"A classicist on the ascent, Goldsworthy previously wrote Caesar (2006), to which this title is a natural sequel. It can be seen as a corrective to Diana Preston's Cleopatra and Antony (2009), which strove to give the Egyptian queen top billing in ancient history's most famous romance. Affection there may have been between Cleopatra and Caesar's right-hand man, but love was a political instrument in Cleopatra's relationship to Caesar and, after his assassination, to Marcus Antonius. Goldsworthy stresses Cleopatra's twin goals of keeping her throne (to which Caesar restored her) and warding off Egypt's annexation by the Roman Empire. As for Antony, Goldsworthy, reminding readers of contemporary hostility to him, depicts a personality to counter the condemnations left by Cicero and Augustan propaganda. Still, Antony does not come off well in Goldsworthy's estimation of him as a mediocre general and a self-interested power seeker. Narrating his and Cleopatra's parts in the tumultuous end of the Roman Republic, Goldsworthy skillfully integrates the partial and partisan source material into an accessible presentation of a classic tale from classical times."
Check Catalog
No comments:
Post a Comment