Comments on: Not just another pretty face… http://www.eloquentpeasant.com/2007/02/16/not-just-another-pretty-face/ An Egyptologist's blog about everything ancient Egyptian Mon, 09 Jan 2012 14:41:15 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Margaret http://www.eloquentpeasant.com/2007/02/16/not-just-another-pretty-face/comment-page-1/#comment-6 Margaret Mon, 19 Feb 2007 10:21:33 +0000 http://www.eloquentpeasant.com/2007/02/16/not-just-another-pretty-face/#comment-6 Well, although it's really not my area of expertise, it appears that ancient Greek and Roman writers often used the name Troglodyte to refer to specific peoples but not always the same ones! The people most likely referred to in connection with Cleopatra were a nomadic group from the upper reaches of the Nile, most likely in Ethopia, described as 'Troglodytes' by a number of Classical writers, such as Herodotus, Agatharchides, and Aristotle. Herodotus describes them thus in his Histories, translated here by George Rawlinson: 'The Garamantians have four-horse chariots, in which they chase the Troglodyte Ethiopians, who of all the nations whereof any account has reached our ears are by far the swiftest of foot. The Troglodytes feed on serpents, lizards, and other similar reptiles. Their language is unlike that of any other people; it sounds like the screeching of bats.' So I guess that makes it even more impressive if Cleopatra learned to speak it! Check out: http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Troglodytes Well, although it’s really not my area of expertise, it appears that ancient Greek and Roman writers often used the name Troglodyte to refer to specific peoples but not always the same ones! The people most likely referred to in connection with Cleopatra were a nomadic group from the upper reaches of the Nile, most likely in Ethopia, described as ‘Troglodytes’ by a number of Classical writers, such as Herodotus, Agatharchides, and Aristotle.

Herodotus describes them thus in his Histories, translated here by George Rawlinson: ‘The Garamantians have four-horse chariots, in which they chase the Troglodyte Ethiopians, who of all the nations whereof any account has reached our ears are by far the swiftest of foot. The Troglodytes feed on serpents, lizards, and other similar reptiles. Their language is unlike that of any other people; it sounds like the screeching of bats.’

So I guess that makes it even more impressive if Cleopatra learned to speak it! Check out: http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Troglodytes

]]> By: jbrandt http://www.eloquentpeasant.com/2007/02/16/not-just-another-pretty-face/comment-page-1/#comment-5 jbrandt Sun, 18 Feb 2007 02:13:23 +0000 http://www.eloquentpeasant.com/2007/02/16/not-just-another-pretty-face/#comment-5 So were the Troglodytes an actual nationality or race, or does it just mean that she spoke lots of languages including the relatively obscure tongues of people who didn't fit into the other categories and who might have, coincidentally, lived in caves? So were the Troglodytes an actual nationality or race, or does it just mean that she spoke lots of languages including the relatively obscure tongues of people who didn’t fit into the other categories and who might have, coincidentally, lived in caves?

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