40 b.c.-

"The first biography of one of the most fascinating yet long-neglected rulers of the ancient world: Cleopatra Selene, daughter of Antony and Cleopatra. Years ago, archaeologists excavating near Pompeii unearthed a hoard of Roman treasures, among them a bowl depicting a woman with thick, curly hair and sporting an elephant-scalp headdress. For decades, theories circulated about her identity-until, at last, she was ascertained to be Cleopatra Selene, the only surviving daughter of Roman Triumvir Marc Antony and Egyptian Queen Cleopatra VII. Using this discovery as her starting point and creating a narrative from mere fragments in the archaeological record, historian Jane Draycott reconstructs the exceptional life of this woman who, although born into royalty and raised in her mother's court, was held captive by Augustus Caesar and his sister, Octavia, after her parents' demise. Yet as Draycott shows, Cleopatra Selene was destined to emerge as an influential ruler in her own right, as queen, alongside King Juba II, of Mauretania, an ancient African kingdom. A long-overdue historical corrective, Cleopatra's Daughter reclaims a mighty regent-and her infamous family-for posterity"--Provided by publisher.

Cleopatra Selene has found a safe harbor. No longer the pitiful orphaned daughter of the despised Egyptian Queen Cleopatra, the twenty-year- old is now the most powerful queen in the empire, ruling over the kingdom of Mauretania--an exotic land of enchanting possibility where she intends to revive her dynasty. With her husband, King Juba II and the magic of Isis that is her birthright, Selene brings prosperity and peace to a kingdom thirsty for both. But when Augustus Caesar jealously demands that Selene's children be given over to him to be fostered in Rome, she's drawn back into the web of imperial plots and intrigues that she vowed to leave behind. Determined and resourceful, Selene must shield her loved ones from the emperor's wrath, all while vying with ruthless rivals like King Herod.

The Romans, fearing Cleopatra, invented stories about her wicked ways. Historians feature her as the glamorous woman who charmed the two greatest Romans of her day. Alice Curtis Desmond tells about her conquest of Caesar and Antony, but she also presents her as a tender, vulnerable woman, a temptress, yes, but a completely devoted mother. She had four childrenCaesarion, Julius Caesar's son; and Mark Antony's offspring, the twins-Cleopatra Selene and Alexander Helios-and Ptolemy Philadelphus. After the death of their parents, small Selene and Ptolemy were dragged behind a chariot in the triumphal procession in Rome. At fourteen, Selene married Juba, a Numidian prince. They reigned over what is now Morocco and Algeria. This book is based on careful research, particularly in the works of the classical writers, but the author also makes little-known Egyptian and Roman history come alive in the most fascinating way.