What did Cleopatra look like? Coins Give us an Answer
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- Опубліковано 6 лют 2025
- Cleopatra: Queen of Egypt, the Last of the Ptolemies. What did she look like? Lets see if coins can give us a clue.
Thank you very much for the Royal Library of Belgium for providing footage of these incredible coins!
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Amazing thank you Leo.
Brilliant 😁
Support his work! His content is brilliant
OMG, your channel is now so famous in its very niche than you can access the Royal Library of Belgium ! Well done and absolutely deserved !
Well, "famous" is a strong word, but Im happy to see an academic institution recognizing the work I do here :)
Beautiful video, congratulations for having the opportunity to film that wonderful collection in Belgium! I think Cleopatra must have been a beautiful woman, but not amazing. I think her beauty lay in her personality and the way she carried herself. And for what you say, her voice must have been hypnotic. All the best!!
Cleopatra’s appearance: I agree with you. She was descended from Macedonian Greeks with other eastern Mediterranean ancestors, so likely had an olive-white complexion, and that’s as far as we can go.
This is wonderfully done! Your videos are the most instructive ever in linking numismatics to Roman history. I think you are right on target regarding her ethnicity. Only ignorant sensationalists could maintain that she was black. Does one imagine that Cicero, who couldn’t stand her, wouldn’t have made a big deal out of that? 24:40 The coins are, in my opinion, as realistic portraits as any of that era.
I appreciate that rather than researching to fill your preconceived idea, you presented facts and then an image based on those. Nice work!
I do my best! 😀
I've loved all your content, this goes way beyond anything so far. You've brought history and numismatics together in an amazing way.
Leo this kind of content is absolutely fascinating and adds so much to our hobby. thxs
Thank you! I hope to explore more on the topic, maybe Julius Caesar next.
@@ClassicalNumismatics Thanks Leo, when you do this next episode could you include Tiberius since he influenced the death of Jesus please
Oh my, what a parade of luxurious Ptolemaic coins in all metals! 😅
Thats one hell of a collection they have there!
First coin you showed is probably the most accurate. Seems to be much less stylistic than most others. Great video!!!!
Indeed. The bronzes seem to be the most accurate. Thank you!
Excellent video and congratulations, your effort is clearly being recognized.
Thanks you! Hopefully this is the first of many of such videos
Thank you - excellent video. Possibly the best I’ve seen on UA-cam to date.
I agree Leo. Nice vid as always and some very nice examples. I thought that Ptolemy V was my favorite, till I saw that tetradrachm at the end.
Yeah, that Ptolemy is incredible!
She had reddish hair as detailed on the paintings. Also Greeks have blue or green eyes at times. Closer to elizabeth taylor than the black one😊
From the paintings Im inclined to think she had hazel eyes. But as for the hair, your are right. Quite surprising, in my opinion.
Thank you so much for this new video ! 😊
On many ancient greek statues, where remnants of coloring remain, the women have red hair.
Brown pigments become reddish when they oxidize and degrade. I wonder if that could be an explanation. The case for the paintings at Herculaneum and Pompeii is emblematic, though, as the paintings were burried, so there was no sunlight to degrade the paint.
Cleopatra VII might not have looked beautiful like Elizabeth Taylor, but there is at least one gold coin of a younger Arsinoe III that is a dead ringer for Gal Gadot.
Gal Gadot could easily play Cleopatra, or any hellenistic queen!
@@ClassicalNumismatics seeing her as Cleopatra will be amazing
@@ClassicalNumismatics I agree. As an Israeli, she could certainly pass for Greek, Phoenician, Ptolemaic Egyptian, Hebrew (of course), and really just about anyone along the Mediterranean.
Who is Gal Gadot please?
Excelente video,un fuerte abrazo.
Great research, awesome video!
Thank you! The reactions from the public have been quite positive, Im happy for it :)
Very good video! Thanks!
GREAT video. Thank you.
