Lupin III (anime) + discussion on Cleopatra
1. The Theatre of Marcellus is featured prominently in episode 11. The construction was started by Caesar and finished by Augustus in 13 BC. It was dedicated to Augustus' nephew, Marcus Claudius Marcellus, who died in 23 BC.
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4. The busts of Caesar and Mark Antony in episode 15.
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No such bust of Caesar exists. Seems like they used several busts of Caesarian type as a reference, with a bit of Augustus sprinkled in (the ears are those of Augustus). He has way too much hair.
Antony's is a replica of this one:
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It is often used to represent him, but it bears poor resemblance to the only definite portrait of Antony that we have, which is on coins. For example, this one of Antony and Cleopatra:
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This bust is considered more likely to be Antony's:
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5. The description of Cleopatra from episode 15:
"...one of the three most beautiful women in the world, Cleopatra VII, was a she-devil herself, using her otherworldly charms to ensnare heroes like Caesar and Antonius, and for a while controlling all of Rome."
Obviously, I'm not taking this seriously. It's an anime, not a documentary. I'm just using it as an excuse to talk about something I'm passionate about. :)
a) The idea that Cleopatra must have been one of the most beautiful women in the world is outdated. Everything that we know about her points to her being charming rather than drop-dead gorgeous.
b) Cornelius Balbus and Gaius Oppius would like a word. They were Caesar’s closest assistants, helping him with the administration of the Republic. They were running things in Rome in his absence. Not Cleopatra.
I'm not saying there was no affection between her and Caesar at some point. But it was not a relationship between equals. She owed her throne to him and made sure to let him know that Egypt under her rule would not cause him trouble and that all his demands would be met. In return, he will ensure that she stays queen, whether the Alexandrians are happy about it or not (they expelled her father when he was king). Rome was always a superior partner in these relationships.
c) Antony was no hero. Have some standards.
d) When Octavian, Antony, and Lepidus carved up the Roman world, it was Octavian who received Rome and Italy (Gaul, Spain, etc.). Antony got the East. Antony and Cleopatra were nowhere near "controlling all of Rome," because that was Octavian's power base. And as soon as he strengthened it, he crushed Antony to take the East as well.
6. Another quote where Lupin is talking about the diamond known as "Cleopatra's soul":
"That spirit must have entered this. Because like her, she's fickle, and she won't ever let herself be owned by one person for long."
The notion that Cleopatra had numerous lovers is a myth. She had only two lovers that we know of for sure: Caesar and Antony. She had been with Antony for 11 years until their deaths. And even if Caesar was not the father of Caesarion (personally, I don't believe that he was), it's still nowhere near being fickle.
Plutarch says that before she met Caesar, she also seduced Pompey's eldest son. Most historians dismiss it as mere gossip, but it's not beyond the realm of possibility. When the Civil War between Pompey and Caesar broke out, Cleopatra placed her money on Pompey. When his son arrived in Egypt in 49 BC, she may have slept with him to ingratiate herself to future losersvictors. We can't know for sure, obviously.
"Whether we like it or not, Cleopatra was not really that important. Her world was one utterly dominated by Rome, in which her kingdom had at best a precarious independence. She was a queen, and controlled an Egypt that was wealthy and by ancient standards densely populated. Yet it was a Roman client kingdom and never fully independent. Egypt was the largest, and in many ways the most important, of Rome's subordinate allies, but it was always subordinate, and its power was dwarfed by that of the Roman Republic. Cleopatra only became queen because her father was placed back in power by a Roman army. Even after that, she would have been dead or exiled by her early twenties were it not for Caesar's intervention.
Cleopatra only had importance in the wider world through her Roman lovers. Television documentaries and popular books often repeat the claim that the Romans only ever feared two people – Hannibal and Cleopatra, but people usually ignore the fact that this sweeping statement was made in the 1930s. It rests on no ancient evidence, and does not make any real sense. Much as Augustan propaganda demonised the queen, no one could seriously have believed that she had the power to overthrow Rome. It was simply far more convenient to hate a foreign, female enemy, than to face the fact that Octavian's great war and subsequent triumph was over a distinguished Roman. For all her glamour, Antony was of far greater power and significance than Cleopatra." – Adrian Goldsworthy
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Caesar and Cleopatra were also mentioned in episode 14 of Lupin III: Part I. But since that mention was in relation to a made-up story, I didn't want to post it.
I won't be posting sights of the Colosseum since my blog is about the Late Republic. But from what I've seen (Lupin franchise is huge), Colosseum appears in episodes 13 and 23 of Part IV (that naked guy is standing on top of it), Lupin III: Italian Game OP and Lupin III: Princess of the Breeze TV Special.
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