January happens to be the birth month of Cleopatra, who arguably tops the list of the most fascinating women in history. She was not the first queen or power figure in Egypt—there were Sobekneferu, Nefertiti, Nefertari, and Hatshepsut before her. But it is about her that reams have been written, historians and scholars study her reign and her legacy; many documentaries have been made on her; Hollywood has produced a grand spectacle (in 1963) with Elizabeth Taylor in the title role; and a new film starring Gal Gadot is in the works. George Bernard Shaw wrote Caesar and Cleopatra, Shakespeare wrote Anthony and Cleopatra. It was about her that the Bard wrote these famous lines:

Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale
Her infinite variety: other women cloy
The appetites they feed: but she makes hungry
Where most she satisfies

Though many centuries have gone by and the perceptions of women in power have undergone multiple changes, Cleopatra is still seen as a historical femme fatale, a seductive witch, who turned the heads of two great Romans -- Julius Caesar and Mark Antony. It is also true that under her rule, marked as it was with strife and wars, Egypt became prosperous and remained independent of the powerful Roman Empire. She was educated, a scholar and a linguist. Her beauty added to her appeal, but it was not her sole asset.

Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator was born in 69 BC into the Ptolemaic dynasty, founded by Ptolemy I, a Macedonian Greek, a part of the army of Alexander the Great, who had conquered Egypt and founded the city of Alexandria. She was of mixed race. Her mother was possibly Egyptian, so she was not the white beauty as portrayed by Elizabeth Taylor, or even black, as portrayed by Jada Pinkett Smith in the........

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