The Cleopatras: The Forgotten Queens of Egypt
Six further Cleopatras linked to an uninspiring series of Ptolemies could, in other circumstances, challenge the reader’s memory and interest. It is to Mr. Llewellyn-Jones’s credit that each of his subjects stands on her own ... The Cleopatras is original and engaging, even if its sprinkling of phrases such as "patriarchal norms," "gender norms," "lived realities" and "girl power" would, I suspect, have had the seven extraordinary, no-nonsense queens reaching for the nearest asp.
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An amazing story of strong, assertive women ... In engaging and detailed writing, Llewellyn-Jones tells the stories of all the women.
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Entertaining ... Llewellyn-Jones has a tabloid journalist’s eye for the juicy anecdote and lurid story, and there are plenty of both in this history ... The caveat to these salacious stories, however entertaining, is that much of what we think we know about the Cleopatras is either supposition or downright fiction, based on the accounts of later, prejudiced, Roman authors. Even when this bias is acknowledged, a heavy reliance on Greek and Latin sources can lead scholars to conclude that the Cleopatras were exceptional.
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