This course explores the literary, documentary and archaeological evidence, and incorporates elements of Classical Reception, in order to explore the life, death and legend of Cleopatra VII, the last queen of Egypt.

1 x 1hr lecture per week over 10 weeks.

1 x 1hr seminar per week over 10 weeks.

Cleopatra: Life and Legend (Honours).

None.

Book Review (750 words) 40%.

Essay (2,000 words) 60%.

This course aims to:

■ Provide students with the opportunity to become familiar with the events of the life and death of Cleopatra VII, the nature of the different types of evidence for them, and the problems associated with these;

■ Engage closely with the sources for the events of the life and death of Cleopatra VII and evaluate their historical worth;

■ Investigate the reception of Cleopatra VII from antiquity to the present;

■ Evaluate the ancient, modern, and contemporary evidence for Cleopatra.

■ Assess the importance of Cleopatra to the disciplines of Classics, Ancient History, and Egyptology.

By the end of this course students will be able to:

• Define the historical events of the life of Cleopatra VII;

• Place these events in their larger historical and cultural context;

• Analyse and evaluate the literary, documentary and archaeological sources for these events;

•Formulate their own opinions regarding how the sources have been received, repurposed and reimagined from antiquity to the present, and argue them in a lucid and scholarly manner.

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components (including examinations) of the course's summative assessment.