Friday, May 3, 2024

Queens of Ancient Egypt (2023) (3) Cleopatra Selene

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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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