Coin Shows Cleopatra's Ugly Truth

BBC ^ | 2-14-2007

[Jedi Master Pikachu]

Are they suggesting that one of the two faces in the coin picture is of Cleopatra? Or are both of Anthony?

[Jedi Master Pikachu]

Antony.

[Hegemony Cricket]

Sounds like she had a really good phone voice, too...

[stylin19a]

Antony looks like Joey Butafucco

[karnage]

Oh bushwa. Cleopatra was a babe, and Antony a stud. Anyone can dummy up a coin; this is probably the work of some disgruntled smith...

[tarheelswamprat]

Of course Cleopatra was beautiful - she "had HUGE...tracts of land"... /grin

[The Lumster]

Roman writers tell us that Cleopatra was intelligent and charismatic, and that she had a seductive voice but, tellingly, they do not mention her beauty

"Hey Antony - I've got a terrific gal for you, she's got a great personality!"

[massgopguy]

During the scene in Cleopatra where she enters through the Arch of Hadrian (yes, I know) the 7th Fleet visibly lays at anchor in the background. - Roman Soldiers Don't Wear Wrist Watches

[Verginius Rufus]

Cleopatra's image is on the right--and her name can be read clearly on the coin.

Cleopatra's ancestry was Macedonian (descended from Ptolemy, one of Alexander's generals), but one of her gradnmothers is unidentified, so some African American scholars have claimed Cleopatra as "black" on the assumption that the unknown grandparent was a native Egyptian (ergo "black"). This coin doesn't support the "Cleopatra was black" hypothesis.

[wtc911]

I remember having to translate this from Plutarch's Lives...

For her actual beauty, it is said, was not in itself so remarkable that none could be compared with her, or that no one could see her without being struck by it, but the contact of her presence, if you lived with her, was irresistible; the attraction of her person, joining with the charm of her conversation, and the character that attended all she said or did, was something bewitching. It was a pleasure merely to hear the sound of her voice, with which, like an instrument of many strings, she could pass from one language to another...

[PzLdr]

It would support the hypothesis that the unknown grandparent was butt ugly, however.

[reagan_fanatic]

Please, no posting of the Helen Thomas pic!

Where's the fun in that?

[GreenLanternCorps]

It was a wrist sundial! Haven't you seen the Flintstones?

[GreenLanternCorps]

Given the history of Egypt it is probable that she had an ancestor or two from what's now Ethiopia or The Sudan, but I'm sure she thought of herself as Greek-Egyptian considering the history and importance of those two lands.

[JaguarXKE]

I believe the standards of beauty were quite different.

I believe that might be a huge understatement!

[Cacique]

btt

[skepsel]

Allegedly she had other talents. One of the historians of classical antiquity said her nick name was "Chiela" or "Thick Lips" and she was said to have fellated 100 Greek noblemen at a banquet once. Salacious gossip about the mighty always has a market tho', see Petronius' (?) "The Secret History", full of Byzantine dirt about who was sleeping with who and how and who was on the take and for how much.

[exit82]

Clearly, the man who cut the die was a one trick pony when it came to faces. He was able to differentiate hair styles though.

I don't read much into these claims. There's a limit to what you can do with a hammer and chisel on a small coin die.

[Mila]

Here's a face that would look much better on a coin. On this coin, Cleopatra reminds me a bit of Joey Buttafuoco.

[Old Professer]

Which one is Antony, left or right?