Muammar al-Gaddafi's Amazon Guards

Greek heroes from Heracles to Theseus to Achilles to Alexander the Great are said to have fought the Amazons. Gaddafi took a different approach and formed a guard of Amazons. Alas, all but one seem now to have fallen out of favour. For more about ancient Amazons and women warriors, click here and here.

Images of NY Times archive from here.

The Rage of Achilles and PTSD in Antiquity

Then said Achilles, "Son of Atreus, king of men Agamemnon, see to these matters at some other season, when there is breathing time and when I am calmer. Would you have men eat while the bodies of those whom Hector son of Priam slew are still lying mangled upon the plain? Let the sons of the Achaeans, say I, fight fasting and without food, till we have avenged them; afterwards at the going down of the sun let them eat their fill. As for me, Patroclus is lying dead in my tent, all hacked and hewn, with his feet to the door, and his comrades are mourning round him. Therefore I can think of nothing but slaughter and blood and the rattle in the throat of the dying."

Iliad 19.226

The Iliad might have been better named the Wrath of Achilles, because that's the theme of the book. His rage after the death of his friend Patroclus is often described as a classic sign of PTSD. Achilles features in Jonathan Shay's Achilles in Vietnam: Combat Trauma and the Undoing of Character which is one of the classic studies of PTSD, although I have no read it. Wrath and anger are signs associated with PTSD, and every time some man goes on a rampage and shoots people, then PTSD seems to get brought up. Shay wrote a follow-up on Odyssey, and those sorts of wanderings - ten years to get home?!? - seem closer to the mind-set of the vets I was in Group with that ended up homeless. (An NPR interview with Shay can be found here).

A lot of people are reluctant to discuss their PTSD publicly, because they don't want to be tared with this association. I didn't do the anger / killing spree / Rambo style massacres, and nor did the many others I know who were treated for PTSD. In some ways the term used in World War I - 'shell shock' - is more appropriate; people go into shock rather than exhibiting anger or rage. I've already covered why I came 'out' - I would rather do so than be blackmailed - and I was worried initially that people would fear I'd turn around and stab them with a kitchen knife or something, but luckily anyone who spend more than two minutes with me quickly works out that that's not the case.

I'm writing a book on ancient women who led armies, and although I've only written a quarter or so, I've done all the research, and it surprises me that there are so few mentions in Greek or Roman sources of peoples' reactions to battles. Mostly war was glorified.

There are a few ancient accounts however that do fit in with the 'shell shock' type of PTSD. Herodotus mentions a soldier at Marathon who lost his sight during the battle:

A strange prodigy likewise happened at this fight. Epizelus, the son of Cuphagoras, an Athenian, was in the thick of the fray, and behaving himself as a brave man should, when suddenly he was stricken with blindness, without blow of sword or dart; and this blindness continued thenceforth during the whole of his after life. The following is the account which he himself, as I have heard, gave of the matter: he said that a gigantic warrior, with a huge beard, which shaded all his shield, stood over against him; but the ghostly semblance passed him by, and slew the man at his side. Such, as I understand, was the tale which Epizelus told.

 Histories 6.117 (see also PseudoPlutarch)

I can be a bit OCD, and like to point out that only 298 Spartans died at Thermopylae. In this context it's also worth pointing out that Leonidas also gave his allied men a 'mental health' break at the battle, realising that they were emotionally exhausted from previous fighting, and wouldn't be of much use, he ordered them to retreat:

It is said that Leonidas himself sent away the troops who departed, because he tendered their safety, but thought it unseemly that either he or his Spartans should quit the post which they had been especially sent to guard. For my own part, I incline to think that Leonidas gave the order, because he perceived the allies to be out of heart and unwilling to encounter the danger to which his own mind was made up. He therefore commanded them to retreat, but said that he himself could not draw back with honour; knowing that, if he stayed, glory awaited him, and that Sparta in that case would not lose her prosperity.

Histories 7.220

The shell shock type of PTSD made soldiers incapable of fighting further, but others were functional as warriors and warred on. A big part of PTSD is the flash-backs and nightmares, which in turn prevent people from sleeping, so the first course of treatment tends to be tranquilisers or sleeping pills so that patients can get the rest they need.

