Why are we still interested in Cleopatra? She has that eternally attractive combination of sexual allure, political power - even divine status - and personal wealth. She had by any standards an eventful life and an unforgettable death. She very nearly tipped the balance of power at a crucial moment in history: had she and Antony succeeded in maintaining their empire in the east, our cultural life might be very different today. In this concise, readable, well-illustrated book, Susan Walker and Sally-Ann Ashton look at the historical Cleopatra, at images of Cleopatra as a Greek queen and as ruler of Egypt, at contemporary perceptions of her and at how we see her today. We see how Roman propaganda depicted her as a threatening woman with non-Roman qualities of excessive behaviour and emotional manipulation, a view that has come down through Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra and forms the basis of our understanding of her over two thousand years later.

Susan Walker is Keeper of Antiquities at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, UK.
Sally-Ann Ashton is Assistant Keeper in the Department of Antiquities, Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, UK.