Cleopatra the Great (48 page)

47 Ptolemy II ‘caused the philosophy of the Egyptians (before alone peculiar to the priests) to be divulged in Greeke for the benefit of students'. Sandys 1615, p.lll.

47 ‘they cut open criminals received out of the kings' prisons, and they studied whilst the breath of life remained in them'. Celsus,
De Medidna
I in MacLeod, (ed.) 2002, p.lll.

47 ‘the most august of all princes and devoted, if any one ever was, to culture and learning'. Athenaeus
Deipnosophists
XII.536, Gulick trans., p.425.

47 ‘and concerning the number of books, the establishing of libraries, and the collection in the Hall of the Muses, why need I even speak, since they are in all men's memories'. Athenaeus,
Deipnosophists
V.203, Gulick trans., pp.420-1.

48 ‘marble figures, a hundred in all, the work of foremost artists . . . and paintings by artists of the Sicyonian school alternating with a great variety of selected portraits'. Athenaeus
Deipnosophists
V.196, Gulick trans., p.391.

48 ‘Come on! Get your cloak. Let's go to the house of the king, rich Ptolemy. I hear the queen has done a beautiful job of decorating it . . . And when you've seen it, what won't you be able to say to someone who hasn't!'. Theocritus, Idyll 15, exc. G. in Thompson 1964, p.157.

48 ‘everything in Egypt was play-acting and painted scenery'. Plutarch,
Aratus
, 15.2 in Walbank 1979, p.182.

48 ‘the form of the Egyptian Bes the dancer, who trumpets forth a shrill note when the spout is opened for the flowing wine'. Athenaeus,
Deipnosophists
XI.497, Gulick trans., p.219.

49 ‘that her statue be set up in all the temples. This pleased their priests for they were aware of her noble attitude toward the gods and of her excellent deeds to the benefit of all people . . . Beloved of the Ram'. Mendes Stela Cairo CG.22181 in Brooklyn 1988, p.43.

49 ‘where bitch-mounting goats go mating with the women'. Strabo, in Lindsay 1963, p.6.

49 ‘a goat tupped a woman, in full view of everyone — a most surprising event'. Herodotus, 11.46, de Selincourt trans., p.148.

49 ‘I will make you a god [sic] at the head of the gods on earth'. Brooklyn 1988, p.43.

49 ‘a man of wit and taste, partial to the ladies'. Theocritus, Idylls 14.58-68, in Lewis 1986, p.11.

50 ‘Unlucky devil that I am! To think I cannot even be one of those fellows'. Athenaeus
Deipnosophists
XII.536, Gulick trans., p.425.

50 Berenike IFs exploits in Callimachus' ‘Victory of Berenike' in Ashton 2003, p.59; Egyptian epithet describing her bravery, strength and courage m Troy 1986, p.179.

50 ‘deep-set long eyes, a nose wide at the nostrils, a ball-chin — a face slightly reminiscent of Nefertiti... it looks as though the Hellenistic Greeks, like the moderns, admired the Nefertiti profile'. Thompson 1973, p.86, p.105, note 5.

50 Berenike IFs hair in Brooklyn 1988, p.182, Thompson 1973, p.86 and Nachtergael 1980, 1981; crown in Empereur 2002, p.12; perfumes in Athenaeus,
Deipnosophists
XV.689.a, Griffin 1976, p.93.

50 ‘ta per-aat Bereniga . . . the pharaoh Berenike'. Holbl 2001, p.85.

50 ‘perceived as the equivalent of an Egyptian king. There could be nothing clearer than the idea of a female Horus'. Tait 2003, p.7; her role in Aelian VH. 14.43, in Thompson 1973, p.87, and female vizier in Troy 1986, p.179.

51 ‘a sacred statue for her, of gold and set with precious stones'. Canopus Decree in Rowlandson (ed.) 1998, p.32; veiled Berenike II statue in

Ashton 2003, fig. 10, p.82.

