Cleopatra's Daughter
The Ancients
History Hit
4.7 • 4.5K Ratings
🗓️ 12 February 2023
⏱️ 37 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Cleopatra VII is one of the most famous individuals from the ancient world. The final Queen of Ancient Egypt, and a woman who used her position to directly influence Roman politics and society, there's more to her than Shakespeare plays would suggest. And while Cleopatra's story ended in tragedy, what about her children who survived? Cleopatra Selene, named after her mother, is a story lost to history - the true, final ruler of the Ptolemaic dynasty, what do we know about her today?
In this episode Tristan is joined by Dr Jane Draycott from the University of Glasgow, to learn about the astonishing life of this other Cleopatra. Cleopatra Selene II grew up during the last days of Ancient Egypt, and in Rome during the first years of its new Empire. She would go on to rule as Queen of Mauretania, becoming one of the most important women of the Augustan age. So what can we learn from Cleopatra Selene, and is it time she's recognised as a giant of the ancient world?
The Senior Producer was Elena Guthrie
The Assistant Producer was Annie Coloe
Edited by Aidan Lonergan
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | It's the entrance on History Hit. I'm Tristan Hughes your host and in today's episode |
| 0:16.7 | well amongst the most famous names from the whole of ancient history must be Cleopatra. |
| 0:22.7 | Cleopatra the 7th, the Queen, the Pharaoh, the last tolemic ruler of Egypt before Augustus |
| 0:31.0 | before the Romans completely annexed it, took it over. But Cleopatra, she wasn't the |
| 0:37.9 | last tolemic ruler full stop. No, because she was survived amongst her children by a daughter. |
| 0:44.7 | Cleopatra Selene. It's her story that we'll be telling today. A remarkable tale where she |
| 0:52.1 | ventured from growing up in Egypt in the last years of her mother's reign to traveling west to |
| 0:58.8 | Montaimu Rocco to modern day Algeria where she married a king, the client's king of Rome, |
| 1:04.6 | the king of Mauritania, Juba the Second. There she lived for many many years, she helped |
| 1:11.3 | establish an Alexandria of the west. She helped ensure that the tolemic line which originated with one |
| 1:20.0 | of the generals of Alexander the Great, well Cleopatra Selene ensured that this prestigious, |
| 1:26.5 | quite murderous family endured deep into the imperial Roman period. I'm a big fan of Hellenistic |
| 1:33.7 | history so I'm so glad that in today's episode we're focusing we're giving a spotlight to this |
| 1:38.6 | incredible figure's story. Cleopatra Selene who is so often overshadowed by her famous mother. |
| 1:45.2 | And in today's episode to tell this story I was delighted to interview Dr. Jane Dreycott |
| 1:51.0 | from the University of Glasgow. Jane is Cleopatra Selene's 21st century biographer. She knows her |
| 1:58.1 | story inside out and it was a pleasure to interview her all about this queen. So that further do |
| 2:05.5 | to talk all about Cleopatra Selene the famous Cleopatra's daughter. Here's Jane. |
| 2:15.6 | Jane is great to have you on the podcast today. Thank you for having me. You're very welcome indeed. I'm |
| 2:23.0 | really excited about this topic because Hellenistic history always a plus and this period of Hellenistic |
| 2:28.2 | history especially because it's the common belief that the tolemic dynasty well the ended with the |
| 2:34.0 | death of the famous Cleopatra in 30 BC but that's not exactly true is it? It's not no. Who is this |
... |
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