The suicide of Ajax is interesting as a phenomenon, because although in Judeo-Christian society suicides tend to be hushed-up, his was told in literature, and depicted in art. I suspect that this is because, in an era when most citizens took part in military life, that many men could relate to his story which reads like a textbook case of rage PTSD. Ajax the mighty warrior took out his anger on a flock of sheep, in a delusion thinking they were the enemy, then took his own life.

Robin Lane Fox, Oxford academic and biographer of Alexander the Great, wrote in a column on Gardening Therapy for PTSD "Ignorantly, I used not to believe in PTSD. I thought that veterans should get out into the fresh air and stop whingeing" (FT) ... I have to admit, that the 'pull your socks up and get on with it' form of therapy was the one I chose for a long time. It doesn't work. But Prof Lane Fox should have been aware of this description of PTSD from Plutarch's Life of Alexander:

All which made such a deep impression of terror in Cassander's mind that, long after, when he was King of Macedonia and master of Greece, as he was walking up and down at Delphi, and looking at the statues, at the sight of that of Alexander he was suddenly struck with alarm, and shook all over, his eyes rolled, his head grew dizzy, and it was long before he recovered himself.

If that's not an anxiety attack, then I'm not sure what is. There have also been studies that see Alexander the Great as having suffered from PTSD (see here). I've seen people de-bunk these on the grounds that he couldn't have led an army whilst suffering from PTSD, but ... I've seen plenty of soldiers do so, and it is possible to function whilst suffering from PTSD amazingly well (people tend to use disassociation and use throwing themselves into work as a way of avoiding dealing with the issues)

When I was researching Gaius Marius (someone recently published a book on him, so that one is alas on the back-burner), like many other historians I had a huge problem with him - for most of his life he was this great man, a brilliant soldier, a leading political reformer, then at the end he goes a bit mad and has a lot of enemies killed. I've read countless theories about what made him 'flip' in this way, but the only one that makes sense to me is that he was deeply traumatised by having to flee Rome into exile and being hunted down by Sulla's men as an enemy of Rome. The vacillation about wanting to enter the city he had re-captured but waiting to be invited into Rome officially, make sense to me. I can't relate to the rage of killing people, but this is a textbook symptom of rage PTSD. Even Plutarch mentions Marius' anxieties on his death-bed, including the irrational fear of Sulla marching on Rome - since Sulla was stuck in Greece fighting Mithridates (Life of Marius):

45.2 But Marius himself, now worn out with toils, deluged, as it were, with anxieties, and wearied, could not sustain his spirits, which shook within him as he again faced the overpowering thought of a new war, of fresh struggles, of terrors known by experience to be dreadful, and of utter weariness. He reflected, too, that it was not Octavius or Merula in command of a promiscuous throng and a seditious rabble against whom he was now to run the hazard of war, but that the famous Sulla was coming against him, the man who had once ejected him from the country, and had now shut Mithridates up to the shores of the Euxine Sea.

3 Tortured by such reflections, and bringing into review his long wandering, his flights, and his perils, as he was driven over land and sea, he fell into a state of dreadful despair, and was a prey to nightly terrors and harassing dreams, wherein he would ever seem to hear a voice saying:—

"Dreadful, indeed, is the lions' lair, even though it be empty."

And since above all things he dreaded the sleepless nights, he gave himself up to drinking-bouts and drunkenness at unseasonable hours and in a manner unsuited to his years, trying thus to induce sleep as a way of escape from his anxious thoughts.

4 And finally, when one came with tidings from the sea, fresh terrors fell upon him, partly because he feared the future, and partly because he was wearied to satiety by the present, so that it needed only a slight impulse to throw him into a pleurisy, as Poseidonius the philosopher relates, who says that he went in personally and conversed with Marius on the subjects of his embassy after Marius had fallen ill.

5 But a certain Caius Piso, an historian, relates that Marius, while walking about with his friends after supper, fell to talking about the events of his life, beginning with his earliest days, and after recounting his frequent reversals of fortune, from good to bad and from bad to good, said that it was not the part of a man of sense to trust himself to Fortune any longer; and after this utterance bade his friends farewell, kept his bed for seven days consecutively, and so died.

