Antony and Cleopatra's alliance and attempt to forge a new empire spelled both their ends. After Caesar's brutal murder, she began a nine-year affair with Mark Antony, with whom she had three more children.

A lethal political struggle with her brother marked her early adulthood and set the tone for the rest of her life a relationship with Julius Caesar, forged while under siege in her palace, launched her into a deadly mix of romance and strategy a pleasure cruise down the Nile followed, a child, and a trip to Rome, which ended in Cleopatra's flight. Although her life spanned fewer than forty years, it reshaped the contours of the ancient world.Īt only 18 years old, Cleopatra was already one of history's most remarkable figures: the Queen of Egypt. Cleopatra, the wealthiest ruler of her time and one of the most powerful women in history, was a canny political strategist, a brilliant manager, a tough negotiator, and the most manipulative of lovers. Her palace shimmered with gold but was richer still in political and sexual intrigue. Rich in detail, epic in scope, Schiff 's is a luminous, deeply original reconstruction of a dazzling life. In a masterly return to the classical sources, Stacy Schiff here boldly separates fact from fiction to rescue the magnetic queen whose death ushered in a new world order. Along the way, Cleopatra's supple personality and the drama of her circumstances have been lost. Michelangelo, Tiepolo, and Elizabeth Taylor put a face to her name. Shakespeare and Shaw put words in her mouth. Cleopatra has lodged herself in our imaginations ever since.įamous long before she was notorious, Cleopatra has gone down in history for all the wrong reasons. The two would together attempt to forge a new empire, in an alliance that spelled their ends. Already she was the wealthiest ruler in the Mediterranean the relationship with Antony confirmed her status as the most influential woman of the age. Cleopatra had a child with Caesar and - after his murder - three more with his protege. They happen, however, to have been Julius Caesar and Mark Antony, among the most prominent Romans of the day. Cleopatra appears to have had sex with only two men. Ultimately she dispensed with an ambitious sister as well incest and assassination were family specialties. She waged a brutal civil war against the first when both were teenagers. She was married twice, each time to a brother. Though her life spanned fewer than forty years, it reshaped the contours of the ancient world. Above all else, Cleopatra was a shrewd strategist and an ingenious negotiator.

Her palace shimmered with onyx, garnets, and gold, but was richer still in political and sexual intrigue. The Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer brings to life the most intriguing woman in the history of the world: Cleopatra, the last queen of Egypt.

Cleopatra stacy schiff review