Women enjoyed rights in Egypt they would not again enjoy for more than 2,000 years. They owned ships, ran vineyards, filed lawsuits, practiced medicine. Their husbands supported them after divorce. Their power was unprecedented. Stacy Schiff 000divorceegypt share on social
What we know about Cleopatra's looks is based purely on her coin portraits. Engraving was imperfect, and that when you are a ruler and you ask for a coin to be engraved with your likeness on it, you are probably trying to project a certain air of authority. Stacy Schiff airauthoritybase share on social
Cleopatra had one great advantage. She lived at a time when female sovereigns were not anomalies. And when women enjoyed rights they would not again enjoy for another 2,000 years. You could call them early feminists, if I may use a dirty word. Stacy Schiff 000advantageanomaly share on social
I went out to the desert where Cleopatra camped out with her mercenary army. It's a desolate outpost. Nothing has changed since her day. You realize how far she had to travel. Not only is it a good 150 miles against the current, you can't take a ship. Stacy Schiff armycampchange share on social
No one sits on the stoop when she's a kid and thinks, 'I want to be a biographer when I grow up.' Stacy Schiff biographergrowkid Change image and share on social
I think with every book you realize you are partway through and there is something really elementary that you should have researched. Stacy Schiff bookelementarypartway Change image and share on social
An interesting thing about book groups, it seems to me, is that there is no correlation between a brilliant book and a brilliant discussion. The first seems sometimes even to undermine the second. Stacy Schiff bookbrilliantcorrelation Change image and share on social
Have you ever been married? Had that thing of someone calling you by a name not your own? It's unsettling. It's like a fictitious person. Stacy Schiff callfictitiousmarry Change image and share on social
You have to scuba dive in the Alexandrian harbor if you want to see what remains of the lighthouse of Cleopatra's day, and the water in the Alexandrian harbor is not really something you want to come into contact with. Stacy Schiff alexandriancleopatracontact share on social
Strangely enough, politics may just be the one realm in which having kids imposes no penalty on women. Kids are practically a necessity. For scientists, or Supreme Court justices, or chief executives, or the woman who wants to learn to fly F-l8s off an aircraft carrier, it works differently. Stacy Schiff aircraftcarrierchief share on social