6 Some, however, say that his ambitious nature was completely revealed during his illness by his being swept into a strange delusion. He thought that he had the command in the Mithridatic war, and then, just as he used to do in his actual struggles, he would indulge in all sorts of attitudes and gestures, accompanying them with shrill cries and frequent calls to battle.

7 So fierce and inexorable was the passion for directing that war which had been instilled into him by his envy and lust of power. And therefore, though he had lived to be seventy years old, and was the first man to be elected consul for the seventh time, and was possessed of a house and wealth which would have sufficed for many kingdoms at once, he lamented his fortune, in that he was dying before he had satisfied and completed his desires.

The mention of drinking to drive away the nightmares and the lack of sleep are classic signs of PTSD. Unfortunately too many people self-medicate with alcohol and drugs, because the underlying mental health issues are undiagnosed - and that's why too many veterans end up homeless, living on the streets. I'm amazed nobody else has suggested that Gaius Marius was suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

I've covered examples of PTSD suffered by soldiers in this post, because these are the ones we have in the sources. The victims of war tend to get ignored by history, but those that were tortured, enslaved or rape by the soldiers probably suffered from PTSD too. My only advice is that if you think you're having issues, then ask for help and talk to a doctor. Ignoring them won't make them go away.

The Jewish People and Ancient History

I've mentioned Shlomo Sand's The Invention of the Jewish People before, mostly in a positive light, but the book concerns me a great deal. Originally written in Hebrew, I read the French translation (available before the English one) ... but gave up half way through partly as it was hard going, but mostly because I was tired of the recycled nonsense in it, much of which has long been disproven, hence a rather late review post about it.

What I initially liked about the book is that in articles Sand emphasised the diversity of early Jews, and that they were happy to convert, in fact did so enthusiastically.
It's a point I've made before:

In the early first century AD Judaism was a proselytizing religion, and attracted a large number of followers. The main reason it did not close the deal with more converts was that the rabbis were intransigent about one issue: circumcision. Men were reluctant to give up a piece of themselves.

Early Christianity under Paul was more flexible. At the Council of Jerusalem (ca. AD 50), the followers of Jesus re-stated that most of the laws of Moses were to be kept - such as the requirement to keep kosher. There were two major departures from Jewish law, which would in effect change the course of history.

The first was waving the circumcision requirement, which immediately let to a flood of converts.

King Herod and the Herodian Dynasty inter-married and encouraged conversions - more on that here and here. Helena of Adiabene is a famous convert of the time whose tomb in Jerusalem is extant (for information on her sarcophagus see here).

In fact it's very difficult to tell in many of the early Roman sources whether they are writing about Christians or Jews converting people, but we do know that both were enthusiastic.

Flavia Domitilla is a good example. A member of the Imperial family, she was accused of "αθεοτση ... drifting into the Jewish ways" (Epitome of Cassius Dio, 67.4). But this atheism or monotheism was later interpreted as Christianity so to Christians she's a Christian saint with catacombs named after her. Yet according to the Talmud Rabbi Akiva be Joseph converted her to Judaism ... and she has a nice long entry in the Jewish Encyclopedia! So Eusebius later says Domatilla became a Christian, but Jewish sources make her and her husband the Consul Titus Flavius Clemens Jews ...

I also liked Sand's questioning of the Diaspora. Yes, a lot of Jews were transported to Babylon - many returned to the Holy Land, some stayed there, whilst others moved further east. But we don't know of large scale displacements of entire populations by the Romans during the Imperial period, such as the one they are assigned after the Bar Kokhba Revolt in the 130s AD. It's become a key tenet of Jewish history, but would not be normal for Roman history. In earlier periods entire populations were killed or enslaved after wars, but not normally during the Imperial period - I can't cite an ancient source to support this, because sources tend not to write about things that didn't happen (although conversely they do sometimes fail to write about things that did, for example Hunnic head binding and their strange skulls).

