The Search for Cleopatra [Hardcover]

Michael Foss (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Egypt's legendary queen (69-30 B.C.) comes to vibrant life in this colorful, readable biography. Historian Michael Foss combines careful scholarship with exciting storytelling to capture Cleopatra's complex personality within the context of the turbulent world-power politics of her day. Cunning, ruthless, nervy, unquenchably feminine yet imperiously regal, Cleopatra made her own rules. Foss illuminates the statesmanship that gained Ptolemaic Egypt some measure of status and independence in the shadow of all-powerful Rome, as well as the sexual allure that captivated Julius Caesar and Marc Antony. The Search for Cleopatra is both good history and good fun.

From Publishers Weekly

Is there any historical basis to the myriad myths and legends surrounding the eternally fascinating Queen of the Nile? Foss (People of the First Crusade) believes there is, and his insightful biography re-creates not only her life, but also offers a panorama of ancient Egyptian history from the death of Alexander the Great in 323 B.C. to 30 B.C., when Cleopatra died. Foss's absorbing description of Egyptian politics, culture and religion in the two centuries of Ptolemaic rule preceding Cleopatra's birth is tightly packed with information, notable for its clarity and brevity. From the time she became queen at the age of 18, Cleopatra was a strong leader, ruthless with her enemies, including members of her own family, but careful to identify herself with the spirit of ordinary Egyptians. But Egypt was an unruly kingdom on the decline, and just as Cleopatra and her brother Ptolemy XIII were about to actually set to, the Roman legions marched in, setting the stage for Cleopatra's ascendancy and her romance with Julius Caesar. Cleopatra had good reason to suspect Rome's intentions toward her country, but had little option save to form an alliance. She stayed with Caesar until his murder in 44 B.C., and when the ensuing power struggle awarded Egypt to Marc Antony, history?and Cleopatra?repeated herself. While the art and myth of Cleopatra's life are extensive, the historical record is frustratingly limited. Still, Foss makes vivid use of what's available and, thankfully, without trying to shoehorn history into a political agenda. Illustrations.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Arcade Publishing (April 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1559704225
• ISBN-13: 978-1559704229
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 5.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,558,611 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good readable overview of fascinating person, June 25, 1999

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Search for Cleopatra (Hardcover)

Bought this book after seeing the TV Cleopatra mini-series. Well written, it moves along nicely without heavy academic footnoting et al that can turn a good read boring.

Almost as fascinating is the rather peculiar debate over Cleopatra's race in the reviews here. One writer erroneously observes that no historical writers ever write who her mother was. Well, actually, most writers have identified her mother as another in the Ptolemy family (intermarriage was the rule rather than the exceptoin among Ptolemy dynasty). The only real question is the identity of her grandmother. And even there the preponderous of evidence is that she was probably Macedonian or Jewish. There are no contemporary descriptions of her as "black" or even dark. Try reading history that does not have a PC ax to grind and you will learn much though it may hinder the silly PC ranting and raving.

Anyway, a good informative read here.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Power and the Glory, March 23, 2002

By 

William Holmes "semloh2287" (Portland, OR USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Search for Cleopatra (Hardcover)

I like the author's philosphy of history: in the first chapter of "The Search for Cleopatra," Foss writes that our picture of the past "is not some absolute of historical truth founded on a mountain of small certain facts." Rather, history "reveals itself in drama, passion, elemental conflict, emblematic events that become the basis for mythologies."

Cleopatra was a fascinating character, a myth in life and death. She was more brilliant than beautiful, a consummate politican and a ruthless leader. She was the mistress of the two most powerful Roman leaders of her era, partly because she wanted her Ptolemaic dynasty to survive and partly because she seems to have been genuinely devoted to her two lovers.

The "Search for Cleopatra" is not a biography as such. Rather, it tells the story of a pivotal time in which Cleopatra played a central role. Foss sketches all of the major protagonists--Julius Caesar, Marc Antony, Octavian and a host of lesser characters--against the background of the Roman civil wars and Cleopatra's skilled but ultimately unsuccessful attempt to come out on top in a very high stakes game.

Was Cleopatra a cruel, calculating woman, a person who did not hesitate to execute her younger brother and sister in order to rule unchallenged? Or was she a loving mother, concerned about the welfare of her children and genuinely in love with Julius Caesar and Marc Antony? As with any complex character, the answer may be "both," and this well-written book does an excellent job of making a powerful woman and a dangerous time a bit more understandable to the modern reader.

If you are interested in the life and times of Cleopatra, you might also want to pick up "Alexandria: City of the Western Mind" by Theodore Vrettos. Vrettos devotes a substantial part of his book to telling the story of Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra, but he also describes how Alexandria transmitted Greek culture to the modern world. Another interesting view of the subject is "Not by a Nose," an essay by Josiah Ober in "What If? 2," which ponders how the world might have been different if Antony and Cleopatra had defeated Octavian at the Battle of Actium.

7 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A historian trying to clear the air, August 28, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Search for Cleopatra (Paperback)

I just wanted to say that no matter how much people try to create a "revisionist history", you cannot change pure and simple facts. Cleopatra WAS NOT African. I'm sorry to those of you who believe she was, but she wasn't. Like others have said before, she was GREEK. No one is trying to say that many Egyptians weren't black (they were in fact a range of colors), but the Ptolemies were Greek, not Egyptian. The Ptolemies were left over from Alexander's empire and had ruled Egypt since his death. While they adopted many Egyptian customs, they were in thought and deed, Greek. Personally, I don't think it matters what she looked like, the important thing is what she managed to accomplish for so young a queen, especially in the period in which she lived. I would also venture to say that Caesar and Antony loved her for her unique personality, not only for her beauty.