Queens of Ancient Egypt is a documentary film (divided into three parts) which premiered in 2023.
Part 1 = Queen Tiye
Part 2 = The Other Cleopatra
(Cleopatra II)
Part 3 = Cleopatra’s Daughter
(Cleopatra Selene)
Here is some basic information about this film:
** Director: Stephen Rooke
** Writer: David Ryan
** Narrator: Jane Perry
** Language: English
**
Run time: 3 x 52 minutes = 156 minutes
This review will focus on part three:
Cleopatra's Daughter
Cleopatra Selene
Seven historical experts are interviewed in part three.
Here are the names of the participants.
Listed in alphabetical order.
** Colleen Darnell – an Egyptologist
** Jane Draycott – a historian
** Heba Abd El Gawad – an Egyptologist
** Michael Livingston – a historian
** Martina Minas-Nerpel – an Egyptologist
** Duane W. Roller – an archaeologist
** Conor Trainor – a historian
Several historical moments have been recreated by actors. Many scenes are filmed in Egypt. Temples, tombs, and other ancient monuments are shown many times.
Cleopatra Selene was born in 40 BC.
Her mother was Cleopatra VII.
Her father was the Roman politician Marcus Antonius (who is known in English as Mark Antony)
In 31 BC, when Cleopatra and Marcus Antonius were defeated in the Battle of Actium, they returned to Egypt where they both committed suicide in 30 BC.
When Octavian came to Egypt and took control of the country, he decided to bring the children of Cleopatra and Marcus Antonius to Rome.
There were three children: two boys and a girl. But the two boys disappear from our sources. We do not know what happened to them. We know what happened to the girl.
Cleopatra Selene grew up in the household of Octavia, sister of Octavian, who was known as Augustus since 27 BC. In this household there were other children, including a young man whose name was Juba II.
The young man was an African prince who was born in 48 BC. When his father Juba I died in 46 BC, Gajus Julius Caesar brought the young boy to Rome.
This is how Cleopatra Selene and Juba II came to live in the same household in Rome.
In 25 BC, Augustus decided that Juba II and Cleopatra Selene should be married and that they should be the king and the queen of Mauretania, a Roman client state in North Africa. This was a case of Roman match-making on a grand scale.
Juba II was king of Mauretania for almost fifty years (from 25 BC until his death in AD 23).
Cleopatra Selene was Queen of Mauretania for twenty years (from 25 BC until her death in 5 BC).
Juba II and Cleopatra Selene had a son Ptolemy who was born in 10 BC. He was sent to Rome to be educated.
In AD 20, when he returned to Mauretania, his father made him co-ruler of the kingdom.
Ptolemy was the sole ruler of Mauretania from AD 23 until his death in AD 40.
During a visit to Rome, the Roman Emperor Caligula had him killed. It seems he had offended the emperor. We do not know why Caligula made this decision.
This was the end of the kingdom of Mauretania. Four years later, in AD 44, it was annexed by Rome and became a part of the Roman Empire.
This film covers the unusual life and career of Cleopatra Selene in great detail.
According to the film, she was buried in the royal mausoleum which is still standing in Tipaza, ca. 30 km east of the coastal city Cherchell, which was once the capital of the kingdom of Mauretania.
According to the film, her husband Juba II was also buried in this mausoleum when he died in AD 23.
There is a minor problem with these statements. The mausoleum in Tipaza is known as the Tomb of the Christian Woman. We do not know who built this mausoleum. We do not know for whom this mausoleum was built.
No ancient inscription - no literary text - tells us who the builder was and what the purpose of this building was.
In this film, it is presented as the place where Cleopatra Selene and Juba II were buried. This is not impossible. It is a nice idea, but it is still a hypothesis.
This idea should be mentioned as an assumption and not as a well-established fact.
What do reviewers say about this film?
On IMDb it has a rating of 71 percent.
In my opinion, this rating is too low.
If you are interested in the history of the ancient world – in particular the history of ancient Rome – this film is definitely something for you.
It is highly recommended.
REFERENCES
The World of Juba II and Kleopatra Selene: Royal Scholarship on Rome’s African Frontier
By Duane W. Roller
(2003 = hardcover)
(2015 = paperback)
Cleopatra's Daughter and
Other Royal Women of the Augustan Era
By Duane W. Roller
(2018 = hardcover)
(2021 = paperback)
Cleopatra’s Daughter:
From Roman Prisoner to African Queen
By Jane Draycott
(2023)
*****
An ancient portrait of Cleopatra Selene
(born 40 BC)
(died 5 BC)
Father = Marcus Antonius
Mother = Cleopatra VII
Queen of Mauretania
From 25 to 5 BC
*****
The Tomb of the Christian Woman
also known as
the Royal Mausoleum in Tipaza
(located in present-day Algeria).
Perhaps the king and queen of Mauretania
(Juba II and Cleopatra Selene)
were buried in this mausoleum?
*****
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