Cleopatra

the egyptian pharaoh cleopatra is often
portrayed in movies as a woman of great
beauty. but writers of the time and portraits of
her tell a different story. although she was pretty,
those who met her praised her mind and manner
more than her beauty.
cleopatra was born in 69 b. c.e. in
alexandria. at that time, the city was the capital
of egypt. the daughters of pharaohs played as
large a role in governing as the sons did. the
children of a pharaoh married each other and
then ruled as co-pharaohs. so cleopatra
received the same education as her male
relatives.
her education was broad. cleopatra studied
the classics of greek literature. she read the
works of herodotus and thucydides. (these
writers are still studied today as important
thinkers.) from them she would have learned
about history, war and politics. she also learned
arithmetic, geometry and astronomy. she
practiced the art of speechmaking. she even
took courses on medicine. her real talent,
though, lay in learning foreign languages. one
historian of the time wrote that she could speak
at least seven languages, if not more.
alexandria was known as the most learned
city in the ancient world. in the third century
b. c.e., the famous "school of alexandria"
thrived there. this was a group of poets, artists
and scientists. euclid, who gave us geometry,
was part of this group. during cleopatra's time,
scholars came from all over to study there.
alexandria had the largest library of the ancient
world. cleopatra was a product of this tradition
of learning.

which of the following best summarizes the passage?