Abstract
This thesis provides a general study of the royal iconography of Cleopatra Selene II (40-5 BCE), the Queen of Mauretania who was born as an Egyptian princess to Cleopatra VII of Egypt and Roman triumvir Mark Antony. It explores the ways in which Cleopatra Selene’s multiplicity of identities, both racial and cultural, were presented in her adopted country of Mauretania, a Roman allied kingdom in modern-day northern Africa. The thesis considers Cleopatra Selene’s identities in the context of both racialized gender and cultural code-switching, as well as her role as the iconographic continuation of a long line of exemplary and innovative Ptolemaic Egyptian queens. Until quite recently in the modern historiography, Cleopatra Selene has existed on the margins of Ptolemaic history. Consequently, this thesis recontextualizes Cleopatra Selene as an important historical figure in her dynasty who stood at the intersection of African, Egyptian, Greek, and Roman cultures, rather than an outlier of these histories. This is particularly provided through an iconographic analysis of contemporary images of Cleopatra Selene as a queen of Mauretania, examined in comparison to the royal iconography of Cleopatra VII and other Ptolemaic Egyptian queens. Overall, the thesis hopes to provide a framework through which to confront cultural anxieties about racialized gender by demonstrating Cleopatra Selene’s steadfast commitment to presenting a multiracial and intercultural persona to her diverse population of subjects in Mauretania.