Nathan Buckingham Buckingham itibaren Gaung Baru, Rakumpit, Palangka Raya City, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia
The best thing about this book is its honesty. Cleopatra's story was recorded by her enemies, and most of the recorded legend is suspect. Schiff resurrects the facts and pokes holes in the fables. She makes an effort to convey the details of Hellenistic life - she tells us what Cleopatra's parties cost, for instance, and how long and how tricky it was to sail to Rome from Alexandria. She paints fascinating portraits of Ceasar, Antony and Octavian. Cleopatra emerges as a canny survivor and an efficient ruler - the product of a murderously ambitious family. Schiff plays down the seductive side of Cleopatra's personality, but, of course, she WAS the lover of the two most powerful men of her world, so....she must have had some game. However, as Schiff points out, Cleopatra was the richest woman in the world and the successful ruler of a vast empire. Her story is about power, not sex.