Cleopatra Oklahoma Series in Classical Culture OKLAHOMA SERIES IN CLASSICAL CULTURE SERIES EDITOR Ward W. Briggs, Jr., University of South Carolina ADVISORY BOARD Susan Guettel Cole, State University of New York, Buffalo Carolyn J. Dewald, University of Southern California Thomas M. Falkner, The College of Wooster Elaine Fantham, Princeton University Nancy Felson, University of Georgia Helene P. Foley, Barnard College Ellen S. Greene, University of Oklahoma Sara Mack, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill Thomas R. Martin, College of the Holy Cross John F. Miller, University of Virginia Jon Solomon, University of Arizona Richard F. Thomas, Harvard University Cleopatra A SOURCEBOOK Prudence J. Jones University of Oklahoma Press : Norman Cleopatra: A Sourcebook is Volume 31 in the Oklahoma Series in Classical Culture. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Jones, Prudence J., 1971– Cleopatra: a sourcebook / Prudence J. Jones. p. cm. — (Oklahoma series in classical culture; v. 31 Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8061-3741-X (pbk.: alk paper) 1. Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, d. 30 B.C. 2. Egypt—History— 332–30 B.C.—Sources. I. Title. II. Series. DT92.7.J66 2006 932'.021'092—dc22 2005053834 The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources, Inc. ∞ Copyright © 2006 by the University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, Publishing Division of the University. All rights reserved. Manufac- tured in the U.S.A. 12345678910 For my teachers Contents List of Illustrations ix Preface xi Introduction xiii Part One: Ancient Sources 1. The Ptolemies 3 2. Cleopatra’s Early Career 31 3. Caesar 46 4. Antony 94 5. Octavian 129 6. Actium 147 7. The Death of Cleopatra 180 Part Two: Reception 8. Good Woman or Bad? 207 9. The World Well Lost? 223 10. Women’s Voices 247 11. Egyptomania 255 12. Fatal Cleopatra 260 13. Cleopatra in Arabic 270 14. Afrocentric Cleopatra 279 15. Modern Cleopatras 287 Maps 1. Alexandria 309 2. The Mediterranean World in the Time of Cleopatra 310 viii Contents Genealogical Tables 1. Abbreviated Genealogy of Julius Caesar, Octavian, and Antony 313 2. Abbreviated Genealogy of the Ptolemies 314 Chronological Table: The Death of Alexander the Great to the Death of Cleopatra 317 Glossary 319 Selective Cleopatra Filmography 325 Bibliography 329 Index 333 Illustrations 1. Relief from the Temple of Hathor at Dendera 22 2. The Rosetta Stone 24 3. Marble bust of Cleopatra VII 33 4. Silver denarius of Cleopatra VII and Mark Antony 34 5. Buchis Stela 36 6. Papyrus with declaration of tax exemption of the Roman citizen Q. Cascellius, probably bearing the signature of Queen Cleopatra VII 203 7. “Cleopatra,” engraving by Frederick Sandys 265 Preface THIS BOOK GREW OUT of a course Julia Gaisser and I developed at Bryn Mawr College on Cleopatra and the reception of her image. When I was teaching the course at Rutgers University, John Drayton of the University of Oklahoma Press offered me the opportunity to write a sourcebook on Cleopatra. This book is the resource I imagined having while teaching those courses. The book does not claim to be an exhaustive collection of sources on Cleopatra (such a work would fill many volumes); rather, it aims to present, in its first part, the historical Cleopatra through selected ancient sources, and, in its second part, some examples of Cleopatra as she has been reimagined in various periods and cultures. The brief introductions to the passages aim to place the sources in context, both the context in which the texts were written and the context of Cleopatra’s story. Translations are my own, except where noted. Cleopatra’s story contains many characters. The glossary contains names that appear in several passages. I have used the familiar forms of names wherever possible (i.e., Mark Antony rather than Marcus Antonius). I refer to Augustus as Octavian, because that is the name appropriate to the period of his life covered in this book. There are, however, some instances in which the ancient sources refer to him as Caesar or as Augustus. In addition to John Drayton and Julia Gaisser, I would like to thank Julia Dyson, Alla Gaydukova, Camilo Gomez-Rivas, Thomas xii Preface Jenkins, Mary Lefkowitz, Debra Nousek, Mark Schiefsky, Richard Thomas, and the students of Classics 201 (spring 2001) at Bryn Mawr College and Classics 318 (spring 2003) at Rutgers University. Introduction WHO WAS CLEOPATRA? Who is Cleopatra? Portrayed as both goddess and monster in her own lifetime, through the ages she has become both saint and sinner, heroine and victim, femme fatale and star- crossed lover, politician and voluptuary, black and white. A protean figure, Cleopatra defies categorization. This sourcebook holds up not only a mirror to