Nuntius Californiensis Spring 2017 Nuntius Californiensis-1 | Page 9

Volume XII, Issue 4 9 Nuntius Californiensis, Spring Cleopatra’s True Race (continued from pg. 3) of the Ptolemaic line. The controversy arises from the unknown identity of Cleopatra’s mother. Most believe that she must have been Cleopatra V, a Ptolemaic queen, yet others suspect that she must have been a concubine who could’ve easily been Black-African. After all, it was customary for Ptolemaic kings to take many concubines, and this is a plausible explanation as to why Cleopatra’s mother is considered irrelevant and never mentioned in ancient texts. But if Cleopatra was an illegitimate child, why didn’t ancient historians use this fact to smear her image more? Archaeologists have also found a skull that might belong to Parliamentarian Update Neah Lekan, Parliamentarian S alvete Amici! My name is Neah Lekan and I have the honor of serving as your CJCL Parliamentarian next year. My convention experience featured the odd combination of nervous energy and pure excitement that running for office entails, along with a lot of fun cheering and competing along the way. I would recommend the experience of running for state office to everyone. Cleopatra’s sister, Arsinoe, and using measurements of the It’s not only a fun process that will skull (which has since been lost) from the 1920s, they give you the most exciting weekend of determined that it comes from someone of mixed Egyptian, your life, it’s a truly transformative Greek, and Black-African ancestry. Yet, Arsinoe could’ve experience that will help you grow as likely had a different mother than Cleopatra. So all in all, at a JCLer and a person. If you’re at all most, Cleopatra was possibly half Egyptian, and not 100% interested in running, there will be Greek. Election Workshops at SCRAM and Still, conflict boils over what race the Ancient Egyptians Ludi in the fall, where you can ask were, and saying that Cleopatra was half Ancient Egyptian other officers questions and learn doesn’t account for her race—it only accounts for her more about the process. In the ethnicity and nationality. This is because race, as we see it, meantime, send me an email at was a concept that was mostly unheard of in antiquity. Superiority was measured on where you came from, not [email protected] if you have any questions. Multas Gratias! necessarily on the color of your skin. For example, the ancient Romans attributed their assumed exceptionalism to their ancestors and to their own fortitude, not to their white skin or European roots. Correspondingly, viewing Cleopatra literally or figuratively through a black or white lens fails to take into account the nuances of how race relations have changed over time. (continued on pg. 10) Board Candidates at 2017 State Convention