"This volume presents the work of a lively international symposium accompanying the special exhibition Cleopatra of Egypt: from History to Myth, held at the British Museum in 2001. The book is divided in four sections: Cleopatra and Egypt; Cleopatra and the Hellenistic Greek Tradition: Cleopatra and Rome; Cleopatra Abroad. Nineteen contributors explore such issues as the presentation of Cleopatra in written and visual sources; her known deeds as queen of Egypt; perceptions of Cleopatra in antiquity and the Islamic world, and the unexpectedly far-reaching influence of the last queen of Egypt as an icon of female power."