CHRISTOPHER CRUISE: She is also the subject of one of William Shakespeare’s great tragic plays, “Antony and Cleopatra.” Shakespeare describes Cleopatra with these lines:

“Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale her infinite variety; other women cloy the appetites they feed, but she makes hungry where most she satisfies.”

FAITH LAPIDUS: The story of Cleopatra has influenced countless historians, painters, writers and filmmakers. But much of the story of her life is based on descriptions that are not true. She is often described as an evil and sexy beauty who liked to take control of men.

To learn the truth about this famous ruler requires separating fact from centuries of storytelling. Most historical documents describing her life were written long after she had died. They were written by historians who never knew her and who were loyal to her enemies. Remembering this famous woman as an evil beauty discredits her role as a wise and intelligent ruler who lived during an important period in history.

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CHRISTOPHER CRUISE: Cleopatra the Seventh was born over two thousand years ago in sixty-nine B.C., or sixty-nine years before the birth of Christ. Her ancestors came from a long line of rulers that began with Ptolemy the First and ended with Cleopatra. This family is known as the Ptolemies. Although Cleopatra ruled Egypt, she was not Egyptian. She was Macedonian Greek. Her first language was Greek, but historians say she spoke eight others including Hebrew, Latin, Parthian and Egyptian.