Cleopatra's Daughter by Michelle Moran

Everyone has heard of Cleopatra the fabled Queen of the Nile and her love for first Julius Caesar and then the dashing, if unreliable, Mark Anthony. Also well known is her son by Julius named Caesarion and murdered by Octavian following his victory at the Battle of Actium. However, few including myself were aware of her three children by Mark Anthony. Twins Alexander Helios and Cleopatra Selene and the youngest, Ptolemy. Ptolemy dies as they are transported to Rome but Alexander and Selene live to be paraded through the streets in Octavians Triumph. Afterwards, although they are kept in luxurious conditions in the house of Octavians sister, they are nonetheless prisoners whose fate will be decided as a matter of political policy. Selene, through whom the story is told, meets Prince Juba who is Caesars bodyguard despite being the son of King Juba of Numidia who was defeated and executed by Caesar. He tells Selene that her only chance of survival is to make herself useful to Caesar which she does by using her talent for drawing in the design of public buildings that he is funding. Michelle Moran provides us with a very colourful and entertaining account of life at the Court of Rome's first Emperor, luxurious and priviledged to outsiders but full of mistrust and fear for those within. A truly excellent novel.