In the middle of the 1st century BC, Cleopatra caught the attention of Rome by captivating the two most powerful Romans of the day, Julius Caesar and Mark Antony. She could not overcome Octavius Caesar however, and she chose suicide over capture or defeat. Over the past two millennia, our views of the Egyptian queen have been shaped by biased Greek and Roman histories, Shakespeare's romanticized Antony and Cleopatra and several Hollywood films. Seeking the real historical figure, Barbara Watterson sifts through the myths and the half-truths.