Jane Draycott

Egyptian Princess, Roman Prisoner, African Queen

Cleopatra's Daughter

The daughter of Cleopatra VII, the last queen of Egypt, and Roman general Marc Antony, Cleopatra Selene is my favorite historical figure, and I've read many novels and fiction books about her. So when I got the chance to explore a nonfiction book about her and her story, I was very excited. In reality, there's still a lot we don't know about Cleopatra Selene and her life, so this book, understandably, had some gaps. The author used these gaps to introduce lots and lots of context, some I thought was unnecessary. Did we really need chapters dedicated to Selene's family's entire backstories, when they weren't that relevant, or was it merely to take up space/make the book longer? And I understand I'm probably being biased because I already know a lot of this history, while many readers may not. I just thought this book would introduce me to so much I hadn't known before about Selene, and I was a little disappointed, though perhaps more so in the historical record than anything. 

There were long periods of this book without even mentioning Selene. I don't mind speculation at all, and I prefer it to irrelevant information, and I think the author would be justified to have included more of her own thoughts and opinions. That's a fun part about history for me. I understand there is a lot we don't know or a lack of sources, but no need to fill in the gaps like this. 

One other small problem I had was how many sources about Cleopatra VII (the infamous Cleopatra) seemed biased. These ancient sources are great in some regard and probably all we have, but I thought the author could have included how one-sided they are and not take them all entirely truthfully. Cleopatra VII is not painted in a very positive light for a lot of this book, in my opinion. Antony, Selene's father, isn't presented much better. It feels very anti-Cleopatra and yet pro-Cleopatra Selene. Contemporary Roman sources are the best we have but the author did not imply that they could be biased, like historical fiction authors sometimes do. I know fiction writers have more room to explore, and I thought this book was a perfect companion to Stephanie Dray's incredible Lily of the Nile trilogy that centers around Cleopatra Selene. 

In some parts, the writing is also kind of clunky and confusing and slightly awkward; I was not always sure who the subject of the sentence was. 

My favorite part of this book was the pictures and archaeological evidence of Cleopatra Selene. The introduction itself captivated me because it discussed a silver dish found in Pompeii that potentially depicts Cleopatra Selene; the author's argument on when and how it was made and ended up in Pompeii made sense to me, and I'm glad an image of the silver dish was included. I loved so much to learn about Selene and how she was depicted on coinage and in art. I would recommend this book, as I said before, more of a companion piece to historical fiction. There aren't too many new insights, but it was certainly worth the read for me, especially because of the photos. But if you don't know much about Cleopatra Selene or this period of history, you will probably learn a lot.

Amanda

The daughter of Cleopatra VII, the last queen of Egypt, and Roman general Marc Antony, Cleopatra Selene is my favorite historical figure, and I've read many novels and fiction books about her. So when I got the chance to explore a nonfiction book about her and her story, I was very excited. In reality, there's still a lot we don't know about Cleopatra Selene and her life, so this book, understandably, had some gaps. The author used these gaps to introduce lots and lots of context, some I thought was unnecessary. Did we really need chapters dedicated to Selene's family's entire backstories, when they weren't that relevant, or was it merely to take up space/make the book longer? And I understand I'm probably being biased because I already know a lot of this history, while many readers may not. I just thought this book would introduce me to so much I hadn't known before about Selene, and I was a little disappointed, though perhaps more so in the historical record than anything. 

There were long periods of this book without even mentioning Selene. I don't mind speculation at all, and I prefer it to irrelevant information, and I think the author would be justified to have included more of her own thoughts and opinions. That's a fun part about history for me. I understand there is a lot we don't know or a lack of sources, but no need to fill in the gaps like this. 

One other small problem I had was how many sources about Cleopatra VII (the infamous Cleopatra) seemed biased. These ancient sources are great in some regard and probably all we have, but I thought the author could have included how one-sided they are and not take them all entirely truthfully. Cleopatra VII is not painted in a very positive light for a lot of this book, in my opinion. Antony, Selene's father, isn't presented much better. It feels very anti-Cleopatra and yet pro-Cleopatra Selene. Contemporary Roman sources are the best we have but the author did not imply that they could be biased, like historical fiction authors sometimes do. I know fiction writers have more room to explore, and I thought this book was a perfect companion to Stephanie Dray's incredible Lily of the Nile trilogy that centers around Cleopatra Selene. 

In some parts, the writing is also kind of clunky and confusing and slightly awkward; I was not always sure who the subject of the sentence was. 

My favorite part of this book was the pictures and archaeological evidence of Cleopatra Selene. The introduction itself captivated me because it discussed a silver dish found in Pompeii that potentially depicts Cleopatra Selene; the author's argument on when and how it was made and ended up in Pompeii made sense to me, and I'm glad an image of the silver dish was included. I loved so much to learn about Selene and how she was depicted on coinage and in art. I would recommend this book, as I said before, more of a companion piece to historical fiction. There aren't too many new insights, but it was certainly worth the read for me, especially because of the photos. But if you don't know much about Cleopatra Selene or this period of history, you will probably learn a lot.

Cleopatra's Daughter Egyptian Princess, Roman Prisoner, African Queen

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