The Life and History of Cleopatra

This is a very clean and clear-cut timeline based around the life of Cleopatra VII. The page points out important events throughout Cleopatra’s history and includes photos depicting her likeness. The article even makes note to speak of other relevant historical figures in relation to Cleopatra, such as Ptolemy XII and Marc Antony.

I chose this site because it is objective, displays the sources used and is written by a man (Jona Lendering) who has an education and teaching experience in history. Every source is very clearly referenced and given credit for. Due to the fact that they did not come directly from Cleopatra, the site is using secondary sources for its information.

This site is a very intensive look at the life of Cleopatra. It gives lots of details, such as how Cleopatra’s mother is unknown and how she smuggled herself into Caesar’s quarters. This page is a thorough source on the life and behavior of Cleopatra and is well written and informative.

I picked this page because it comes from a reputable source (Oxford University), the sources are cited and it was reviewed by two educated authors (Emmanuel K Akyeampong and Henry Louis Gates). The article is made with information from secondary sources, which are listed at the bottom of the page.

This is a biography about Marc Antony. The writer of the article is Plutarch, a Greek biographer. Plutarch speaks of Cleopatra in regards to her relationship with Antony. Plutarch does not paint a very positive picture of Cleopatra in some aspects. Plutarch seems to view Cleopatra as a promiscuous seductress and blames her for, in a sense, corrupting Marc Antony.

I chose this source because it is the closest thing that we have to a primary source about Cleopatra VII. Plutarch takes an incredibly biased stance, but his piece of writing is often regarded as the most legitimate source about her. Due to the fact that it was written years after she was alive, this is based on secondary sources.

This site includes Cleopatra’s timeline, description of events and photos of related artwork. This page also features a short video with more information on Cleopatra. The site tells the story of Cleopatra, from life to death, and gives details about important factors. It speaks of everything from her youth to her involvement with different conflicts and leaders.

This article was chosen because the publisher has a lot of other reputable articles online, the author (Joshua J. Mark) is a scholar who is educated in related fields and the way it is written is completely objective. The sources used in this article are secondary.

This article summarizes Cleopatra VII and what made her notable. This, like one of the other sources, touches on the fact that what we know about Cleopatra came from her enemies. It mentions that history may not always be entirely accurate due to things like this. This site also goes more in depth regarding what “official” sources we have on Cleopatra and how they are very sparse.

I picked this site because it is from a reputable university, was written by a professor in the field (Duane W. Roller) and clearly displays all of the sources it gathered information from. The article uses secondary sources as its basis