# Cleopatra (1999)

> A two-part miniseries dramatizing Cleopatra's entanglement with Julius Caesar and the Roman power struggles that follow.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/42621

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 2
- Episode runtime: 88 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: drama, history
- Created by: Stephen Harrigan, Anton Diether
- Network: ABC
- Cast: Leonor Varela, Billy Zane, Timothy Dalton, Rupert Graves, John Bowe, Owen Teale, Sean Pertwee, David Schofield
- TMDB rating: 6.4/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0178130/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: moderate
- Complexity: layered
- Violence: moderate
- Tone: lavish, melodramatic, intense, sensual

## What critics say

Critics found this two-part historical miniseries watchable and lavish in scale, though its melodrama and court politics were seen as unremarkable rather than standout.

## Synopsis

Cleopatra (1999) is a two-part historical miniseries that dramatizes the Egyptian queen's rise through the dangerous politics of the late Roman Republic. Leonor Varela plays Cleopatra, a clever and proud ruler who must trade on her wits and allure when she is brought before Julius Caesar, played by Timothy Dalton. What begins as a calculated political gambit becomes an obsessive, sensual bond that threatens Caesar's household, his Roman allies and the fragile order of his empire. Billy Zane's Marc Antony and Rupert Graves's Octavian add rival ambition and loyalty tests to the court drama, while palace chambers, military camps and Alexandrian splendor frame the intrigue. The tone is lavish and melodramatic, with betrayal, desire and statecraft tangled together at every turn. Viewers who enjoy grand period spectacle, royal romance and political maneuvering will find a sweeping, emotionally heated portrait of power and passion, more soapy and sumptuous than austere, with a bittersweet sense of doomed ambition running beneath its glossy surface.

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