Cleopatra's Heir

Product DescriptionThe might and power of Julius Caesar, the man who conquered the known world.The beauty of Cleopatra, the woman who conquered the conqueror.Together they could have forged an empire whose power had never been seen before. Tragically, it was not meant to be.But what of the son who was born of their passion Gillian Bradshaw gives us a possible answer in Cleopatra's Heir, a riveting historical novel drawn from meticulous research and a unique historical premise. The young son of Julius Caesar and the fabled Cleopatra, Caesarion was seen by some as the hope of the marriage between Rome and Egypt, by others as the folly of a commander's lust for a wanton foreign schemer. For the new Roman ruler, Octavius, Caesarion is the threat that could topple his dreams of a safe and peaceful Roman Empire.The brutal truth is that Caesarion could not be allowed to live. But what if he somehow managed to survive the inevitable assassination and went underground to hide his identity How would he find a way to live when he has always chosen and honor, even though his life has been shadowed by forces greater than anyone should have to cope with Caesarion will travel the lands that he thinks he knows so well only to discover that he knew his people not at all. And only after that discovery, when he loses it all and is forced to confront his humanity, will Caesarion finally come to know friendship, honesty, and love.And the essential truth that a man can be noble and true, bereft of land, titles . . . and even a name.From Publishers WeeklyFascinating historical figures Julius Caesar, Marcus Antonius and Cleopatra roam the ancient Egyptian desert and the glittering city of Alexandria in this latest from classics scholar Bradshaw (The Sand-Reckoner). The hero is Cleopatra's son Caesarion, whom she has declared to be Caesar's offspring. Her ploy fails when Caesar's adopted Roman son and successor, Octavian (later Augustus), conquers Egypt and sends soldiers to attack troops fleeing with the 18-year-old Caesarion. The young man, after suffering an epileptic fit, is left for dead, but has only been wounded. Waking, he escapes, but another fit leaves him unconscious on a desert roadway, where Ani, an Egyptian merchant with a small caravan of merchandise, finds and saves him. Caesarion, who is Greek (like all royalty in Egypt at this time), is intelligent enough to conceal his background, calling himself Arion, but he cannot hide his aristocratic ways or his disdain for a mere Egyptian who treats a king as a commoner. He resents the merchant, but agrees at last to write his letters for him. Slowly, the patient and generous Ani wins Arion's respect; his beautiful daughter Melanthe falls in love with Arion, who is interested, but cannot acknowledge loving a commoner. While the story is light on action, Bradshaw's attention to Arion's growth into a caring person and the convincing historical detail she musters give the novel substance, but it is the final (and thoroughly fictional) confrontation between Octavian and Caesarion that will truly make it attractive to history buffs.Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.From Library JournalWhat if the son of Cleopatra and Julius Caesar had lived past his 18th year This is the question British author Bradshaw (The Wolf Hunt) poses in her latest historical novel. History says that Caesarion, who was perceived as a threat to Octavius's throne, was killed soon after his mother's suicide in 30 B.C.E. A more gripping story, perhaps, is Bradshaw's version, in which Caesarion, suffering from the sacred illness (epilepsy), is attacked by Roman forces and left for dead. Wounded, he flees the battle scene and is rescued by a kindhearted caravan master. His life forfeited, his mother's cause lost, Caesarion must decide what to do. Should he give up and surrender to his enemies, or can he create a new life for himself from the ashes of the old Mixing truth and fiction, Bra
Author: Bradshaw, Gillian

Publisher: Forge Books

Binding: Hardcover

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0765302284

ISBN-13: 9780765302281