To celebrate THE JUDGMENT OF CAESAR and Gordianus’s encounter with Cleopatra, we offer a bookshelf of noteworthy titles about the legendary queen, her city, and her royal lineage as portrayed by novelists, historians, and filmmakers...
•••••Novels
CLEOPATRA DISMOUNTS by Carmen Boullosa An intermingling of fantasy and history by an up and coming Mexican author.
THE HOUSE OF THE EAGLE: THE PTOLEMIES by Duncan Sprott begins a multi-generational saga of the extraordinary family that ruled Egypt for three centuries, from the death of Alexander the Great to the death of Cleopatra.
CLEOPATRA’S HEIR by Gillian Bradshaw What if the son of Caesar and Cleopatra had survived to adulthood? (Click here to see Bradshaw’s other historical novels.)
KLEOPATRA by Karen Essex recounts the queen’s early life amid incestuous intrigues within the royal clan. KLEOPATRA II: PHARAOH continues with the queen’s fateful encounters with Caesar, Antony, and Octavian.
WHEN WE WERE GODS by Colin Falconer With considerable gusto, Falconer takes on the perennial task of the historical novelist: bringing the ancient world’s most famous queen to life.
CLEOPATRA by H. Rider Haggard The Egyptian priest Harmachis betrays all else for his love of the goddess-queen. By the author of She and King Solomon’s Mines.
MEMOIRS OF CLEOPATRA by Margaret George Mammoth (964 pages) novel of Cleopatra told in her own words, from childhood to a famous encounter with an asp.
•••••Nonfiction
ALEXANDRIA REDISCOVERED by Jean-Yves Empereur Stunning photos document phenomenal archaeological discoveries in the harbor at Alexandria.
CLEOPATRA OF EGYPT by Walker & Higgs This opulent catalogue for the magnificent British Museum exhibition represents the state of the art of Cleopatra studies.
CLEOPATRA’S PALACE by Foreman & Goddeo Illustrated biography of the goddess-queen ties in with the Discovery Channel documentary about the royal island of Antirrhodus in the harbor of Alexandria.
EGYPT IN THE AGE OF CLEOPATRA by Michel Chauveau looks at everything from funeral customs to numismatics to capture a sense of daily life under the Queen of Egypt.
A HISTORY OF THE PTOLEMAIC EMPIRE by Gunther Holbl traces the 300-year dynasty founded in Egypt by Ptolemy, general of Alexander the Great, to its climax with the reign of Cleopatra.
•••••Fiction for Younger Readers (ages 9-12)
CLEOPATRA VII: THE ROYAL DIARIES by Kristiana Gregory The diary of young Cleopatra on her journey to Rome to meet the men who’ll shape her destiny.
THE WADJET EYE by Jill Rubalcaba Young Damon travels from Alexandria to Spain, encountering warfare and shipwreck and meeting Cleopatra, Cicero and Caesar.
•••••The Movie!
CLEOPATRA This restored DVD version of the 1963 epic includes a 2-hour documentary about the tumultuous making of the film — a story as epic as that of Cleopatra herself! Available on CD: the extraordinary CLEOPATRA SOUNDTRACK by the great Alex North.