51 ‘adorned with great columned halls and statuary which seems almost alive'. Ammianus Marcelfinus in MacLeod (ed.) 2002, p.71.

51 ‘constant concern, combined with heavy outlay and expense, for Apis and Mnevis and the other renowned sacred animals in the land'. Canopus Decree in Rowlandson (ed.) 1998, p.31.

51 ‘the one who has his being before the ancestors'. Ibrahim 1979, pp.170-1; Edfu was ‘the memorial of Egypt's national King Horus and the country's archives of religious traditions and beliefs'. Reymond and Barns 1977, p.7.

51 ‘offerings shall be made in your shrine, O Falcon, O you of the dappled plumage! . . . shespu er shespet ek shenbet sab-shuwt'. Watterson 1979. p.167.

52 ‘Nekhbet stabs him who violates your inviolable soil . . . shatat her shemy shash shaw ek shata'. Watterson 1979, p.169.

52 ‘I hold my harpoon! I drive back the hidden ones, I stab their bodies, I cut them up, I deflect their attack against Horus of the dappled plumage', temple texts based on Wilson's translation in Quirke (ed.) 1997, p.183.

52 ‘strong protector of the gods and mighty wall for Egypt'. Holbl 2001, p.80.

52 ‘a loose, voluptuous, and effeminate prince, under the power of his pleasures and his women and his wine . . . while the great affairs of state were managed by Agathoklea, the king's mistress, [and] her mother and pimp Oinanthe'. Plutarch,
Kleomenes
, Dryden trans., p.669.

52 ‘an eyewitness of the sickness of the realm'. Plutarch,
Kleomenes
, in Walbank 1979 p.182; three Greek ambassadors all died in Ptolemy IV's ninth year, in Walker and Higgs (eds.,), 2001, p.117.

53 Arsinoe III presenting hair lock in Nachtergael 1980; spear-wielding ‘heroine of the battle of Raphia' in Thompson 1973, p.26.

53 ‘taking presents to the king and queen to commemorate and renew their friendship'. Livy 27.4.10 in Maehler 2003, p.203; also in Moore trans., p.215.

53 ‘Neos Dionysos'. Holbl 2001, p. 171.

53 ‘carrying a timbrel and taking part in the show'. Plutarch, Dryden trans., p.669.

53 ‘built in the middle of the city a memorial building which is now called the Sema [tomb] and he laid there all his forefathers together with his mother, and also Alexander the Macedonian'. Zenobius, in Chugg 2004, p.80.

54 ‘the Soma also, as it is called, is part of the royal district. This was the walled enclosure which contained the burial places of the kings and that of Alexander'. Strabo 17.1.8 in Chugg 2004, p.81.

54 ‘worthy of the glory of Alexander in size and construction'. Diodorus XVIII.28, Geer trans., p.95.

54 ‘his shameful philanderings and incoherent and continuous bouts of drunkenness, not surprisingly found in a very short space of time both himself and his kingdom to be the object of a number of conspiracies'. Polybius 5.34.4-10 in Walker and Higgs (eds.,) 2001, p.18.

55 ‘some bit them, some stabbed them, others cut out their eyes. Whenever one of them fell, they ripped their limbs apart, until they had in this way mutilated them all. For a terrible savagery accompanies the angry passions of the people who live in Egypt'. Polybius XV.27, 29, 33 in Rowlandson (ed.) 1998, p.34.

55 ‘had them slain on the wood'. Rosetta Stone, trans., Simpson in Parkinson 1999, p.199.

55 ‘god, the son of a god and goddess and being like Horus, son of Isis and Osiris'. Rosetta Stone, trans., Simpson in Parkinson 1999, p.198.

56 ‘sacred animals that are honoured in Egypt'. Rosetta Stone, trans., Simpson in Parkinson 1999, p.199.

