Cleopatra VII of Egypt is arguably the most famous woman from classical antiquity. She has been widely commemorated in literature, the visual arts, music, and cinema. Yet the general impression of her—beginning with the first accounts shortly after her death—was that she was a seductress who drove men to their doom and destroyed her kingdom. This is far from the truth: she was a skilled administrator, published author, naval commander, and linguist who attempted to save her dying kingdom and create a new vision for the eastern Mediterranean. That she failed does not diminish her accomplishments. This lecture will explore the “real” Cleopatra, the fascinating personality who stands out as one of the great figures of antiquity.
Duane W. Roller is Professor Emeritus of Classics at the Ohio State University. After receiving his PhD from Harvard University, he spent 34 years in archaeological field work in the eastern Mediterranean, and is the author of nearly 200 articles and 15 books about the ancient world, including Cleopatra: A Biography; Cleopatra’s Daughter, and The Empire of the Black Sea. He lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
This event will take place in the Leonard Wolfson Auditorium (LWA) (accessibility information).
Register: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/duane-roller-on-cleopatra-the-myth-and-the-reality-awrcoclw-lecture-tickets-300943027697?aff=erelpanelorg
Wolfson College strongly advises that attendees wear face coverings while indoors and use and LFT prior to the event.
About AWRC: The Ancient World Research Cluster (AWRC) is a research group based at Wolfson College, Oxford, which support work on Ancient World topics and promotes interdisciplinary working and working across age groups and experience. The Cluster’s areas of expertise cross a wide range of disciplines, geography, and periods from pre-history to around 1000 AD, and include Syriac studies, Assyriology, Indo-Iranian Philology, Sanskrit, linguistics, archaeological science, Classical Greek and Roman art and archaeology, to name just a few.
About OCLW: The Oxford Centre for Life-Writing (OCLW) is a leading centre for the study of biography, diaries, memoir, and life-writing in all its forms. We are attached to the Faculty of English and based at Wolfson College, Oxford University.
