Michael Livingston | Top Five Cleopatras

Cleopatra is one of the most frequently portrayed characters in history -- in books, on stage, and on film.

Little about this fact should surprise us. The last of the pharaohs, she was, even in her short life, a figure of extraordinary fascination. She spoke a reported nine languages. As a teenager she found her way to the throne of Egypt, to rule as the goddess Isis incarnate upon the Earth. As a woman, she would come to hold the hearts of two of the most powerful men in the world: first the incomparable Julius Caesar and then, after his assassination, the astounding Mark Antony. She has been the subject of plays from both William Shakespeare and Bernard Shaw.

She was, without doubt, one of my favorite characters to write about in my new historical fantasy novel, THE SHARDS OF HEAVEN. In composing my portrayal of this legendary queen, I did so with a lot of sources in mind: the surviving statuary, the Egyptian descriptions, the Roman writings of Strabo, Plutarch, Cassius Dio, and all the rest. I thought about the amazing, powerful women I have known.

And I also, truth be told, thought about the amazing actresses we have seen portray her on the screen. Here are my five favorites:

5. Theda Bara in Cleopatra (1917). This silent film -- at the time one of the most expensive ever produced -- had a pivotal role in turning Bara into one of the first sex symbols in film. The film is known fairly well for its wonderfully iconic period posters, at least one of which reveals why the movie ran afoul of censors. While very little of the film has survived, its impact laid a foundation for many retellings to come:

Watch a clip of Theda Bara in Cleopatra

4. Monica Bellucci in Asterix and Obelix Meet Cleopatra (2002). This French action-comedy has no interest at all in historical accuracy, but it's charming in its way. The talented and stunning Bellucci does an excellent job of capturing traditional ideas of the queen's intriguing mix of willpower and sheer beauty, and she does so with some staggeringly gorgeous wardrobes that do a fascinating job of updating Egyptian garb into modern French fashion:

Image of Monica Belluci in Asterix and Obelix Meet Cleopatra

3. Leonor Varela in Cleopatra (1999). This mini-series features rather strong performances even if the billing is cringe-worthy in the trailer -- "Titanic's Billy Zane as Mark Antony! James Bond's Timothy Dalton as Julius Caesar!" Varela comes across as a bit young to hold the same kind of command we tend to expect of Cleopatra, but she still has a sense of strength, and her chemistry with Zane and Dalton is at times quite solid:

Watch a clip of Lenor Varela in Cleopatra

2. Lindsey Marshal in Rome (2005-07). Because I didn't see HBO's series until I was essentially finished with THE SHARDS OF HEAVEN, Lindsey Marshal's portrayal had little bearing on my own ideas of the character. Hers isn't the majestic woman I personally imagine, but it's a powerful take on the character nonetheless. And, frankly, she would merit a high place on this list just for the carpet scene, which she totally nailed (with extra bonus points for having my boys Pullo and Vorenus present for it):

Watch a clip of Lindsey Marshal in Rome

1. Elizabeth Taylor in Cleopatra (1963). For a long time this was one of the most expensive films ever made, and the cast of legends -- Taylor's two loves are Richard Burton and Rex Harrison -- makes this the Cleopatra by which all others are judged. Sure, it suffers from a lot of melodramatic acting, and there's a lot of latent racism that makes a modern viewer cringe, but it was still the role of a lifetime for Taylor:

Watch a clip of Elizabeth Taylor in Cleopatra

As interesting as these many depictions are, though, I have to say that I still don't think we've seen anything close to the perfect Cleopatra on film. Perhaps she was simply too remarkable to ever be realized. Or perhaps we're all just waiting on the movie version of THE SHARDS OF HEAVEN.

I like to think that's it!

About Michael Livingston

A native of Colorado, Michael Livingston holds degrees in History, Medieval Studies, and English. He lives today in Charleston, South Carolina, where he teaches at The Citadel. In his author life, he is a winner of the prestigious international Writers of the Future Contest (in 2005), and his novel THE SHARDS OF HEAVEN, the first in a trilogy of historical fantasies, will be published by Tor Books in November 2015. He has also published in a variety of other genres and venues, from a historical retelling of Beowulf to a brief story about quantum physics in the world- renowned journal of science, Nature.

In his academic life, he has published more than a dozen articles on subjects as varied as early Christianity, Beowulf, Chaucer, James Joyce, J.R.R. Tolkien, and digital and practical pedagogies (though never all of them at once!). He has investigated European maps of America that pre-date Columbus, found unrecorded Anasazi ruins and artifacts, and written about the handwriting of fourteenth- century scribes. He is the general editor of the Liverpool Historical Casebooks Series, for which he has edited casebooks on The Battle of Brunanburh (Exeter, 2011), the Welsh rebel hero Owain Glyndwr (co-edited with John Bollard; Liverpool, 2013), and The Battle of Crécy (co-edited with Kelly DeVries; Liverpool, 2015).

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About THE SHARDS OF HEAVEN

Julius Caesar is dead, assassinated on the senate floor, and the glory that is Rome has been torn in two. Octavian, Caesar's ambitious great-nephew and adopted son, vies with Marc Antony and Cleopatra for control of Caesar's legacy. As civil war rages from Rome to Alexandria, and vast armies and navies battle for supremacy, a secret conflict may shape the course of history.

Juba, Numidian prince and adopted brother of Octavian, has embarked on a ruthless quest for the Shards of Heaven, lost treasures said to possess the very power of the gods-or the one God. Driven by vengeance, Juba has already attained the fabled Trident of Poseidon, which may also be the staff once wielded by Moses. Now he will stop at nothing to obtain the other Shards, even if it means burning the entire world to the ground.

Caught up in these cataclysmic events, and the hunt for the Shards, are a pair of exiled Roman legionnaires, a Greek librarian of uncertain loyalties, assassins, spies, slaves . . . and the ten-year-old daughter of Cleopatra herself.

Michael Livingston's THE SHARDS OF HEAVEN reveals the hidden magic behind the history we know, and commences a war greater than any mere mortal battle.