The Cleopatras by Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones

The Cleopatras by Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones

The definitive story of the seven Cleopatras, the powerful goddess-queens of ancient Egypt  



One of history's most iconic figures, Cleopatra is rightly remembered as a clever and charismatic ruler. But few today realize that she was the last in a long line of Egyptian queens who bore that name.   

   

In The Cleopatras, historian Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones tells the dramatic story of these seven incomparable women, vividly recapturing the lost world of Hellenistic Egypt and tracing the kingdom's final centuries before its fall to Rome. The Cleopatras were Greek-speaking descendants of Ptolemy, the general who conquered Egypt alongside Alexander the Great. They were closely related as mothers, daughters, sisters, half-sisters, and nieces. Each wielded absolute power, easily overshadowing their husbands or sons, and all proved to be shrewd and capable leaders. Styling themselves as goddess-queens, the Cleopatras ruled through the canny deployment of arcane rituals, opulent spectacles, and unparalleled wealth. They navigated political turmoil and court intrigues, led armies into battle and commanded fleets of ships, and ruthlessly dispatched their dynastic rivals.    

   

The Cleopatras is a fascinating and richly textured biography of seven extraordinary women, restoring these queens to their deserved place among history's greatest rulers.    

Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones is Professor of Ancient History at Cardiff University and a specialist in the histories and cultures of ancient Iran and Greece. He also works on dress and gender in antiquity and on the ancient world in popular culture, especially Hollywood cinema. He is the author of Designs on the Past: How Hollywood Created the Ancient World, Aphrodite's Tortoise: The Veiled Woman of Ancient Greece, King and Court in Ancient Persia 559 to 331 BCE and Ctesias' History of Persia. He is editor of Women's Dress in the Ancient Greek World, Greek Notions of the Past in the Archaic and Classical Eras, Creating a Hellenistic World and The Hellenistic Court as well as numerous articles on Greek and Persian culture. He is the series editor of Edinburgh Studies in Ancient Persia and co-series editor of Screening Antiquity.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781541602922
ISBN 10	1541602927
Title	The Cleopatras
Author	Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	Basic Books
Year published	2024-05-21
Number of pages	384
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.