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