Cleopatra: A Study

Houssaye, Henry, 1848-1911Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.0

Word count: 151K words
Chapters: 16

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Cleopatra: A Study by Henry HoussayeAuthor: Houssaye, Henry, 1848-1911,Language: English, Class: DT: History: General and Eastern Hemisphere: Africa, Release Date: Nov 25, 2017

Editor's review

This is a study of Cleopatra written in English by the French historian Henry Houssaye. It is a character study rather than a novelized biography. Its value lies in placing Egypt's last queen at the intersection of Hellenistic kingship, Roman expansion and Eastern court politics, attending both to her political skill and diplomatic predicament and to how later ages shaped her image. The prose carries the temper of late nineteenth-century European historical essay writing, and readers should weigh its selection of sources and judgments for themselves. As a public-domain ebook, it suits those curious about the tradition of classical biography or seeking corroborating context for Roman and Egyptian history. Read it as an interpretation marked by its era, not as a final verdict; set beside modern scholarship, the differences in viewpoint become clearer. Of moderate length, it can be read chapter by chapter on commutes or in themed sessions.

Who it's for

A good fit for

General readers interested in late ancient Egypt and the Roman Republic
Students curious about nineteenth-century biographical writing and historical taste
Those needing public-domain English source material for translation or textual analysis practice
Readers who enjoy tracing Mediterranean politics through individuals

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting novelistic plotting and lavish court intrigue
Specialists requiring the latest archaeological findings and a scholarly annotation apparatus
Readers with limited stamina for English who want light, short pieces

Reading tips

Begin with the table of contents and introduction to grasp the author's central questions, then proceed to the chapters.
Keep a map of the Mediterranean at hand and mark the positions of Rome, Egypt and Eastern allies as you read.
Annotate the author's value judgments and compare them with other Cleopatra biographies afterward.
Break the book into thematic sections, concentrating on one political event at a time.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book a novel or a historical study?

It is a character study, not a novel. The author discusses and judges a historical figure, with limited narrative drive; it is closer to essayistic historiography. Pay attention to its evidentiary basis and stance.

How difficult is the English?

It belongs to the essayistic English of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries: long sentences and many references, but not Old English. A university-level reading foundation suffices; mark names and places rather than looking up every word.

Do I need prior knowledge of Roman history?

A basic background in the late Roman Republic and Ptolemaic Egypt helps a great deal—at least the general relations among Caesar, Antony and Octavian. If entirely unfamiliar, read a brief background introduction first.

What should I keep in mind when reading a public-domain ebook?

Public-domain ebooks come from early digitized texts and may show layout or punctuation differences, with no modern scholarly notes. Choose a clearly formatted edition, verify key facts against modern sources, and do not treat the book's judgments as settled.

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About the author

Houssaye, Henry, 1848-1911 Author

Henry Houssaye (1848-1911) was a French writer and historian active in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The available records give no detailed account of his life or nationality, and public information about him is limited. One of his better-known works is Cleopatra: A Study, a focused study of the Egyptian queen and the only title by him currently held in this collection. The book shows his interest in figures of ancient history and his approach of examining a person's life, political circumstances, and historical setting, characteristic of biographical history writing that combines narrative with attention to sources. He wrote for general readers and sought to bring historical figures and their times vividly to life. Because of the limited material, his full biography, scholarly background, and other writings remain to be further verified.