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Egypt

Cleopatra: A Power to be Reckoned With

Juan Cole 11/19/2010

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This article about Cleopatra in the Smithsonian Magazine questions the image of her in subsequent Western literature as a mere seductress. The author argues that she was a canny and powerful monarch, a savvy street fighter, and a great queen in her own right, who presided over one of the more prosperous and powerful countries of antiquity.

Filed Under: Egypt

About the Author

Juan Cole is the founder and chief editor of Informed Comment. He is Richard P. Mitchell Professor of History at the University of Michigan He is author of, among many other books, Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash of Empires and The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. Follow him on Twitter at @jricole or the Informed Comment Facebook Page

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