56 ‘Female Horus'. Holbl 2001, p.167; female vizier in Troy 1986, p.179, epithet ‘her bravery and strength is that of Hathor in her great love' in Troy 1986, p.179.

56 ‘Ptolemy and Cleopatra, rulers of Egypt'. Livy 37.3.9 in Sage trans., p.299.

56 ‘brought the only important intrusion of foreign blood'. Mahaffy 1915, p.2.

56 ‘ill-favoured looks and boxers' noses'. Whitehorne 2001, p.83.

57 ‘the Pharaohs Cleopatra the mother the manifest goddess and Ptolemy son of Ptolemy the manifest god'. Whitehorne 2001, p.86.

57 ‘Don't hesistate to name the little one ‘Cleopatra', your little daughter'. P.Miinch III.57, Rowlandson (ed.) 1998, p.292.

57 ‘following Egyptian custom'. Porphyry, in Holbl 2001, p.147.

58 ‘was brought in by the mime performers entirely wrapped up . . . when the symphony sounded, he would leap up and dance naked and act with the clowns'. Athenaeus
Deipnosophists
V.195, in Gulick trans., p.387.

58 ‘should always consider the trust and good will of the Roman people the supreme defence of their kingdom'. Livy 45.13.7 in Maehler 2003, p.204 and Schlesinger trans., p.287.

59 ‘Theoi Philometores'. Holbl 2001, p.183.

60 ‘genealogical cobweb'. Rice 1999, p.21.

59 ‘m his mother's arms'. Justin XXXVIII.8.4, in Holbl 2001, p.194.

60 ‘murdered many of the Alexandrians; not a few he sent into exile, and filled the islands and towns with men who had grown up with his brother'. Athenaeus
Deipnosophists
IV.184, Gulick trans., pp.312-13; for ‘cultural fallout' see Whitehorne 2001, p.109.

60 ‘Benefactor'. . . Malefactor', Athenaeus,
Deipnosophists
XII.549, Gulick trans., p.493, ‘Physkon . . . Fatty', Athenaeus,
Deipnosophists
XII.549, Gulick trans., p.492, note b.

60 ‘the Alexandrians have already got one thing from our visit. Thanks to us they've finally seen their king walking!' Plutarch,
Moralia
201.A in Whitehorne 2001, p.108.

60 ‘utterly corrupted with fat and with a belly of such size that it would have been hard to measure it with one's arms'. Athenaeus,
Deipnosophists
XII.549, Gulick trans., p.493.

60 ‘astonished at the number of inhabitants of Egypt and the natural advantages of the countryside ... a mighty power could be sustained if this kingdom ever found capable leaders'. Diodorus 28b.3 in Walker and Higgs 2001, p.20.

61 Marriage between royals and priests in Vienna Stela No.82, Reymond and Barns 1977, p.10-11, p.17.

61 ‘the Two Horns'. Holbl 2001, p.195.

62 ‘whichever of her sons she would make co-regent'. Maehler 1983, p.l.

63 ‘we know of none of the kings so hated by his mother'. Pausanias 1.9.1 in Rowlandson (ed.) 1998, p.35.

63 Cleopatra III as Alexander's priest in Holbl 2001, p.208; wearing Alexander's elephant headdress in Whitehorne 2001, pl.5; as human-headed sphinx in Ashton 2003, p.141.

64 ‘Female Horus, Lady of Upper and Lower Egypt, Mighty Bull'. Troy 1986, p.179.

64 ‘to become both king and queen, both god and goddess'. Whitehorne 2001, p.147.

64 ‘the scarlet one'. Green 1990, p.877, note4; Whitehorne 2001, p.130.

64 ‘women's ornaments'. Appian,
Mithridatic War
, 23, in White trans., p.281.

64 ‘when it came to the rounds of dancing at a drinking party he would jump from a high couch barefoot as he was and perform the figures in a livelier fashion than those who had practiced them'. Poseidonius quoted in Athenaeus
Deipnosophists
XII.550, Gulick trans., pp.495-7.

