Download Chapter 1 - Highlights

Chapter 1 - Highlights
Cleopatra - ‘Trevor Fear’
1.1IMPRESSIONS:
Cleopatra is probably one of the most recognised figures from the ancient world.
Some of the things that the author ‘Trevor Fear’ associates with Cleopatra are:
‘temptress’; ‘seduction’; ‘beauty’; ‘doomed lover’; ‘suicide’; ‘Antony & Cleopatra’;
‘Egypt’; ‘Elizabeth Taylor’; ‘Carry on Cleo’; ‘Luxury & Extravagance’.
In this chapter we move across time from the twentieth century to the first century
CE, and across space from Hollywood to Rome and then to Egypt, looking at a wide
variety of evidence from movies, histories, biographies, coinage, sculpture and
poetry.
Think critically about the accuracy of REPUTATIONS built by historians,
biographers & poets.
1.2CLEOPATRA IN HOLLYWOOD
It was the performances of the gorgeous and most famous Hollywood actresses
(Theda Bara, for the first time in 1917, then the famous Elizabeth Taylor in 1963,
and so forth) that contributed to the public’s impression of Cleopatra as a
seductress.
Examine the DVD based ACTIVITY on page 5.
1.3CLEOPATRA AND ROME
Constructing Cleopatra: „Spin‟ at Rome
Narrative History written down by the Roman historian Cassius Dio
If Cleopatra had not come into contact with the Roman world, then in the West at
least she would be just another peripheral historical figure whose name would mean
little. Her fatal interaction, though, with such prominent figures in Roman history as
Julius Caesar, Mark Antony and Octavian (who became Rome’s first emperor under
the name of Augustus), and her various roles as the lover, ally and bitter enemy of
these men, have served to define her in the western tradition. According to the
Roman historian Cassius Dio, Cleopatra ‘captivated the two greatest Romans of her
time, and because of the third, she destroyed herself’.
We are familiar in our own time with the manipulation of public opinion by the
media and politicians, of how things can be made to look a certain way through
putting a ‘spin’ on them. Cleopatra was the victim of a vicious propaganda campaign
that was waged between Octavian on the one hand, and Mark Antony and herself on
the other, in the lead-up to the decisive battle of Actium. Unfortunately for Cleopatra
she lost and, as the winners in conflicts tend to write history, it is their images of
the losers that prevail.
If you can imagine the sort of stories that appear in our tabloid press about modern
celebrities being delivered about rival politicians with the rhetorical skill and gravity
of a Winston Churchill in the House of Commons, then you start to get an idea of the
verbal brutality of Roman political life.
Examine the Reading 1.1 ACTIVITY on page 7. –
A speech said to be delivered in the Roman senate by Octavian, in order to convince
them about the reasons for his war against Antony in Actium - written by the
historian Cassius Dio after two hundred years.
Writing over two hundred years later, exactly how did Cassius Dio know what
Octavian said in this speech?
The explanation is almost certainly that Cassius Dio made up the speech himself.
Then historians used their own judgement to put a speech into the mouth of a
historical character, but plausible fictions. They don’t seem to be reliable facts, but
the values and attitudes of the Romans.
Plutarch‟s Antony: the fallen hero
Historical Biography by the Roman biographer Plutarch
Plutarch’s Life of Antony is the principal ancient source for the events surrounding
Antony, Cleopatra and Octavian. This biography written by Plutarch dates some 150
years or so after the events concerning Cleopatra and Antony.
Examine the two ACTIVITIES on page 9 – How Plutarch presents Cleopatra
ACTIVITY on page 10 – Plutarch’s account of the meeting between Antony &
Cleopatra at the ancient city of Tarsus. It suggests about Cleopatra’s ability to
manipulate her appearance to influence others.
The Roman world did not value romantic love, and Antony’s infatuation with
Cleopatra was simply another indication, to Plutarch, of self-indulgence and a lack of
self-control.
The only aspect of Cleopatra’s life that draws grudging admiration from Plutarch is
the manner of her death.
Cleopatra in Augustan poetry
Source: Horace - Ode
Poetry is a special use of language; generally it involves fitting the sound of words to
certain rhythmic patterns. Ancient lyric poetry was a form of performance art for the
community. The voice of the poet represented an expression of the community.
The poem conveys feelings and impressions that may give us some insight into what
people at Rome thought of Cleopatra and the events that had transpired, but we must
not lose sight of the fact that poems such as this are verbal works of art; they are of
historical value, but they are not objective historical records.
Examine the READING ACTIVITY- (1.2) on page 12 –
The varying moods of Horace’s Ode
Definition:
1. Poetry: a special use of language, fitting the sound of words to certain
rhythmic patterns.