Jews had been moving around the Mediterranean and the Middle East, both of their own volition and by force, for centuries. There was an interesting study a few years ago that claimed "Ancient maritime traders of the Mediterranean may have left behind a large genetic footprint in the region, where 1 in 17 men still harbors Phoenician DNA" (quote from a National Geographic summary) The full study, Identifying Genetic Traces of Historical Expansions: Phoenician Footprints in the Mediterranean, can be found here. I'm not going to even pretend to understand genetic studies in anything more than a superficial way, so I can't argue the science. What I can point out is that their 'Phoenecian' original samples come from an area now better known for it's Jewish population, and which in Antiquity had a diverse population. And the modern descendants of these 'Phoenecians' were found by the researchers all around the Med - whilst Punic colonies and towns tended to be in North Africa (Carthage), in Spain, and in Sicily and Southern Italy (Motya). To me it would make more sense if they had said that 1 in 17 men had DNA from the area which is now Israel, and it would also make more sense if they were descended from Jews that settled around the Mediterranean and inter-married, which is well attested throughout history.

So far I have no problem with Sand, and I've even cited a DNA study that can easily be argued to support him.

Where it all goes wrong is with another DNA study and more conversions - the Khazars.

In 1976 Arthur Koestler published The Thirteenth Tribe, which theorised that: the Khazars had converted en masse to Judaism in the middle Byzantine period, that their kingdom had been wiped off the face of the earth a couple of centuries later, and that although they had 'vanished' from history, they had in fact migrated via Russian into Eastern Europe, and that their descendants were the Ashkenazim. As a theory it was interesting, but it was taken up by many anti-Semitic extremists to argue that this meant that Jews did not have a right to Israel, and it became problematic.

It also excluded some facts. A letter from the Cairo Genizah and now in Cambridge - the "Schechter Letter" - was written around AD 930 and discusses the conversion of the Khazars to Judaism. Rather than being some strange unexplained mass conversion of the population, the letter and other surviving documents of the period suggest that it was a 'return' to practising Judaism by the local aristocracy, many of who were descended from Persian Jews that had migrated to the region centuries before. There were also conversions by some descendants of the native population, but the Khazars were extremely tolerant of other religions and the conversions to Judaism do not seem to have been forced or widespread beyond the ruling class. The Jewish Khazars were not wiped out by the Rus invaders, simply removed from power and continued to exist in the regions for many centuries.

Since then Ashkenazim descent solely from the Khazars has been conclusively disproven by a number of studies, which show that they are directly related to the Jews which inhabited Israel (the main study is here: Y chromosome evidence for a founder effect in Ashkenazi Jews). There have been a lot of studies of various Jewish groups' DNA, as there has been of other groups, and they have proven interesting.

But it's with the Khazar / Ashkenazi / Thirteenth Tribe theory that Sand lost me. If he's so out of date in his research, and so wrong when dealing with periods I know a bit about, I worry about his theories and research in areas I don't know about. I worry about people without a solid background in history quoting a book which has sold so many copies, and abusing the theories.

One area that seems to worry people, presumably because they fear that it will be abused to claim Jews have no right to Israel, is Sand's point that many Jews in what is now Israel stayed and converted. They did. First they converted to paganism under the Romans, so as to be able to achieve office and rise in society, then they converted to Christianity after Constantine, and later to Islam after Mohammed. I'm writing a book on woman in the ancient world that led armies, and the last one I'm covering is Aisha, the widow of Mohammed, who fought his son-in-law Ali at the Battle of the Camel. Although I have some background in the period, I've been researching early Islam, and it amazes me how many Jews there were in Arabia, particularly in Medina, many of which converted to Islam. Many Palestinians were probably Jewish if one goes back far enough. I assume that it doesn't make me an anti-Semite to acknowledge this historical fact.

The conversion of the rulers of Himyar in the Yemen to Judaism remains and enigma, but must, I suspect, have something to do with the strong historical ties between the Yeman and Ethiopia, or the Jewish tribes in Arabia. The conversion of their king took place either in the fourth or early fifth century AD. At the time, and right into the lifetime of Mohammed, there were Jewish tribes in Arabia, who had migrated from Israel over the centuries. The Beta Israel ('Falasha') have now migrated from Ethiopia to Israel, but attest to a long tradition of Jews in Israel.

