The glory of ancient Alexandria

Some of the most wonderful descriptions in the new Cleopatra book by Stacy Schiff are those of the lavish banquets Cleopatra would put on, especially the mood-setting scents -- cinnamon, cardamom, and balsam, cassis (I assume the author means cassia?), myrrh, and cinnamon... And the decorations - stones such as agate, lapis, ametyhst, carnelian, garnet, malachite, and topas set into richly-gleaming bright yellow gold.

Cleopatra was a goddess (Isis, Venus, and more) and had the confidence and intelligence you'd expect from one so raised - unflappable and witty.  I've never read Shakespeare's take on Cleopatra, and perhaps I should.

PS - Did you realize that when Cleopatra reigned, the Sphinx was invisible to her, having been buried under shifting sands for nearly a thousand years?