CLEOPATRA's DAUGHTER by Jane Draycott - Spotlight

 


In CLEOPATRA’S DAUGHTER (Liveright; May 23, 2023) historian Jane Draycott tells the story of this fascinating yet long-neglected ruler of the ancient world. 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.



Jane Draycott is a lecturer in ancient history at the University of Glasgow. A Roman historian and archaeologist, she has excavated sites ranging from Bronze Age villages to World War I trenches. She lives in Scotland.

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