One theory is that they arrived in Ethiopia with trade, another that they descended through Egypt, which had the only two Temples outside Jerusalem (see here and here; the difference is that sacrifices were made in a Temple, but not in a synagogue).

Yes, people converted and inter-married (two such people produced me), and Jewish history is not as simple as some people would like it to sound, but history rarely is. Non-Jews converted to Judaism, Jews converted to other religions, but we're mostly descended from the people that once inhabited the land that is now Israel. I found Sand's The Invention of the Jewish People to be a deeply flawed book. It is however worth reading for those interested in history, even if you have to take a lot of what he writes with a (large) grain of salt, because it is thought-provoking. 


The Invention of the Jewish People - Amazon.co.uk

The Invention of the Jewish People - Amazon.com

Dog Footprint and Roman Bath Found in Jerusalem

There are so many Roman baths, so unless it's your specialist area it can be very difficult to get worked up about another one. This one seems to be interesting for a variety of reasons. The excavators seem to be linking it to the Roman soldiers that destroyed the city following the Bar Kokhba uprising. A dog footprint was found, presumably from a working dog that belonged to one of the soldiers rather than a pet, impressed into one of the roof tiles along with the symbol of the Legion (their photo above). And it was found under a later Miqve, showing continuity of use for bathing - a Miqve is a bathhouse used by Jews for ritual purification.


A 1,800 Year Old Bathing Pool was Discovered beneath a Miqve (November 2010) - Israel Antiquities Authority

(Another) Cleopatra Answers Proust Questionnaire

The famous Cleopatra was Cleopatra VII of Egypt, although the numbering is an invention of scholars trying to keep them straight. And she may actually have been Cleopatra VI technically, because Cleopatra V and Cleopatra VI are now believed by some scholars to be the same person. There were also Cleopatras without numerals after their names. And Cleopatras of Macedon (Phillip II's wife, Alexander the Great's sister). And ... well, if you don't think that's complicated enough, but there was only one 'real' Cleopatra ... the Cleopatra is about to be the subject of a second Proust Questionnaire.

The first was kindly done by Adrian Goldsworthy, author of the best biography of Cleopatra (and Antony) around at the moment. This second one is being done by Vicky Alvear Shecter, author of a young adult book about Cleopatra - Cleopatra Rules - (and a great blog: History With a Twist). I know there are now all kinds of FTC ruler for bloggers, to prevent bias etc, I hereby fully confess that was one of the people who read Cleopatra Rules to fact-check. I also have lunch with Adrian Goldsworthy regularly, for example this Thursday, and we had lots of chats about it whilst he was writing it. See! No bias!

Proust’s Questionnaire

1. My Principal virtue is: 

A will of iron. And a lack of fear of snakes.

2. The qualities a man should have are:

Respect (i.e., submission) to my superior brilliance and authority.

3. The qualities a woman should have are:

Really, darling. You’re going to ask ME this?

4. What I appreciate most about my friends is:

What friends? I have only subjects.

5. My main fault is:

Again. What?

6. My favourite thing to do is:

Surprise people. Just you wait.

7. My idea of happiness is:

A besotted Roman general signing wealthy Roman territories over to me.

8. My idea of misery is:

You mean, besides answering questions from non-royals?

9. If not myself, I would like to be ...

Dido, because I would never have let that weasel Aeneas escape to found Rome. I would have crushed him to bits under my heel and laughed while doing so.

10. The country I’d like to live in is:

My own expanded kingdom, of course, including the territories that worm Herod thinks are his. But not for long.

11. My favourite poet is:

Darling, please. There ARE no other poets besides Homer.

12. My favourite heroine:

Isis. She’s the real power behind Egypt. She resurrected her husband, Osiris, and fought the forces of chaos to protect the throne for her son. I will do the same for Caesarion.

13. The character from history I despise the most is:

Hannibal, because he did not finish the job of crushing Rome (for the record, I would’ve attacked after Cannae. Just saying.).

14. This is how I’d like to die:

By my own hand, on my own time, and on my own terms. A great deal of drama and theatre wouldn’t hurt either.

15. My motto is:

“If you can’t defeat Rome, marry it.”

