BBC 6分钟英语 埃及艳后

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learning English. Hello, and welcome to Six Minute English.

I'm Neil, and I'm Sophie. What do you know about Clia Patratneil Well, she was Queen of Egypt.

Uh, quite a long time ago.

Anything else? Didn't she arrive

for a meeting with Roman Emperor Julius Caesar rolled up in a carpet?

Or is that a Hollywood invention?

Some historical sources say she was rolled up in a carpet, and others say she was hidden inside a linen sack Claypatra is the subject of today's show.

She was the last Pharaoh to rule Egypt, and is arguably the most famous female ruler in history, and the most beautiful.

Well, the juries out on that one nail, and that means people haven't decided yet.

Coins with clear patches portray on them, e.g.

show her with a prominent nose and thin lips.

Prominent means noticeable, and in this case, I think it means large.

So what were her attributes or main qualities then?

Kiypatrick was a wily politician. She made important alliances with Rome to protect her country, and was ruthless in dealing with her enemies, in this case, her siblings, who challenged her.

A sole ruler of Egypt, wiley means clever, and sibling is another word for brother or sister.

Didn't she have her siblings murdered?

Yes, she was very ruthless, and that means without pity.

And today's quiz question is about her family.

Can you tell me, neil, which country was clear patra's family originally from?

Is it a Macedonia, b Ethiopia or C Egypt?

I am going for sea Egypt.

The obvious answer? Well, we'll find out if the obvious answer is the right one later on in the show.

But let's talk some more about clear patches attributes.

She may not have been Hollywood gorgeous, but she spoke many languages and was highly educated in philosophy, astronomy, mathematics and oratory.

Here's Susan walker, keeper of antiquities at the Ashmonian Museum at the University of Oxford.

With more about this. Lutarch says that what was really remarkable about Cleopatra was not so much her beauty as the intelligence of her company.

She had a very beautiful voice, which I think is a quality we perhaps underrate these days estimations of celebrity.

And she clearly had masses of charisma, sort a person who would light up a room.

So enormous, personal charm. So the Roman historian Plutarch, wrote about clear patra's voice, her charisma and personal charm, but not about her beauty.

That's right. And charisma is, in other words, a strong power to attract people.

Kiirpatra's voice was also considered very attractive, an attribute we underrate today, according to Susan Walker.

And underrate means to place too small a value on something.

Egyptian pharaohs were regarded as gods and spectacle or making a big visual impact was an important part of this Claypacha was very skilled at making grand entrances, rolled up in a carpet for Caesar, or dressed up as Venus on board a shimmering golden barge for Mark Antony.

He was a Roman politician in general, and even her death was spectacular.

She and Mark Antony had lost an important battle against another Roman general, octavian.

Mark Antony had fatally wounded himself when he heard mistakenly that Clearpater was dead.

But before he died, he managed to get back to Cleopatra, who held him in her arms as he died in her family tomb.

Then she decided to take her own life.

You make it sound like a Shakespearean tragedy.

Shakespeare did write a play about it.

Now, let's hear from Catherine Edwards, professor of classics and ancient history at Berkebeck University of London about this tragic event.

She plans her own death in this very sort of calculated manner, a manner that also seems to focus on spectacle.

Yet again, she has, she takes a time, she has a feast.

And then the figs. The basket of figs arrives with the asp in it.

Or was it perhaps a poisoned hair pin?

There's a certain amount of uncertainty about the exact method of our death.

I think most sources prefer the snake.

So Catherine Edward says, the facts surrounding key patches suicide aren't clear.

She may have used a snake to bite her, smuggled into a room in a basket of fruit, but it may have been a poisoned hair pin, ully planned way.

OK, so the final curtain comes down on clear Patra, but what about the answer to today is quiz question Sophie, OK, I asked which country was Clear Patches family originally from?

Is it a Macedonia, be Ethiopia, or see Egypt?

And I said, egypt. Of course it is.

And that's the wrong answer. neal.

It's actually a Macedonia

geopatcher was a member of the Tolomic Dynasty, a family of Macedonian Greek origin that ruled Egypt after the death of Alexander the Great.

You learn something new every day, talking of which here are the words we learned in this program.

The juries out on something prominent attributes wily sibling ruthless charisma, underrate, spectacle calculated.

And that's the end of today's six minute English.

Don't forget to join us again soon.

Goodbye, bye, bye.

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