Search for Cleopatra Ancient Egypt Alexandria Ptolemy Dynasty 323-30BC Caesar

Description

The Search for Cleopatra by Michael Foss.
DESCRIPTION:
Hardback with Dust Jacket: 192 pages. Publisher: Arcade Publishing; (1997). Size: 9½ x 6¼ x 1 inch; 1 pound.
Cleopatra. The myths surrounding her are such that it is a daunting task to separate the real person from the legend. For centuries she has been portrayed as a frivolous oriental temptress who seduced first Julius Caesar and then Marc Antony. A woman without scruples who used her sexual wiles to subvert the course of Roman rule. In this biography Michael Foss looks through and beyond the myths, using fresh research to bring to vivid life the historical Cleopatra.
Cleopatra was a descendant not of pharaohs but of the Macedonian rulers who succeeded after the death of Alexander the Great in 323 B.C. The dynasty founded by Ptolemy, Alexander's crafty and seasoned general, shrewdly grafted Greek sensibilities to the ancient religions of the land it occupies. Eventually the Ptolemies followed Alexander's example and pronounced themselves gods, intermarrying to ensure the purity of their bloodline. What was ensured, of course, was decline.
Culture and diversity thrived under the Ptolemies, but Egypt was an unruly kingdom, a complex and volatile chemistry of cultures. And the Ptolemies ran to fat. Egypt's decay coincided with the rise of Rome, and it is in the contest between East and West that Cleopatra's story unfolds. The Romans greatly feared Cleopatra. She represented decadence and chaos, and her entanglements with Rome’s mighty rulers threatened its sense of order. To the Romans, she was the Orient; intriguing, entrapping, and dangerous.
Yet as Foss shows, Cleopatra played her hand in the only manner she could. Determined that her kingdom would survive, she was prepared to do whatever it took to retain power and very nearly achieved dominance of the whole of the eastern Mediterranean world. When finally she surrendered her ambitions, it was with the larger-than-life style that inspired ancient chroniclers, and Shakespeare and Hollywood alike. Fully illustrated, impeccably documented, “The Search for Cleopatra” sets before us the most absorbing figure of the ancient world.
CONDITION: NEW. Unblemished except for slight edgewear to dustjacket. Otherwise entirely new, pages pristine, tightly bound, clean, unmarked, unmutilated. Condition is entirely consistent with new stock from a bookstore environment wherein new books might show minor signs of shelfwear, consequence of simply being shelved and re-shelved. Satisfaction unconditionally guaranteed. In stock, ready to ship. PROMPT SHIPPING! HEAVILY PADDED, DAMAGE-FREE PACKAGING! #1847.
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PLEASE SEE PUBLISHER, PROFESSIONAL, AND READER REVIEWS BELOW.
PUBLISHER REVIEW
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REVIEW: Imagine a woman of sufficient interest to throw future ages into a labyrinth of dreams. Imagine her in all the variety and grace and appeal of mature womanhood taken to its utmost possibility, with the mind and a body to captivate a Caesar, a world conqueror, an emperor. Did such a person exist, or was she only a figment of the imagination? History has suggested to us that there was such a woman, formed in the flesh and blood of an Egyptian queen of the first century B.C.
This woman, Cleopatra VII of the house of Ptolemy, has appeared to later generations to contain all of the rare elements of a woman of dreams. She captivated not one Caesar but two, and made another one, the greatest of the three, tremble so that one of his Romans wrote that Rome, the city of conquerors, had feared only two people: Hannibal and Cleopatra. Who was this woman, Cleopatra? Michael Foss has studied and taught history in both England and the United States. His previous book was “People of the First Crusade”.
PROFESSIONAL REVIEWS
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REVIEW: Is there any historical basis to the myriad myths and legends surrounding the eternally fascinating Queen of the Nile? Foss (author of “People of the First Crusade”) believes there is, and his insightful biography re-creates not only her life, but also offers a panorama of ancient Egyptian history from the death of Alexander the Great in 323 B.C. to 30 B.C., when Cleopatra died. Foss's absorbing description of Egyptian politics, culture and religion in the two centuries of Ptolemaic rule preceding Cleopatra's birth is tightly packed with information, notable for its clarity and brevity. From the time she became queen at the age of 18, Cleopatra was a strong leader, ruthless with her enemies, including members of her own family, but careful to identify herself with the spirit of ordinary Egyptians.