64 ‘Kokke's child'. Strabo 17.797C in Whitehorne 2001, p.221, no.22.

65 ‘the younger sister of the King Ptolemy men called Alexander'. Vienna funerary stela No. 82 in Reymond 1981, p.132.

65 ‘drank in the presence of the king. He [the king] handed out unto him the golden crook, mace, robe of linen from the southern house and the leather garment according to the ritual of Ptah's festivals and solemn processions. He [the king] placed his golden ornaments on his head according to the custom of his forefathers in the 17th year of his age'. Reymond 1981 pp.132-3.

65 ‘a first-class and remarkable temple, one of the most ancient and most famous'. Dunand and Zivie-Coche 2004, pp.209-10.

65 ‘Ptolemy X Alexander I removed the gold sarcophagus of Alexander the Great and substituted one of glass'. Strabo XVII.1.8 (794.C) in Brought-on 1942, p.330.

66 ‘extremely popular with the Alexandrians'. Cicero in Whitehorne 2001, p.175.

66 ‘the greatest god, Soter the king, has reached Memphis, and that Hierax has been despatched with considerable forces to bring Thebes under control. We wanted to inform you so that you, knowing this, take courage. Farewell'. Maehler 1983, p.2.

66 ‘great expenses in collecting Greek art'. Grifiin 1976, p.91, note51.

66 ‘filthy lucre'. . . ‘loose foreign morals'. Juvenal,
Satires
VI.297-99, trans., Green, p.138.

67 Elder prince Ptolemy became Ptolemy XII Auletes; his mother most likely Ptolemy XI's sister-wife Cleopatra Selene, though others believe she ‘was a concubine', (Foss 1997) p.81, perhaps Syrian or Greek (Grant 1972, p.5) or even elite Egyptian (Reymond and Barns 1977, p.27, Holbl 2001, p.222); ‘there is unanimity amongst genealogists that the identification, and hence ethnicity, of the maternal grandmother of Cleopatra VII is currently not known'. Bianchi 2003, p.13

67 ‘our god and lord the king'. Orientis Graeci Inscriptiones Selectae 741 in Grant 1972, p.22.

68 ‘not a man but a piper [auletes] and magician [magos]'. Athenaeus,
Deipnosophists
V.206.d in Grant 1972, p.21; in Gulick translation, ‘magos' is juggler', p.433.

68 ‘degenrarunt'. Livy 38.17.11, Sage trans., pp.58-9.

68 ‘The king himself halted his war chariot. He arrayed my head for me with the glorious chaplet of gold and all the genuine precious stones, the royal effigy being in its midst. I was made his prophet'. BM.EA.886, in Reymond 1981, p.148.

68 ‘It is me who placed the uraeus upon the king on the day of Uniting-the-Two-Lands for him and also carried out for him all the ceremonies in the Mansion of the Jubilee. It is me who conducted all the offices concealad from the public eye'. Stela BM.EA.886, in Reymond 1981, p.148.

69 ‘with his courtiers, his wives, the royal children with his lordly possessions were sitting at meal and were spending a pleasant time while assisting at festivals of all gods and goddesses'. BM.886, in Reymond 1981, pp.148-9.

69 ‘legitimate'. Strabo XVII. 796, in Barns 1977 p.29; for redundancy of claims see Bingen 2007, p. 55, p.67.

69 Removal of Cleopatra V Tryphaena from records in Huss 1990, p.196 and Holbl 2001, p.223.

Chapter 3

73 Although Huss 1990 and Holbl 2001, p.223 suggest Cleopatra VIFs mother was Egyptian, others believe she ‘came from the highest Macedonian aristocracy'. (Bingen 2007, p.66); some claim Cleopatra was a black African, whereas others note ‘how unlikely it is that the queen was black in any sense that could be recognized in the United States today', (Hamer 1996, p.88) and ‘if she was black, no one mentioned it' (Foss 1997, p.82).