Nah, it is the other way around. Historians would say those facts, and Hollywood and possibly general media would be the ones saying "sexy".
Stable and prosperous? She started with a civil war and ended by being conquered by Rome. The bit in the middle wasn't stable either.
Getting conquered by Rome is just what you do when you live by their sea.
But yes, it was, all things are relative, and one can't blame the beach for the tsunami.
Getting conquered by Rome was all the rage back then
It looks to be written by Arsinoë IV or maybe even Ptolemy XIV as it refers to «my brother», so it’s probably biased
Was it historians who were saying Cleopatra was sexy or filmmakers?
History was invented by Universal and MGM. According to Universal. Others (Paramount) claim it was invented by Paramount.
3 Antony, on the contrary, like Heracles in paintings where Omphalé is seen taking away his club and stripping off his lion's skin, was often disarmed by Cleopatra, subdued by her spells, 957and persuaded to p339 drop from his hands great undertakings and necessary campaigns, only to roam about and play with her on the sea-shores by Canopus and Taphosiris. 4 And at last, like Paris, he ran away from the battle and sank upon her bosom; although, more truly stated, Paris ran away to Helen's chamber after he had been defeated; but Antony ran away in chase of Cleopatra, and thereby threw away the victory.
Plutarch was a bit of both, but that tendency has definitely existed longer than movies.
Nothing to me says 'sexy' quite like your grandad and your great-grandad being the same guy, or your (great * 5)-grandmother / grandfather being one man and woman, when most people have that responsibility spread between 64 people.
Close family. Must have made Christmas easy - having the in-laws round isn't so bad when they're your own blood relatives too.
Ah yes the “family wreath”
Must have made Christmas easy
Quite difficult at the time, actually.
Yeah I can't remember the reasoning / evidence but I do remember reading that Cleopatra was unlikely to have been beautiful or "sexy". IIRC it's indeed because she was likely to have congenital deformities due to inbreeding - much like those of Tutankhamen.
She was extraordinary powerful, well educated, and had a terrifying intellect. Additionally she would have bathed daily which would have been alluring in that era.
That said, there's no shortage of other powerful Egyptian babes, Nefertiti and Hatshepsut come to mind.
Edit: Plutarch the Roman historian said something diplomatic like physical beauty is not her most striking feature. Which, when talking about a ruler, is saying she's ugly.
No Cleopatra VI?
Historians haven't been able to definitively conclude whether V and VI were the same person or if VI was a child of V and older sibling to VII by extension.
Small domino: Greek bloodline fuckery.
Middle Domino: Hollywood.
Big domino: Incest porn.
Damn how the hell did Berenice sneak in there?
Bere nicely.
But think of how simple were their finances.
See it relative; sexy if the other world leaders all did the same.
Incest is best!
It's because of historians you those things about Cleopatra
Can you give a single example of an ancient historian describing her as sexy? All the sources I've seen focus on her skills and realpolitik rather than her beauty.
The average person thinks Hollywood producers = historians.
Don't historians say she probably wasn't sexy? Just super bold which attracted powerful men, who hasn't seen much of that back then.
She was a powerful personality. All the records indicate that she was of seemingly above average beauty standards, but nothing earth shattering.
Instead, it is claimed that her strength of personality is what attracted the powerful men in her life to her.
She had access to creams, ointments and fragrances and good sleep. She also kept ugly ass lady servants to keep the contrast in her favor.
She probably like a lot of celebrities who are average looking but over produce to look way hotter.
True. She was more seductive and alluring than plain ol sexy (according to my readings).
Yeah, it is the exact opposite of what OP claims. Historians are basically the only ones constantly demystifying her, while her legend as a sexy femme fatale lives on in the general public mind (thanks pretty much exclusively to Hollywood, because let's face it, noone would know she existed without them).
Cesar sang praises to her mouth, which could be interpreted to be about her actual mouth, her oratory skills, or her oral skills. Knowing how Romans loved innuendo, probably both.
'Cos the romans were so fucked up they literally could not handle being out maneuvered, outsmarted, outstrategised by a woman. So they framed it as "pussy pass"
Wasn’t she actually considered not super attractive at the time? Like not necessarily ugly, but she wasn’t being mistaken for Venus incarnate. It was only later on that the idea of her being super hot because popular right?
There was significant amounts of incest within her family tree, so it's likely that she wasn't that good looking
Powerful women are sexy! Dont need to be crazy hot when you can whisper in my ear, the language of a people you just steam rolled.
plutarch and cassius dio emphasise the personality, wit, intelligence, charm etc etc...cicero went total piers morgan though
But she really, really wasn't. And she wasn't even Egyptian, she was Macedonia Greek (and it shows).
I do find it hilarious that we associate sexiness with Cleopatra because of an intensive smear campaign.
She probably was legitimately attractive by Roman cultural norms and almost certainly leveraged that when dealing with Rome. The smear campaign was more playing that aspect up while downplaying the fact she was a genuine once-in-a-generation genius than making up things about how sexy she was.
What can I say, competence is sexy, excellence even moreso
OP, you might want to read an actual history book or three.
Have they made any of them into movies?
Yes, Chariots of the Gods. It was made into a series called Stargate. It should be shown in schools IMO
Do those come with a centerfold?
I heard she was even her own mom
And her nose…
Why don't you share these great history memes on historymemes?
All those things are pretty sexy
I guess when they say, she bathed in milk, they mean, she bathed in cum?
whoever made this used | instead of I and it makes me crazy
