Ancient Coin Suggests Cleopatra Was No Beauty

D. Sebastian · Post by **D. Sebastian** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 9:19 pm

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,252020,00.html

LONDON â€” So maybe Mark Antony loved Cleopatra for her mind.

That is the conclusion being drawn by academics at Britain's University of Newcastle from a Roman denarius coin which depicts the celebrated queen of Egypt as a sharp-nosed, thin-lipped woman with a protruding chin.

...more

audax · Post by **audax** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 9:26 pm

Um, I thought everybody knew that. :shock:

This isn't the first coin found with her image on it. That she's was beautiful in the eyes of Antony and Julius Ceasar seems evident but she was also known to be extremely charming, witty, well educated and delightful to be with.

D. Sebastian · Post by **D. Sebastian** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 9:29 pm

Yup.

Hey man, I'm just the messenger.

Tascius · Post by **Tascius** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 10:44 pm

Witty, intelligent....

Not to mention literally "vast tracts of land"

Konstantin the Red · Post by **Konstantin the Red** » Thu Feb 15, 2007 12:09 am

*Huge* tracts, but yeah. Watched MP&THG the other day in a classic-movies rerelease at the local cheap theater. Remarkably dark print; a good deal of the flick was very dim.

audax · Post by **audax** » Thu Feb 15, 2007 12:17 am

D. Sebastian wrote:Yup.

Hey man, I'm just the messenger.

Whew, I feel better now.

Huge tracts of land never hurt.

Alcyoneus · Post by **Alcyoneus** » Thu Feb 15, 2007 1:18 am

I prefer 'moderately sized, and well formed', myself.

I don't think the coin really says much. Some people are drop-dead georgeous, but if you get them at the wrong angle, it doesn't show.

She was Greek, so if you look at what classical Greeks considered 'beautiful', you'd probably have a better idea of what she looked like.

Jason Grimes · Post by **Jason Grimes** » Thu Feb 15, 2007 2:19 am

This also depends on the skill of the celator, and the fact that he might not have even see her in person. Depending on one coin for a likeness, even Roman, is probably not a good idea.

I don't know when this coin was minted, but it is well known in ancient coin circles, that the first coins of a rulers rein, the portraits look a lot like the earlier ruler. It takes time for the celators to get their bearing and learn the new rulers' features. Here is a case in point between the emperor Nerva and the emperor Trajan. The first image is of Nerva, the second is an early minting from the rein of Trajan. The last is the well known and well done, but later, portrait of Trajan.

Alcyoneus · Post by **Alcyoneus** » Thu Feb 15, 2007 2:46 am

And who is going to go home and tell their legion buddies "I slept with the Queen of Egypt, and she is butt ugly!" :shock:

MJBlazek · Post by **MJBlazek** » Tue Feb 20, 2007 12:03 pm

Is it not also possible that the standards of what we consider beauty were not the same as what they considered?