2. Lyric Poetry: A kind of poetry that presents the singular perspective of an
individual, the "I" or speaker of the poem. Most often, in modern poetry, the
speaker talks about a fairly intense emotion experience or mood. The speaker
does not usually address the reader directly, but rather we seem to overhear this
voice as it appears to talk to itself about its deepest feelings and experiences.
However, in ancient Greece, it was a form of performance art for the
community. It was a public event, and the voice of the poet represents an
expression of the community rather than that of an isolated individual.
Contrast between Rome and Egypt as seen by Romans:
Rome: manly, austere, disciplined, and principled
Egypt: effeminate, reckless, indulgent, and debauched
1.4 IN SEARCH OF CLEOPATRA – Her real history and images of herself
Here we turn away from the Roman depiction of Cleopatra and look at this historical
figure in her own right as the last of the Hellenistic queens of Egypt, and also the
last of pharaohs.
Definition: Hellenistic is the period of history usually defined as stretching from the
death of Alexander the Great in 323 BCE to the battle of Actium in 31 BCE.
Who was Cleopatra?
In the study of Cleopatra, there is an emphasis on the Romans’ point of view, mainly
due to the lack of any Egyptian evidence such as narrative histories or biographies of
Cleopatra written by ancient Egyptians. This forces us to put bits and pieces of
information available from the Roman records.
What we do have, however, is some material evidence in the form of statues,
inscriptions and coins.
A Short Biography of Cleopatra:
Cleopatra VII was the last ruler of the Ptolemaic dynasty, ruling Egypt from 51
BC - 30 BC. She is celebrated for her beauty and her love affairs with the
Roman warlords Julius Caesar and Mark Antony.
Cleopatra was born in 69 BC - 68 BC. When her father Ptolemy XII died in 51
BC, Cleopatra became co-regent with her 10-year-old brother Ptolemy XIII.
They were married, in keeping with Egyptian tradition. Whether she was as
beautiful as was claimed, she was a highly intelligent woman and an astute
politician, who brought prosperity and peace to a country that was bankrupt
and split by civil war.
In 48 BC, Egypt became embroiled in the conflict in Rome between Julius
Caesar and Pompey. Pompey fled to the Egyptian capital Alexandria, where he
was murdered on the orders of Ptolemy. Caesar followed and he and Cleopatra
became lovers. Cleopatra, who had been exiled by her brother, was reinstalled
as queen with Roman military support. Ptolemy was killed in the fighting and
another brother was created Ptolemy XIII. In 47 BC, Cleopatra bore Caesar a
child - Caesarion - though Caesar never publicly acknowledged him as his son.
Cleopatra followed Caesar back to Rome, but after his assassination in 44 BC,
she returned to Egypt. Ptolemy XIV died mysteriously at around this time, and
Cleopatra made her son Caesarion co-regent.
In 41 BC, Mark Antony, at that time in dispute with Caesar's adopted son
Octavian over the succession to the Roman leadership, began both a political
and romantic alliance with Cleopatra. They subsequently had three children two sons and a daughter. In 31 BC, Mark Antony and Cleopatra combined
armies to take on Octavian's forces in a great sea battle at Actium, on the west
coast of Greece. Octavian was victorious and Cleopatra and Mark Antony fled
to Egypt. Octavian pursued them and captured Alexandria in 30 BC. With his
soldiers deserting him, Mark Antony took his own life and Cleopatra chose the
same course, committing suicide on 12 August 30 BC. Egypt became a
province of the Roman Empire.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/cleopatra.shtml
The last of the Ptolemies
Cleopatra has become legendary, but the numerous legends that surround her
have actually distorted the actual Cleopatra.
One important aspect that is underplayed in the Roman sources and also in modern
representations of Cleopatra is her status, not only as an Egyptian but also as a
member of Hellenistic (Greek) elite within her own country. Like all the Ptolemies,
Cleopatra was both a pharaoh and a Hellenistic monarch. Romans portrayed her as
the figurehead of a strange and barbarous Egyptian culture. Although the propaganda
of Octavian made Egypt an alien and debased culture, the fact is that the Egypt of the
Ptolemies was a direct heir to the Hellenic (Greek) culture that was so much prized
among Rome’s aristocratic elite. Rome saw itself as the heir to the intellectual culture
of ancient Greece.
Cleopatra was reputed to have been the first if the Ptolemies who could speak
Egyptian, after nearly three hundred years of Ptolemaic rule in Egypt. The Alexandria
of Cleopatra was in many ways a more urbane, sophisticated and intellectually
refined place than Octavian’s Rome. Alexandria was a great metropolis of the ancient
world which possessed stunning architecture and the famous lighthouse which was an
ancient world wonder. Its antique library housed the largest collection of scrolls and
was a hive of artistic and intellectual activity.