Vicky Alvear Shecter's book is a great introduction to Cleopatra and to ancient history for teens:

Cleopatra Rules!: The Amazing Life of the Original Teen Queen- Amazon.com

Cleopatra Rules!: The Amazing Life of the Original Teen Queen- Amazon.co.uk

Zenobia Answers Proust Questionnaire

There are no certain images of Zenobia, other than coins, but there is this little known mosaic which seems to depict her husband - and given how often she mentions him in her Proust Questionnaire, I thought I might as well post it.

Judith Weingarten is valiantly answering on behalf of Zenobia, the eastern queen who rose against the might of Rome, and saw off several emperors - as a woman warrior, she's one of my favorites. Weingarten has a solid academic background, and that's why I enjoy her blog Zenobia: Empress of the East - the posts are quality rather than quantity. She's also the author of a series of historical novels based on Zenobia (I have not read them, but if the research is anything like her blog, then it's very solid - but also with some innovation).

Proust’s Questionnaire

1. My Principal virtue is: ambition:

Sometimes I believe that I shall win glory enough, and sometimes that mine shall be a great history, sometimes an incredible tale and the subject of poems.  ‘ Lady Allat,’ I whispered, ‘may I be the conqueror among them all, that I may write my name above the great story of those deeds.’

2. The qualities a man should have are: courage, a noble mind.

3. The qualities a woman should have are: to conduct herself with the pride and courage befitting a man.

                                      

4. What I appreciate most about my friends is: loyalty and wit.

5. My main fault is: stubbornness

6. My favourite thing to do is:  horse-riding (riding camels come second) .

7. My idea of happiness is: my country.

8. My idea of misery is: quarrelling with my husband.

9. If not myself, I would like to be ... Julia Mamea

10.         The country I’d like to live in is: Palmyra

11.         My favourite prose author is: Callinicus who wrote the History of Alexandria, 10 vols, dedicated to me, ‘the New Cleopatra’. 

12.         My favourite poet is: the Syrian poet (all of whose work, alas, has disappeared)

13.         My favourite hero in fiction or myth is:  Simon, son of Barabas, my closest friend.

14.         My favourite heroine in fiction or myth is: Semiramis

15.         My hero in real life is: Odenathus, my husband.

16.         My heroine in real life is: Julia Mamaea.

17.         The character from history I despise the most is: the Emperor Gallienus, who gave a secret order to Maeonius to murder his cousin, Odenathus.

18.         My heroine from history is: Julia Domna

19.         What I hate the most is: informers.

20.         The military event that I admire most is: the first battle of Emesa, when Odenathus rescued Syria from the Persians, killed the Persian prince, and drove their army back across the Euphrates.

21.         The gift of nature that I would like to have is: testicles.

22.         This is how I’d like to die: like a philosopher, and having my statue in the family’s tower tomb

23.         My present state of mind is:  tumultuous; still waiting for J. Weingarten to finish my story.

24.         The faults for which I have the most indulgence are: flattery.

25.         My motto is: Kiss the hand you cannot bite, and pray for it to be broken.

The Chronicle of Zenobia: The Rebel Queen - Amazon.co.uk

The Chronicle of Zenobia: The Rebel Queen - Amazon.com

Mark Antony Answers Proust Questionnaire

Yesterday we had Cleopatra, today her lover Antony - although I suspect that Antony would rather be known for his own achievements, rather than following in her wake ...

Once again we have Adrian Goldsworthy, one of the greatest military historians of our generation, answering on his behalf. Antony tends to get ignored by biographers in favour of his early mentor Caesar, or his glamorous lover Cleopatra, but Goldsworthy's biography brings him to life again. I love that not only did he partner with Cleopatra, but he also married Fulvia, another warrior woman - although neither took to the field, both raised armies and fought wars to further their ambitions. (If you're a male reading, do bear that in mind next time it's your wife's 'that' time of the month - she could be so much worse with an army at her beck and call ...).

Proust’s Questionnaire

1.      My Principal virtue is:

I am Marcus Antonius, descended from Hercules and like him.  I am brave, virile and a leader.

