Cleopatra's Daughter: From Roman Prisoner to African Queen
About this audiobook
The first biography of one of the most fascinating yet long-neglected rulers of the ancient world: Cleopatra Selene, daughter of Antony and Cleopatra.
Years ago, archaeologists excavating near Pompeii unearthed a hoard of Roman treasures, among them a bowl depicting a woman with thick, curly hair and sporting an elephant-scalp headdress. For decades, theories circulated about her identity―until, at last, she was ascertained to be Cleopatra Selene, the only surviving daughter of Roman Triumvir Marc Antony and Egyptian Queen Cleopatra VII. Using this discovery as her starting point and creating a narrative from mere fragments in the archaeological record, historian Jane Draycott reconstructs the exceptional life of this woman who, although born into royalty and raised in her mother’s court, was held captive by Augustus Caesar and his sister, Octavia, after her parents’ demise. Yet as Draycott shows, Cleopatra Selene was destined to emerge as an influential ruler in her own right, as queen, alongside King Juba II, of Mauretania, an ancient African kingdom. A long-overdue historical corrective, Cleopatra’s Daughter reclaims a mighty regent―and her infamous family―for posterity.
About the author
Jane Draycott is a lecturer in ancient history at the University of Glasgow. A Roman historian and archaeologist, she has excavated sites ranging from Bronze Age villages to World War I trenches. She lives in Scotland.
Joan Walker has over thirty years of professional acting experience. She has appeared in over 500 plays on BBC radio, voiced countless television and radio adverts, narrated copious audiobooks (some of which have won awards, including Earphones), narrated an array of documentaries, created voices for animations and video games, and voiced audio guides for some of the greatest art galleries and museums in the world. Born and raised on a dairy farm in Derbyshire, she lives in the UK.
