CLEOPATRA’S DAUGHTER: From Roman Prisoner to African Queen, by Jane DraycottNot many can boast of knowing that Cleopatra had a daughter, Cleopatra Selene. Antony and Cleopatra, of course, are familiar figures to us: principal actors in the Roman Republic’s final showdown, the battle of East versus West at Actium in 31 B.C. — even if, in the aftermath of Octavian’s victory, they were portrayed as depraved and doomed lovers who took their own lives. This, essentially, would be the extent of Cleopatra Selene’s story, were it not for “Cleopatra’s Daughter,” a labor of love by Jane Draycott, and her attempt to bring the obscure Mauretanian queen to life. For all her hard work, Draycott, an archaeologist and historian, delivers something slightly different from a biography.

Source: The North Africa Journal May 23, 2023 19:43 UTC