2.      The qualities a man should have are:

Courage, athleticism, good birth and style.

3.      The qualities a woman should have are:

Wit and willingness

4.      What I appreciate most about my friends is:

Loyalty

5.      My main fault is:

Excessive generosity

6.      My favourite thing to do is:

Enjoy myself

7.      My idea of happiness is:

Drinking and making love - or making love and drinking.

8.      My idea of misery is:

Listening to Cicero

9.      If not myself, I would like to be ...

Maybe Caesar.  He had a pretty good time, but he was too soft.

10.  The country I’d like to live in is:

I like Athens, and I like Alexanndria, but Rome is always Rome

11.  My favourite hero in fiction or myth is:

My ancestor, Hercules - or perhaps the Free Father, Dionysius.

12.  The character from history I despise the most is:

Marius, for killing my grandfather.

13.  What I hate the most is:

Disloyalty

14.  The military event that I admire most is:

Alexander's conquests.

15.  The gift of nature that I would like to have is:

To stay forever in my prime.

16.  This is how I’d like to die:

In a fitting way for a Roman and an Antonius.  Not for a while though, hopefully ... .

17.  My present state of mind is:

Hungover!

To read more about Antony - and his partner Cleopatra - read Adrian Goldsworthy's brilliant double biography:

Antony and Cleopatra- Amazon.com
Antony and Cleopatra - Kindle Edition (US)

Antony and Cleopatra- Amazon.co.uk

Cleopatra VII of Egypt Answers Proust Questionnaire

Earlier today we had Mithradates VI of Pontus, today we have Cleopatra VII of Egypt answering the Proust Questionnaire.

Cleopatra was the last ruler of Egypt, and a woman that continues to fascinate us all, even two millennia after her death (my post on her looks remains one of the most commented upon on this blog). And who better to answer on her behalf than Adrian Goldsworthy, bestselling author of Caesar, and the writer of a new biography of Antony and Cleopatra. There are a number of other biographies of Cleopatra on the market, but Goldsworthy's is my favorite as it combines new solid academic research with being easy to read.

Cleopatra was too busy to answer every question, but the ones she chose to ignore probably tell us as much about her ...

Proust’s Questionnaire

1.      My Principal virtue is:

My cleverness.

2.      The qualities a man should have are:

He should be powerful and useful.

3.      The qualities a woman should have are:

The skill to use both her brain and her charm, with the clearness of thought never to forget why she uses them.

4.      What I appreciate most about my friends is:

As queen it is difficult to have friends.  I value the loyalty of my close attendants.  

5.      My main fault is: (none)

6.      My favourite thing to do is:

Survive

7.      My idea of happiness is:

Success, and if possibly the opportunity to enjoy it.

8.      My idea of misery is:

Failure and obscurity.

9.      If not myself, I would like to be ...

Perhaps the first Ptolemy, who could gamble for a kingdom and win.

10.  The country I’d like to live in is:

The one I rule.

12.  My favourite poet is:

Can there be another answer apart from Homer?  I am Greek after all.

1.      My heroine from history is:

My ancestor Arsinoe III rallying the army at Raphia

19.  What I hate the most is:

The need to win over barbarians from Rome.

21.  The reform which I admire the most is:

I am a ruler, not a reformer.  Prosperity is the aim of a monarch.

23.  This is how I’d like to die:

In a way befitting a dignified life.

24.  My present state of mind is:

Wary as always, for life and power depend on Rome and the Romans keep killing each other.

To read more about Cleopatra - and her partner Antony - read Adrian Goldsworthy's brilliant double biography:

Antony and Cleopatra- Amazon.com
Antony and Cleopatra - Kindle Edition (US)

Antony and Cleopatra- Amazon.co.uk

For more on her time with Caesar, obviously you should pick up Adrian's biography of him too.

Mithridates VI of Pontus Answers Proust Questionnaire

Vanity Fair has long asked celebrities to fill in an adapted Proust Questionnaire, which fills it's last page. But the original Questionnaire that Proust himself developed had as many historical as 'mood' questions. So I thought that it would be fun to ask various people, mostly historians, archaeologists and academics, to fill one in. The rules were simple - pick any of the questions you like, give short answers ... and either answer as yourself or the subject of one of your books.

