Numismatic Portraits of Cleopatra VII: Regional Variation in Royal Imagery

This thesis examines the numismatic portraits of Cleopatra VII, the last Ptolemaic queen of Egypt, from her accession to the throne in 51 BCE to her death in August of 30 BCE. It will analyze three distinct obverse types featuring the portrait of Cleopatra VII. Each type is associated with a specific mint or group of mints located at Alexandria, on Cyprus, or in Syria. Based on their origin and intended area of distribution, and their combination with certain reverse types, it is argued that the variation in iconography observed on these three coin-types are a result of Cleopatra\u27s conscious utilization of coins as a means of conveying different messages to different regional audiences based on their ethnic and cultural backgrounds. Such a regional-oriented, audience-specific numismatic program is unique when compared to the more uniform dynastic-oriented coinage of Hellenistic monarchs or the more uniform nationalistic coinage of contemporary Roman triumvirs