Cleopatra: A Life

In Cleopatra: A Life, Stacy Schiff, a Pulitzer Prize winning author, has written a biography that not only informed me about one of history’s most important rulers, but also gave me a perspective on the political, religious, cultural, and economic conditions of the decades preceding and into the NT era that I previously did not have.

Cleopatra’s death in 30 BC marked the end of both the Ptolemaic dynasty and the Hellenistic age. Hers was quite a dramatic end. But before that final scene, Schiff tells the story of a person who lived an amazing life. From BC 48, until her death, Cleopatra reigned as the queen of Egypt and the ruler over the greatest Ptolemaic empire since the second century BC. Throughout her reign, she showed herself to be a brilliant politician, military strategist, and conversationalist. Others were constantly beguiled by her charm and her eloquence. Cleopatra presided over the richest empire in the world—not only in terms of money but also art, architecture, science, and technology. She spoke nine languages (ironically Latin not being one of her best), outwitted the most powerful rulers of other countries, and bore children to two of the most powerful men in the world, Julius Caesar and Mark Antony. In short, she was a force to be reckoned with.

Schiff is an astute historian and magnificent storyteller. She draws from a variety of sources (Plutarch, Dio, Appian, Josephus, and numerous others) to construct Cleopatra’s story. Extremely aware of the holes, biases, and fictions that the sources present, Schiff is always careful to evaluate them as best that she can, even as she constructs her story through them. The result is a biography that is fascinating to read and deeply informative for non-specialists.

Those interested in the NT will find this book highly relevant because it immerses you in the culture, politics, and religion of the age into which Jesus would be born less than three decades after Cleopatra’s death. You learn, for example, of the vast differences between Alexandria and Rome, east and west and the cultural clashes between them. You learn how the Roman empire came to dominate the entire Mediterranean region and eclipse the glories of the Hellenistic age. You learn about the life and background and the rise to power of Herod the Great, and the part that he plays in this story. This is insightful background to have when you run across him in the NT. The same thing can be said of Octavian (later known as Caesar Augustus). By reading Cleopatra: A Life, you come to know how the various actors in this story—Cleopatra, Julius Caesar, Mark Antony, Octavian, Herod, and many more—came to and then fell from power. All this history and culture forms the background, taken for granted knowledge of the authors of the books and the people that we meet in the NT—Jesus, the apostles, and all the others named in the Gospels and Epistles. If nothing else, it is helpful to get a glimpse into that world that is long past and remote. Schiff has done a fantastic job opening that door for us.