Posted on 02/14/2007 8:59:15 AM PST by blam
Coin shows Cleopatra's ugly truth
The images of Antony and Cleopatra are less than flattering
Antony and Cleopatra, one of history's most romantic couples, were not the great beauties that Hollywood would have us believe, academics have said. A study of a 2,000-year-old silver coin found the Egyptian queen, famously portrayed by Elizabeth Taylor, had a pointed chin, thin lips and sharp nose.
Her Roman lover, played by Richard Burton, had bulging eyes, thick neck and a hook nose.
The tiny coin was studied by experts at Newcastle University.
The size of a modern 5p piece (18mm or 0.7in), the artefact from 32BC was in a collection belonging to the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle, which is being researched in preparation for the opening of a new Great North Museum.
Clare Pickersgill, the university's assistant director of archaeological museums, said: "The popular image we have of Cleopatra is that of a beautiful queen who was adored by Roman politicians and generals.
"Recent research would seem to disagree with this portrayal, however."
The university's director of archaeological museums, Lindsay Allason-Jones, said: "The image on the coin is far from being that of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton.
"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.
The Hollywood couple may have perpetrated a Hollywood myth
"The image of Cleopatra as a beautiful seductress is a more recent image."
The silver denarius coin would have been issued by the mint of Mark Antony.
On one side is the head of Mark Antony, bearing the caption "Antoni Armenia devicta" meaning "For Antony, Armenia having been vanquished".
Cleopatra appears on the reverse of the coin with the inscription "Cleopatra Reginae regum filiorumque regum", meaning "For Cleopatra, Queen of kings and of the children of kings".
The university hopes more forgotten treasures will come to light before the Great North Museum opens in 2009.
The Roman coin is on display in Newcastle University's Shefton Museum from 14 February.
Are they suggesting that one of the two faces in the coin picture is of Cleopatra? Or are both of Anthony?
Antony.
Sounds like she had a really good phone voice, too...
Antony looks like Joey Butafucco
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...
Of course Cleopatra was beautiful - she "had HUGE...tracts of land"... /grin
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
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.
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...
It would support the hypothesis that the unknown grandparent was butt ugly, however.
It was a wrist sundial! Haven't you seen the Flintstones?
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.
I believe that might be a huge understatement!
btt
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.
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.
On this coin, Cleopatra reminds me a bit of Joey Buttafuoco.
Which one is Antony, left or right?
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