Cleopatra (1963)

The 1963 epic movie, Cleopatra, starring Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, and Rex Harrison. "Epic saga of the legendary Queen's reign from the time Julius Caesar arrived in Egypt until her death some 18 years later. Cleopatra is portrayed as a schemer, firstly to gain control over the Egyptian kingdom from her brother with whom she ruled jointly. Having gained the confidence of Caesar, they become lovers and she bears him the son he never had. Her attempts at ensuring that the boy takes his rightful place in Rome are thwarted when Caesar is assassinated and she flees back to Egypt. Many years later Marc Antony, now responsible for the eastern half of the Roman Empire, seeks an alliance with Egypt. He and Cleopatra become lovers and form a military alliance but are forced to retreat after losing a major naval encounter at Actium. Both eventually take their own lives." Written by garykmcd

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Cleopatra: A Life 

by Stacy Schiff, 2010
Famous long before she was notorious, Cleopatra has gone down in history for all the wrong reasons. Shakespeare and Shaw put words in her mouth. Michelangelo, Tiepolo, and Elizabeth Taylor put a face to her name. Along the way, Cleopatra's supple personality and the drama of her circumstances have been lost. In a masterly return to the classical sources, Stacy Schiff here boldly separates fact from fiction to rescue the magnetic queen whose death ushered in a new world order. Rich in detail, epic in scope, Schiff 's is a luminous, deeply original reconstruction of a dazzling life.

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