But Egypt was an unruly kingdom on the decline, and just as Cleopatra and her brother Ptolemy XIII were about to actually set to, the Roman legions marched in, setting the stage for Cleopatra's ascendancy and her romance with Julius Caesar. Cleopatra had good reason to suspect Rome's intentions toward her country, but had little option save to form an alliance. She stayed with Caesar until his murder in 44 B.C., and when the ensuing power struggle awarded Egypt to Marc Antony, history and Cleopatra repeated herself. While the art and myth of Cleopatra's life are extensive, the historical record is frustratingly limited. Still, Foss makes vivid use of what's available and, thankfully, without trying to shoehorn history into a political agenda. Nicely illustrated.
REVIEW: Egypt's legendary queen (69-30 B.C.) comes to vibrant life in this colorful, readable biography. Historian Michael Foss combines careful scholarship with exciting storytelling to capture Cleopatra's complex personality within the context of the turbulent world-power politics of her day. Cunning, ruthless, nervy, unquenchably feminine yet imperiously regal, Cleopatra made her own rules. Foss illuminates the statesmanship that gained Ptolemaic Egypt some measure of status and independence in the shadow of all-powerful Rome, as well as the sexual allure that captivated Julius Caesar and Marc Antony. “The Search for Cleopatra” is both good history and good fun.
READER REVIEWS
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REVIEW: I like the author's philosophy of history. In the first chapter of "The Search for Cleopatra," Foss writes that our picture of the past "is not some absolute of historical truth founded on a mountain of small certain facts”. Rather, history "reveals itself in drama, passion, elemental conflict, emblematic events that become the basis for mythologies”. Cleopatra was a fascinating character, a myth in life and death. She was more brilliant than beautiful, a consummate politician and a ruthless leader. She was the mistress of the two most powerful Roman leaders of her era, partly because she wanted her Ptolemaic dynasty to survive and partly because she seems to have been genuinely devoted to her two lovers.
The "Search for Cleopatra" is not a biography as such. Rather, it tells the story of a pivotal time in which Cleopatra played a central role. Foss sketches all of the major protagonists; Julius Caesar, Marc Antony, Octavian and a host of lesser characters against the background of the Roman civil wars and Cleopatra's skilled but ultimately unsuccessful attempt to come out on top in a very high stakes game. Was Cleopatra a cruel, calculating woman, a person who did not hesitate to execute her younger brother and sister in order to rule unchallenged? Or was she a loving mother, concerned about the welfare of her children and genuinely in love with Julius Caesar and Marc Antony?
As with any complex character, the answer may be "both," and this well-written book does an excellent job of making a powerful woman and a dangerous time a bit more understandable to the modern reader. If you are interested in the life and times of Cleopatra, you might also want to pick up "Alexandria: City of the Western Mind" by Theodore Vrettos. Vrettos devotes a substantial part of his book to telling the story of Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra, but he also describes how Alexandria transmitted Greek culture to the modern world. Another interesting view of the subject is "Not by a Nose," an essay by Josiah Ober in "What If (2)?", which ponders how the world might have been different if Antony and Cleopatra had defeated Octavian at the Battle of Actium.
REVIEW: Cleopatra was vilified as have most other powerful women throughout the ages. She was despised by the Romans as representing an alien, "Oriental" culture. Foss writes well, and by judicious use of the limited source material he re-tells the epic tale of the Queen of the Nile. The main elements (Caesar, Antony, asp, etc.) are thanks to Shakespeare, famous. Less well-known are the tortured politics of Hellenistic Egypt. Cleopatra's family, the Ptolemy’s (the Macedonian dynasty which inherited the pharaoh's throne from Alexander the Great) would satisfy any modern definition of "dysfunctional”. With their unique blend of habitual incest, infidelity, profligacy, fratricide, patricide, matricide and perennial regicide, it took a political genius just to survive in the Ptolemy family, and Foss infers from Cleopatra's relative longevity that she was just such a genius. Provided you can get your head around relationships like "wife-mother" and "uncle-husband," this is a great yarn.
REVIEW: I found this book to be extremely interesting, and insightful into the life of a great queen. Anyone who is interested in the Queen of the Nile should read this. She managed to accomplish so much for so young a queen, especially in the period in which she lived. I would also venture to say that Caesar and Antony loved her for her unique personality, not only for her beauty.
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