Cleopatra: Did She Do It For Love or Country

Everyone knows the Hollywood Cleopatra, but what about the woman trying to preserve her family’s 275-year-old dynasty, the woman trying to keep Egypt safe from the ever-reaching grasp of Roman rule? Were her bedroom alliances with Caesar and Mark Anthony done out of love for these powerful Roman men or to save herself and her country? Would her first-born child by Caesar be strong enough to continue the Ptolemaic Dynasty and ally himself with Rome? This episode is jam packed with fascinating facts about Cleopatra and the times in which she lived.  

Episode Edit: 
*The comment regarding chess and checkers mentioned at about 8 minutes into the episode is purely satirical. As far as we can tell, neither of those games were around in the 1st century BC.

 Episode Resources:

 Anthony and Cleopatra by Adrian Goldsworthy

 From Gracchi to Nero by H. H. Scullard

 Plutarch’s Lives (Volume I and II)

 Clues to Cleopatra’s Tomb Discovery (Travel & Leisure Magazine)

 Cleopatra’s Real Appearance (Express UK)

 Gal Godot’s New Cleopatra Movie (BBC) 

 Cleopatra (1963 film with Elizabeth Taylor)

 Cleopatra (1934 film with Claudette Colbert)