Kleiner Diana E.E. Cleopatra and Rome

Harvard University Press, 2005. — 351 p.Cleopatra is one of the most famous women who ever lived. Even though she was the last of a dynasty of seven Cleopatras, we think of her as if she were unique. The most beautiful and celebrated actresses of all time, among them the divine Sarah Bernhardt, the incomparable Vivien Leigh, and the legendary Elizabeth Taylor, have vied to portray her on stage and screen. Several civilizations lay claim to Cleopatra, and even today there are few unfamiliar with the queen’s dramatic death at the prick of an asp (Fig. P.1). In fact, the remarkable image of this spectacular woman lying on a couch expiring from a self-inflicted wound haunts all subsequent versions of her story; the death by suicide of this great queen remains one of history’s most climactic moments.