Cleopatra but also a prism, to detail what we know of the historical Cleopatra and, in addition, to show the diversity of representations that emerge as various cultures and periods receive and recreate her image. Part one searches for Cleopatra VII, the last of the Ptolemaic queens, in primary sources from the ancient world. These texts, written by people from Cleopatra’s world (and, in some cases, by people who knew her), provide the evidence from which we must recon- struct Cleopatra. And yet we must be wary of these witnesses. All have biases; some are overtly hostile. Cleopatra was an enemy of Rome, after all, and many of those who wrote about her lived in an empire founded on her defeat. In the barest outline of her life, Cleopatra VII was born in 69 B.C. to Ptolemy XII Auletes and (most probably) his sister-wife Cleopatra V Tryphaena. They were members of the Ptolemaic dynasty of Macedonian Greeks, who ruled Egypt after the death of its conqueror, Alexander the Great. Following the custom of the Egypt- ian pharaohs, the Ptolemies practiced brother-sister marriage; thus, xiv Introduction Cleopatra was married to and ruled with her brother, Ptolemy XIII. A power struggle between the two of them resulted in Cleopatra’s exile to Syria. She returned to Alexandria and gained the support of Julius Caesar, who had arrived there in 48 B.C. after defeating Pom- pey to become the most powerful man in Rome. Caesar restored the balance of power between Cleopatra and Ptolemy XIII, but Cleopatra succeeded in engineering the murder of her brother-husband. Cleopa- tra then was married to and ruled with her other brother, Ptolemy XIV, though in fact, as Caesar’s ally and mistress, she was the domi- nant partner. In 47 B.C. she gave birth to a son, Ptolemy XV, whom she called Caesarion in order to let it be known that he was Caesar’s son. Cleopatra accompanied Caesar to Rome in 46 B.C. After Caesar’s assassination in 44 B.C., Cleopatra returned to Alexandria. Upon her arrival there, she saw to it that her brother-husband Ptolemy XIV was killed. In 41 B.C. Mark Antony, in need of resources for his military campaigns in the East and for his conflict with Caesar’s heir, Octavian, arranged a meeting with Cleopatra. The two became allies and lovers. They had three children—twins, Alexander Helios and Cleopatra Selene, and a son, Ptolemy Philadelphus. Octavian waged a propa- ganda war against Antony and Cleopatra, stressing Cleopatra’s status as a woman and a foreigner who wished to share in Roman power. The conflict between Antony and Octavian came to a head in the Battle of Actium in 31 B.C., in which Cleopatra’s fleet was defeated. Antony and Cleopatra escaped to Alexandria, where the fighting continued. In 30 B.C. both committed suicide: Antony stabbed him- self upon hearing an inaccurate report that Cleopatra was dead, and Cleopatra preferred to inflict the bite of a poisonous snake upon herself rather than to become Octavian’s captive.1 Part two investigates the literary and cultural afterlife of Cleo- patra. Through studying the reception of her image in a variety of time periods, we learn as much about the cultures that created those portraits as we do about Cleopatra herself. By examining sources from the fourteenth to the twentieth century, from the Romantics to the Afrocentrists, from Middle English to modern Arabic, we see successive reinventions of Cleopatra as each culture makes her its 1. Fuller accounts of Cleopatra’s life are available in Grant 1972 and Chauveau 2002. Introduction xv own. Cleopatra becomes a metaphor, a conveyer of meaning, a canvas onto which are painted ambivalence toward female power, fascination with the exotic East, and romantic notions of perfect love. As we shall see, Cleopatra captivates two of the most powerful men in Rome, becomes the sole ruler of Egypt, gains legendary status for her lavish banquets, and chooses to die rather than endure disgrace as Octavian’s prisoner. This dramatic narrative provides a backdrop against which disparate characterizations of the Egyptian queen unfold their stories. Cleopatra may be pure of heart or cold and calculating as she woos Antony; she may die for love or pride; her legacy may be one of heroism or deceit. Who was Cleopatra? Who is Cleopatra? This sourcebook addresses both of these questions. Various types of evidence—literary, historio- graphical, and documentary—all contribute to an understanding of Cleopatra in her own time and ever since. The ancient sources, with the vagaries of preservation and the inevitability of bias, often raise as many questions as they resolve. This tantalizing evidence, however, has motivated centuries of rewriting Cleopatra. The readings in this book introduce a multitude of Cleopatras, each a unique persona but all heirs to a common legacy.