Netflix has dropped a brand-new trailer based on the mysterious Egypt Queen Cleopatra. After receiving a huge amount of backlash online for historically revising the identity of the Greek royal.
This is an upcoming so-called “documentary series” that will soon be going to stream on Netflix. The brand-new trailer has exposed the return of Queen Cleopatra as black, and obviously, this has received a lot of criticism for historical revisionism. At first, we got the trailer on 12 April,2023. This, lady has already amassed more than 2 million views on YouTube.
In the reenactment scenes, the show has taken a decision to expose Queen Cleopatra in Black which has led many people on social media to slam Netflix for ‘Blackwashing’ the historical figure, after having such common historical records showing her family to be Macedonian Greeks as the Ptolemaic dynasty.
There are more than 85,000 people signed the online petition in just two days, however, it has since been removed from the platform without explanation.
The story follows Egypt’s popular queen Cleopatra who was born in Alexandria, Egypt in the Ptolemaic dynasty to Greek descent. She was NOT Black. This is in no way against Black people, and is simply a wake-up call to preserve the history and the integrity of the Egyptians and the Greeks.”
One Twitter user posted: “For the nth time, the Egyptian Queen Cleopatra was not an Egyptian. She was Greek! Cleopatra VII was white – of Macedonian descent, likewise, all the Ptolemy rulers, who lived in Egypt. Another added: “Netflix and Jada Pinkett Smith is promoting a documentary about Queen Cleopatra all wrong. She was Greek.”
“Cleopatra was Greek, a descendant of the Ptolemaic dynasty. End of story!!,” echoed a third
Cleopatra VII Philopator (Greek: Κλεοπάτρα Φιλοπάτωρ; 69 BC – 10 August 30 BC), often referred to simply as Cleopatra, was Queen of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt, and its last active ruler.
A member of the Ptolemaic dynasty, she was a descendant of its founder Ptolemy I Soter, a Macedonian Greek general and companion of Alexander the Great.
After the death of Cleopatra, Egypt became a province of the Roman Empire, marking the end of the second to last Hellenistic state and the age that had lasted since the reign of Alexander (336–323 BC).
It shows that her native language was Koine Greek, and she was the only Ptolemaic ruler to learn the Egyptian language.
In 58 BC, Cleopatra presumably accompanied her father, Ptolemy XII Auletes, during his exile to Rome after a revolt in Egypt (a Roman client state), allowing his daughter Berenice IV to claim the throne. Berenice was killed in 55 BC when Ptolemy returned to Egypt with Roman military assistance.
When he died in 51 BC, the joint reign of Cleopatra and her brother Ptolemy XIII began, but a falling-out between them led to an open civil war. After losing the 48 BC Battle of Pharsalus in Greece against his rival Julius Caesar in Caesar’s Civil War, the Roman statesman Pompey fled to Egypt.
Pompey had been a political ally of Ptolemy XII, but Ptolemy XIII, at the urging of his court eunuchs, had Pompey ambushed and killed before Caesar arrived and occupied Alexandria. Caesar then attempted to reconcile the rival Ptolemaic siblings, but Ptolemy’s chief adviser, Potheinos, viewed Caesar’s terms as favoring Cleopatra, so his forces besieged her and Caesar at the palace.
Shortly after reinforcements lifted the siege, Ptolemy XIII died in the 47 BC Battle of the Nile; Cleopatra’s half-sister Arsinoe IV was eventually exiled to Ephesus for her role in carrying out the siege. Caesar declared Cleopatra and her brother Ptolemy XIV joint rulers but maintained a private affair with Cleopatra that produced a son, Caesarion.
Cleopatra traveled to Rome as a client queen in 46 and 44 BC, staying at Caesar’s villa. After the assassinations of Caesar and Ptolemy XIV in 44 BC, she named Caesarion co-ruler Ptolemy XV.
In the Liberators’ civil war of 43–42 BC, Cleopatra sided with the Roman Second Triumvirate formed by Caesar’s grandnephew and heir Octavian, Mark Antony, and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus. After meeting at Tarsos in 41 BC, the queen had an affair with Antony.
He executed Arsinoe at her request and became increasingly reliant on Cleopatra for funding and military aid during his invasions of the Parthian Empire and the Kingdom of Armenia.
The Donations of Alexandria declared their children Alexander Helios, Cleopatra Selene II, and Ptolemy Philadelphus rulers over various erstwhile territories under Antony’s triumvirate authority.
This event, their marriage, and Antony’s divorce of Octavian’s sister Octavia Minor led to the Final War of the Roman Republic. Octavian engaged in a propaganda war, forced Antony’s allies in the Roman Senate to flee Rome in 32 BC, and declared war on Cleopatra.
After defeating Antony and Cleopatra’s naval fleet at the 31 BC Battle of Actium, Octavian’s forces invaded Egypt in 30 BC and defeated Antony, leading to Antony’s suicide.
When Cleopatra learned that Octavian planned to bring her to his Roman triumphal procession, she killed herself by poisoning, contrary to the popular belief that an asp bit her. Cleopatra’s legacy survives in ancient and modern works of art. Roman historiography and Latin poetry produced a critical view of the queen that pervaded later Medieval and Renaissance literature.
In the ancient depictions of the queen Cleopatra, you will get several visual arts including Roman busts, paintings, sculptures, cameo carvings and glass, Ptolemaic and Roman coinage, and reliefs. In Renaissance and Baroque art, she was the subject of many works, including operas, paintings, poetry, sculptures, and theatrical dramas.
She has maintained a pop culture icon of Egyptomania since the Victorian era. In modern times, Cleopatra has appeared in the applied and fine arts, burlesque satire, Hollywood films, and brand images for commercial products.
John Partridge as Julius Caesar, Craig Russell as Marc Antony, and Michael Greco as Cleopatra’s brother Pothinus, and using the testimonies of real-life experts and historians, the educational series documents the Queen’s rise and fall.
“We don’t often get to see or hear stories about Black queens, and that was really important for me, as well as for my daughter, and just for my community to be able to know those stories because there are tons of them!” says Jada, wife of Hollywood actor Will Smith. “Cleopatra is a queen who many know about, but not in her truth. She’s been displayed as overtly sexual, excessive, and corrupt, yet she was a strategist, an intellect, and a commanding force of nature, who fought to protect her kingdom and her heritage is highly debated. This season will dive deeper into her history and re-assesses this fascinating part of her story.”
Queen Cleopatra: Cast
Netflix has confirmed that the series Adele James will star as Cleopatra, while EastEnders’ John Partridge will play Julius Caesar, The Last Kingdom’s Craig Russell will play Marc Antony and former EastEnders actor Michael Greco will star as Pothinus. Starring the likes of Adele James, Craig Russell, and Jada Pinkett Smith, who also acted as executive producer, the official synopsis says that Cleopatra was a “misunderstood woman,” so Netflix added to this misunderstanding by depicting her as black.
Queen Cleopatra: Release Date
Netflix has confirmed that the docuseries Queen Cleopatra will premiere on Netflix on Wednesday 10th May 2023.
Here is the trailer:
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