Cleopatra as politician and ruler
By the time Cleopatra became ruler of Egypt, the once mighty Ptolemaic kingdom
had lost all of its overseas possessions. The political world that Cleopatra grew up in
was one of uncertain and violent intrigue. She found herself in the centre of a hotbed
of conspiracy and sudden violent deaths. She had survived a very tough world. The
traditional Roman viewpoint on Cleopatra overrides any realistic appraisal of
Cleopatra’s actions in the light of her own political reality in Egypt.
Examine the ACTIVITY on page 17 –
Plutarch describes how Cleopatra first met Julius Caesar - A trick which captivated
Caesar, and showed her provocative impudence, according to Plutarch.
This act was not simply a flirtatious whim on her part, but a matter of both political
expediency and self-preservation. Her associations with Julius Caesar and Mark
Antony created astute political alliances. Through her children with Caesar and
Antony, she forged dynastic ties with the most powerful nation in the Mediterranean.
These were pragmatic and political decisions and unions that brought stability to the
region and restored the power of Ptolemaic Egypt. Through her liaisons with Caesar
and Antony, Cleopatra attempted to steer a shrewd path among shifting sands of the
violent civil conflicts of Rome.
Cleopatra‟s images of herself
Cleopatra left behind objects (coins, statues, sculptures) which present images of
herself. These ancient Egyptian artefacts can restore some of Cleopatra’s own ‘voice’
as a counterpoint to how she was represented by others. The few examples studied
here are; a sculptural relief, two coins and two portraits.
Examine the ACTIVITY on page 19 – Fig 1.3 – a relief sculpture at Dendera in
Egypt
Her initiatives and her clever moves to establish Caesarion as a legal heir – a pharaoh
- Caesarion is placed in a more important position (closest to the gods) as a fully
adult male pharaoh and the legitimate ruler of Egypt. She is also emphasizing her
own status and authority as not only a pharaoh, but also as the mother of a pharaoh.
As Cleopatra and her son faces the goddess Hathor and her son, she obviously tries to
draw a parallel between the goddess of fertility and herself.
The relief sculpture in the Temple of Hathor in Egypt shows Cleopatra embracing the
ancient traditions of Egypt. She appears in a timeless portrait as an integral cog in the
line of pharaohs. She also displays herself as dutifully providing a link between the
divine and the human worlds and expresses her adherence to Egypt’s past but also
uses this past to stress her own authority and legitimacy. She also employs it to look
to the future by investing Caesarion with all the authority of a pharaoh.
It was important for Cleopatra to be seen to respect the traditional ways of her
country, but she also knew how to make those traditions work to promote her own
designs and ambitions. She was the first Ptolemy to speak Egyptian and she also used
the title of “Philopatris”, which meant ‘fatherland-loving’.
Cleopatra on Coins
While she exhibits the timeless tradition of the Egyptian pharaohs (as their Queen) in
the relief at Dendera, she has an entirely different look of a Greek on the coins that
would have circulated through different territories. She knew how to impress the
audience at different places.
Examine the ACTIVITY on page 21 – The 32 B.C. silver coins depicting Cleopatra
as a Greek.
Aside from the facial features, Cleopatra is represented very much in the manner of a
Hellenistic queen. Her hairstyle, with the pulled-back braids and a bun was typical
of the royal Ptolemy family. The hair band too is a traditional part of the portrait of
Ptolemaic queens.
The coins represent an image of Cleopatra that was perhaps primarily intended for the
audience of the Roman Empire. On them she depicted herself as a strong and
forceful leader, a natural female counterpart to the Roman general Mark Antony, a
figure worthy of alliance with Rome and of ruling with Rome.
If the sculptures at Dendera were intended to impress the Egyptian population, the
coins were designed to present Antony and Cleopatra as viable rulers of the Roman
Empire. For the Egyptians, Cleopatra appears as a timeless female pharaoh, but for
the Roman Empire she appears as a powerful and formidable dynast. She appears to
have been a shrewd manipulator of public opinion and a skilled promoter of her
own image.
1.5 Reassessing Cleopatra
Cleopatra has been portrayed in a variety of poses, from a glamorous Hollywood star
to a depraved foreign tyrant, to a determined stateswoman and patriot.
As a powerful, historical, female figure from the African continent, Cleopatra is
always likely to remain a controversial figure. Cleopatra has been caught up in the
academic debate on Afrocentrism. Afrocentrism was brought into the picture to
promote the primacy of African civilisation and for the readjustment to an intellectual
history of the world that has misrepresented the contributions of the African
civilisation. Cleopatra serves as a famous figure in this debate as some have argued
that she was black.
The fact that history has generally viewed Cleopatra as Greek and not African is a
clear indication to the proponents of Afrocentrism that the writers of history wanted
to promote European culture over African. Cleopatra has become a symbol of the
suppression of African heritage.