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it :)
That's very cool 😎
As the descendant of a long line of Macedonian Greek forbears, it's evident that Cleopatra had southern European/eastern Mediterranean features. Even though we know that she had a smattering of Iranian ancestry, and some native Egyptian ancestry can't be ruled out (the identities of her mother and her grandmothers remain uncertain), this Greek heritage would have been predominant in her appearance.
It must blow your mind how all of this evidence exists, yet people still want to debate 😂 oh well, there’s pop culture for you and why we should all be avoiding it at all costs.
Cleopatra was absolutely right. whoever says otherwise is either afool or a liar
The possibility that Cleopatra ,like all priestress, was bald due to extreme epilation has to be considered.
Besides of being Pharao ( and having male attributes like a postiche) ,
was she also High Priestress of Isis a function even important as queen of Egypt
Wigs where common in that time and even a millenium later on coins
Red hair can still be found in turkey and egypt. Used to be much more common there
Ramses II had also red hair
Who then is your top pick of which historical figure you could have a conversation with? Also that Antioch Tet is stunning!
Augustus, no doubt!
Am I the only one who noticed the coin showing her with a huge adam's apple?
Well, she was a Greek, so not black. Problem solved
In my mind...the closest resemblance is a woman that cooks on Tik Tok...Alexandra's home...i think she is half greek half cipriote...and gives Cleopatra vibes 😂
Very impressive coins. The video is great. Cleopatra was definitely not Elisabeth Taylor, but it shoul be a very charming woman, enormously inteligent and able of revesting herself of a n ovewhelming sex appeal. Greetings.
Great video, as always, thank you! I'm curious what the rules are around wearing a glove when handling old coins - didn’t the museum require you to do that?
This footage was taken by the museum curator himself!
Have a look at an auction house called "NAC", Numismatica Ars Classica. Its one of the most exclusive dealers on the market. They make small videos showing all coins they have for auction, and you can see them handling coins with their bare hands.
As long as you handle ancient coins with dry, clean hands, there is absolutely no risk of damaging them.
@ClassicalNumismatics thanks for the response
@@foresthill8462One issue with wearing gloves when handling coins is they greatly reduced the sensitivity in your hands and hamper your dexterity, making it much more likely for you to accidentally drop a coin (which has a much greater chance to damage it than handling them with clean, dry hands).
@@trilobiteterror8015 interesting, thank you
Red hair was popular with wealthy romans. It was fashion during these times.
Cleopatra VII was a Greek woman. Not a sub-Saharan woman as the series falsely claims. What's so hard about saying something so simple? Does everyone need to be afraid of being labeled a "racist" by identity movements that hypocritically judge everything and everyone using clear racial criteria? Don't make me laugh.
You are right
Is it possible that Cleopatra VII used henna or wigs to change her hair color?
It could be, but this was more of a Roman tradition.
Cleopatra was exceptional as pharao (wearing wigs and having postiches) because she also was besides the great priestress of Isis , A function which gave her more fun next to the
prestige
8:46 it means that Cleopatra VII also had Persian ancestory
She did! The Seleucids were intermixed with local Persian nobility. Not to a very large extent, but there was definitely some middle-eastern blood in Cleo.
As my grandmother told me, "No matter what people tell you, know that Cleopatra was sub-Saharan African and not Greek or Mediterranean."
Quite odd for a sub Saharan African to have a Greek name, and a Greek father.
sub saharan is a geopolitical term created by white Americans in the 50's; formerly Tropical Africa. I could care less if she were "black". She was foreign invader who appropriated "black" culture.
I guess is out of question... But some how the last coin with both faces, doesn't sim's authentic to me... It's just my gut feeling...
I think its just overcleaned silver, but you can voice your concerns to the curator of the cabinet.
SHE. WAS. BLACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Netflix said so!
right. And Philip the Arab wasn't really a Arab, cause he was a Roman Emperor lol
@@christopherevans2445 Netflix told me she was black
@@TheCyricsonwhy would tv lie?
She looked like a colonizer.
She had a mean looking nose, that's for sure
👃 She could sniff powerfull potential allies from 50 miles away
@@ClassicalNumismatics hahahahaha