Evening star., 1934-12-23
In the World of Books
BY SARAH BOWERMAN

luliiAlutiAlS w. III lOcz ID UhChkIUuiIu
story for recent insult news. The
patent fight in the motion picture in
dustry recalls the fact that Edison
received patents on the first motion
picture camera and protector and did
something with the talking picture
OF facts, woven into a narrative which
never lags, Mr.. Simonds has given an
abundance: Of criticism he has given
almost none, which is to be regretted.
CLEOPATRA'S DAUGHTER. The
Queen of Mauretania BY Beatrice
Chanler. New York: Liveright
Publishing Co.
THE famous Cleopatra, whom age
could not wither, had at least four
children: Caesarion, son of julius
Caesar; the twin children Alexander
Helios and Cleopatra Selene. and the
boy Ptolemy Philadelphus, children of
Marc Antony Caesarion, invested as
King of Egypt, was sent by his mother
with his tutor up the Nile and across
the desert to refuge in India, but
was tricked by Octavian into returning
to Alexandria, where he was put to
death Learning from this that she
was powerless to thwart the conqueror,
whose star was rising while hers was
setting, Cleopatra decided ito leave
the fste of the other children to Isis
and Scraps, and find death in Egypt
rather than follow Octavians triumph
and die in a Roman dungeon" After
the suicides of their parents, the three
children OF Antony and Cleopatra, the
last Of the Ptolemies. were taken to
Rome by Octavian. History has told
little about them. They marched,
pathetic and frightened, in the
triumphal procession of Octavian.
while the Roman mob seethed and
howled. They became the wards of
Octavian, who was crowned as the
Emperor Augustus, and we're brought
up not unkindly by his wife, Livia, in
the imperial palace on the Palatine
Hill with her own children, and the
legitimate children of Antony. After
time the two boys disappeared from
history. 1t is probable that Augustus
recognized the menace of two Ptolemy
princes to his empire.
Cleopatra Selene. IL years old when
she was taken from Alexandria, was
married at is to Juba, son of the King
OF Numidia, whom Augustus made
King of Mauretania. She considered
royalty her right and her crowning a
removal of the humiliation of her
entry into Rome as a captive. AS
queen she worked actively for the
Romanization Of her kingdom,
process resisted by the native popu-
lation. and built Caesarea ION the
burning soil Of North Africa, a city
OF marble; temples peopled with stat
ueS, palaces with mosaic floors that
rivaled the rarest Babylonian carpets:
Libraries where the royal historian
studied with Greek scholars and COM
piled his works for posterity: theaters,
mansions and palatial baths" The
birth OF her son Ptolemy set her to
dreaming of the conquest begun by
Alexander the Great, striven for by
her father, Antony, and perhaps to be
achieved by this son Of hers. In the
absence Of Juba on campaigns in the
East, Cleopatra Selene acted as regent
and during her regency built temple
to the goddess Isis and attempted to
establish the religion of Egypt in
Mauretania, though in opposition to
the mandate of Rome. She died in
the year A. D. Her son Ptolemy
became favorite of the emperors IT.
! berius and Caligula and continued to
rule over Mauretania, but incurred the
jealousy of the sadistic Caligula and
was put To death after torture. He
was the last of the Soters. the last
child in whom the blood of Antony
and Cleopatra flowed" Mrs. Chanler
has evidently done an immense
amount OF research in producing this
biography of little known but very
picturesque queen and has given a
rich spectacle of the period when the
second triumvirate ended and the
Roman Empire began.
A MODERN COLUMBUS. BY S. P.B.
Mais. Philadelphia: j. B. Lippin-
colt Co.
| A MERICA is still an undiscovered
Country to surprisingly large
number of Europeans, some of whom
have no desire to cross the sea, even
in comfortable modern liner bearing
no resemblance to the little vessels of
Columbus, in order to explore the
rumored sensationalism of our high
finance, our mad motoring and our
gangsters. Mr.. Mais, British author,
lecturer and broadcaster, was one of
those to whom America seemed "a
long way from home" He t. to
make the B. B. c. realize that s
not the man for the job of [ 2
10000 miles in the United Sta Id
telling the British public about i, over
the radio. But he came and found
"the whole world, every type of
scenery from jungle to pole, every type
Of man, and every known type
of climate" Following a map made
for him by William Hard in London
on the back of an envelope, he began
with Virginia, moved on to Florida,
Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, Cali
fornia, then back slowly through the
Middle West to New York. In this
book Mr.. Mais shows an encouraging,
and perhaps new, America to many
Americans. He didn't like kidnapers,
though he had no personal experience
with them, nor the New York subway
(but Americans don't like it either,
nor all our "back-chat and cross
talk comedians" nor the spoliation
of the landscape by billboards, nor
his own press interviews. But he was
| glad he had come and. since he says
that whatever America is it is not
| parochial," we may conclude that he
| gave favorable answer to the Lanca-
shire member of one of his lecture
audiences who asked: "Is the Amer
leans as aristocratic as wot we is?"
And now that he is home, he is
aching to go back"
X y
y X X X
GRIM JOURNEY. BY Hoffman Birney.
New York: Minton, Balch g. Co.
.TTrCT oe NordboH opd uon hoyo