to rule intelligently and effectively; how to garner the undying love of a people; how to present oneself in a regal and commanding manner; how to create jaw-droppingly over-the-top spectacles; how to be rich yet possess an aura beyond wealth and how to rule a more sophisticated society than a backwater