# Cleopatra and the Syrian sons **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 27, 2006, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleopatra-and-the-syrian-sons/362289 "2006-06-27T00:53:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2006, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleopatra-and-the-syrian-sons/362289/1 "2006-06-27T00:53:27Z")
Disclaimer: this is help with homework, but I think it’s acceptable, inasmuch as I’m looking for pointers to a classical text that I’ve so far been unable to find. I’m writing an undergrad research paper on CLeopatra, trying to make the case (in part) that she’s a pretty savvy politician, and I’ve come across an undocumented reference to an event in which a Roman governer in Syria sent his sons to Alexandria to call up some Roman legions who have settled there. The soldiers, not keen on returning to war, murder the sons; Cleopatra responds by arresting the soldiers and sending them to the deprived father for punishment. I’ve so far failed to find either a primary source or a scholarly secondary source to document this; does anyone know details of this event, and better yet know an online scholarly source that describes it? I’ve skimmed Plutarch, Appian, and what little I can find of Cicero and Lucan, but so far haven’t had any luck. Thanks! Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Satyagrahi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f475e1/32.png) [@Satyagrahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satyagrahi)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2006, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleopatra-and-the-syrian-sons/362289/2 "2006-06-27T04:24:02Z")
I know that the story is recounted in Colleen McCullough’s Masters of Rome series of historical fiction about Julius Caesar and the century of civil war that turned Rome from a republic to a monarchy. She also states that she will supply a bibliography if you send her a stamped self-addressed envelope…but since she lives on an island in the South Pacific, this may not help you very soon. Here’s a [link](http://www.isidore-of-seville.com/cleopatra/) claiming to list 580 resources regarding Cleopatra. Maybe you can find something. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2006, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleopatra-and-the-syrian-sons/362289/3 "2006-06-27T04:51:02Z")
As footnoted by Peter Green in Alexander to Actium:\* The Historical Evolution of the Hellenistic Age\* ( 1990, University of California Press ) it’s cited by: - Valerius Maximus in 4.1.15 of his _Factovrum Dictorvm Memorabilivm Libri Novem_. - Julius Caesar himself in his _Comentarii de Bello Civili_, 3.110. - And secopndarily cited to a German work, I. Becher’s Das Bild der Kleopatra in der griechischen und lateinischen Literature ( 1966, Berlin ). Green himself mentions the incident on page 664 of the aforementioned volume. - Tamerlane ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2006, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleopatra-and-the-syrian-sons/362289/4 "2006-06-27T17:13:19Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > As footnoted by Peter Green in Alexander to Actium:\* The Historical Evolution of the Hellenistic Age\* ( 1990, University of California Press ) it’s cited by: > > - Valerius Maximus in 4.1.15 of his _Factovrum Dictorvm Memorabilivm Libri Novem_. > > - Julius Caesar himself in his _Comentarii de Bello Civili_, 3.110. > > - And secopndarily cited to a German work, I. Becher’s Das Bild der Kleopatra in der griechischen und lateinischen Literature ( 1966, Berlin ). > > Green himself mentions the incident on page 664 of the aforementioned volume. > > - Tamerlane Awesome–thanks much! I’ll see if I can find these. Daniel