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Plutarch on Cleopatra's many languages

by 30 BCE. Plutarch, describing her, over a century later.

Where and when

by 30 BCERome and its world

about 2,055 years ago

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Cleopatra

Plutarch, describing her, over a century later

In plain words, ours

Her voice was sweet, and she could switch to almost any language. She rarely needed an interpreter and answered most foreign visitors herself.

There was sweetness also in the tones of her voice; and her tongue, like an instrument of many strings, she could readily turn to whatever language she pleased, so that in her interviews with Barbarians she very seldom had need of an interpreter, but made her replies to most of them herself and unassisted, whether they were Ethiopians, Troglodytes, Hebrews, Arabians, Syrians, Medes or Parthians.

Plutarch, Life of Antony 27.3Translated by Bernadotte Perrin (1920)Read the full passage (Plutarch, Life of Antony 27.3, opens scaife.perseus.org)

What was going on, our summary

Plutarch, writing over a century later, describes Cleopatra at the time she and Antony took turns throwing feasts for each other. He says her beauty alone was not what struck people; it was talking with her. Egypt's kings before her, he adds, had not even tried to learn the native language.

Checked claim by claim against: the passage around the quote.

Why it matters

Cleopatra spoke many languages, and was the first Ptolemaic ruler known to have learned Egyptian; the dynasty before her refused to learn it.

Based on Wikipedia: Cleopatra

In contrast, Cleopatra could speak multiple languages by adulthood and was the first Ptolemaic ruler known to have learned the Egyptian language.

They spoke Greek and governed Egypt as Hellenistic Greek monarchs, refusing to learn the native Egyptian language.

Wikipedia, Cleopatra (opens en.wikipedia.org), as of 2026-09-30. Text CC BY-SA 4.0. Our line is checked against these sentences only.

Related moments

In time order, with this one in its place. Each says why it is here.

  1. 41 BCEabout 11 years earlier Plutarch on Cleopatra's charm Same passage
  2. 41 BCEabout 11 years earlier Cleopatra sails to Antony, in Plutarch Same passageMore from Cleopatra
  3. 31 BCE1 year earlier Octavian's fleet beats Antony and Cleopatra at Actium Same years
  4. 30 BCEBy this year Antony and Cleopatra take their own lives Same years
  5. by 30 BCEThis momentPlutarch on Cleopatra's many languages
  6. 30 BCEBy this year Antony on his courage, per Plutarch Same years
  7. 30 BCEBy this year Cleopatra at Antony's tomb, in Plutarch More from Cleopatra
  8. 30 BCEBy this year Cleopatra and the asp, as Plutarch tells it More from Cleopatra
  9. 27 BCEabout 3 years later Octavian takes the name Augustus Same years

Just before and after

The text around the quote, word for word from the same translation.

Show the passageHide the passage

On the following day Antony feasted her in his turn, and was ambitious to surpass her splendour and elegance, but in both regards he was left behind, and vanquished in these very points, and was first to rail at the meagreness and rusticity of his own arrangements. Cleopatra observed in the jests of Antony much of the soldier and the common man, and adopted this manner also towards him, without restraint now, and boldly. For her beauty, as we are told, was in itself not altogether incomparable, nor such as to strike those who saw her; but converse with her had an irresistible charm, and her presence, combined with the persuasiveness of her discourse and the character which was somehow diffused about her behaviour towards others, had something stimulating about it.

The quote: There was sweetness also in the tones of her voice; and her tongue, like an instrument of many strings, she could readily turn to whatever language she pleased, so that in her interviews with Barbarians she very seldom had need of an interpreter, but made her replies to most of them herself and unassisted, whether they were Ethiopians, Troglodytes, Hebrews, Arabians, Syrians, Medes or Parthians.

Nay, it is said that she knew the speech of many other peoples also, although the kings of Egypt before her had not even made an effort to learn the native language, and some actually gave up their Macedonian dialect.

Plutarch, Life of Antony 27.1–4Translated by Bernadotte Perrin (1920)Read the full passage (opens scaife.perseus.org)

When, and whose words

Date
by 30 BCE. A description of her through her life, which ended in 30 BCE; Plutarch wrote c. 100–120 CE.
Whose words
Plutarch, describing her, over a century later.
How this post was checked
  • The plain-words line was read against the quote alone by a second, independent pass, which found it adds no claim the quote does not make (2026-10-03).
  • Each claim in the summary was checked by an independent pass against only the material it cites.
  • The quote itself is checked by the build: word for word, once, at the cited section of the stored translation.

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