Adrienne Mayor, author of many books, but most recently The Poison King: The Life and Legend of Mithradates, Rome's Deadliest Enemy, has chosen to answer on behalf of Mithradates VI of Pontus. And he's even answered all the questions. Mithradates interests me personally not just as an enemy of Gaius Marius' but also as the husband of Hypsicratea, a warrior queen.

Proust’s Questionnaire

1.      My Principal virtue is: I have far too many to list here! Perseverance, Charisma, Audacity, Generosity, Honesty, Nobility, Intellectual Curiosity, Gallantry, Leadership, Courage, Mercy, Resourcefulness . . .

2.      The qualities a man should have are:   Riding, Shooting, and Telling the Truth

3.      The qualities a woman should have are:  Intelligence, Bravery, Loyalty

4.      What I appreciate most about my friends is:   Loyalty

5.      My main fault is:   I am too trusting

6.      My favourite thing to do is:  Chariot racing, hunting, feasting, drinking, pottering in my poison gardens, experimenting with toxins and antidotes

7.      My idea of happiness is:  A successful Great Hunt, celebrated by a Splendid Banquet, followed by Thirteen Nights of Love with my beloved Amazon queen, Hypsicratea

8.      My idea of misery is:  To be surrounded by sycophants and traitors

9.      If not myself, I would like to be ...  Alexander of Macedon!

10.  The country I’d like to live in is:  The greensward of my own glorious Black Sea Kingdom

11.  My favourite prose author is:   Xenophon

12.  My favourite poet is:  Homer

13.  My favourite hero in fiction or myth is:  The valiant and noble Heracles, who liberated Prometheus from his chains in the Caucasus, wrongly punished for defying tyranny. 

14.  My favourite heroine in fiction or myth is:  Atalanta—now there was a woman after my own heart—beautiful, strong, and smart!

15.  My hero in real life is:  Besides the great Alexander, I admire Aristonicus, the rightful king of Pergamon, who led the first revolt against the detested Romans in Anatolia while I was a boy, and my ally Spartacus, the Thracian gladiator-slave who challenged the Republic from within

16.  My heroine in real life is:  The bold horsewoman Hypsicratea, whose name means “mountain strength,” my only true love

17.  The character from history I despise the most is:  The evil Prince of Darkness and the Lie, Sulla, who plundered Delphi and destroyed Athens

18.  My heroine from history is: Artemisia, Queen of Halicarnassus, as beautiful as a goddess of love and as powerful and cunning as Athena: she commanded the Persian fleet of 150,000 men at the Battle of Salamis, 480 BC

19.  What I hate the most is:  The bloodthirsty spawn of the vicious Roman She-Wolf

20.  The military event that I admire most is:  My own spectacular victory over the greedy and arrogant Roman, Manius Aquillius, who invaded my realm in 89 BC

21.  The reform which I admire the most is:  My liberation of slaves, my cancelling of debts, and my expansion of citizenship rights

22.  The gift of nature that I would like to have is:  I am already blessed by Nature, with a magnificent physique and superb athletic prowess!

23.  This is how I’d like to die: A vigorous commander, in my 70s, leading my invincible army along the Danube, over the Alps, and down the spine of Italy, with the certain knowledge that my audacious invasion will smash Rome to smithereens

24.  My present state of mind is:  Optimistic

25.  The faults for which I have the most indulgence are:  I am merciful to young men and women who defy me out of misguided loyalty to corrupt conspirators

26.  My motto is:  Truth and Light Will Conquer Darkness and Deceit!

To find out more about Mithradates IV, pick up a copy of Adrienne Mayor's well reviewed biography of him (the paperback is due next year):

The Poison King: The Life and Legend of Mithradates, Rome's Deadliest Enemy - Amazon.com
The Poison King: The Life and Legend of Mithradates, Rome's Deadliest Enemy - Kindle Edition (US)

The Poison King: The Life and Legend of Mithradates, Rome's Deadliest Enemy - Amazon.co.uk
The Poison King: The Life and Legend of Mithradates, Rome's Deadliest Enemy - Kindle (UK)