How do you motivate yourself?

SFC (Join to see) - Ok, so I'm a few chapters into this book and honestly, it's really fascinating. So far, there's a lot of information about Caesar and Rome and I think you might like it. Interestingly, Cleopatra's image became distorted after time and there are not that many accurate accounts of her life from that time. She spoke 9 languages and was educated by the brightest teachers in Alexandria, which is where Caesar's teachers learned as well. Also, Cleopatra was Greek and married her brother(s). Apparently her family committed incest for generations and they would all try to kill their family members. For a book that is mainly historical, it's really entertaining. Have you read the Poldark book series? I'm watching season two on Amazon and it's really good, and based on books. I think I'm going to add them to my list.

You probably already know this, but Alexandria was founded by Alexander the Great (I knew of him but I want to do more reading). If I could go back in time, I would want to visit the Library of Alexandria. Can you imagine hundreds of thousands of scrolls from the ancient era? I can't imagine what we lost when the city was destroyed. Alexander was originally buried in a gold sarcophagus, but it was sold to fund a war. He was then entombed in an early form of glass. I wonder what happened to his body/tomb after the city was destroyed? If I don't forget, I'm going to look it up later.

Norah Julmis - Hmm... Yeah the Ptolemaic line has only been in the periphery of the stuff I've read, but Cleopatra has always been fascinating to me for not only having seduced one, but two major Roman Generals. Plus, no one is 100% certain exactly what she looked like. Varying accounts say she was either extremely alluring or "plain."

The burning of the Great Library of Alexandria was probably "the," if not one of the worst losses of human knowledge in recorded history. Second maybe to the destruction wrought upon the Mayans and Aztecs by the Spanish when their conquistadors came to the new world in the 1400s. There's no telling what kind of historical texts, information on personalities, myths, and what-have-you that were forever lost to history when that place was destroyed.

I'm also familiar with Alexander the Great and his Empire. He was a role model to some early Romans and many wanted to emulate his successes. His Empire, though, split upon his death into squabbling factions - of which Egypt (Aegyptus) was part of the claim by Ptolemy and his descendants. From then on, all that work Alexander did to build a nation went by the wayside due to in-fighting and mismanagement.

Incest is actually fairly common with regard to ancient history, hell, even the Medieval times. Though not practiced widely "everywhere," it was seen as a way to keep a royal bloodline "pure."

I've never read the Poldark series, no.

SFC (Join to see) - Wow, it took me forever to find this thread. I didn't realize it had been three months lol. I'm a bit embarrassed to say it has taken me this long to finish but I finally got through the Cleopatra book (about a week ago). It was a good book, but I realized I enjoy watching documentaries a lot more than reading about them. The first half of the book was just as much about Julius Caesar as it was Cleopatra. The second half was the same but with Mark Antony. I learned a lot about him that I didn't know before. I think you might enjoy the read. As soon as I finished I started Ready Player One and finished it in two days. I just saw that the author is writing a sequel to it! I know I'm going to have to see the movie next year. I started Pandemic (The Extinction Files Book 1) this week and I'm half-way through. I think it's close to 700 pages and it's hard to put down. What are you reading now?

Sorry for late response - things have been a bit crazy. I'm actually not reading anything currently but am planning to dive back into my cyber security research once I resume work on my Bachelor's degree. I'll have to check out that Cleopatra book!