Egypt's queen, Cleopatra was among many other things, noted for her great beauty. In 1963, Joseph L. Mankiewicz cast Elizabeth Taylor (at that point in time, considered possibly the most beautiful actress in the world) as the queen in his big screen version of this tragic historic tale. In the past couple of years, I saw a restored version of it, and I can see where people ranging from Gianni Versace and Michael Jackson were influenced by La Liz and the movie's production design. I bring this up for on this date in 30 BC, Cleopatra committed suicide after her lover, Mark Anthony was defeated at the Battle of Actium. If you go by Shakespeare's account of history, the lovers Antony and Cleopatra pulled that old Romeo and Juliet routine where one of them fakes her death, and the other, thinking his one true love is gone, despairs and really kills himself. They're briefly reunited in tombs and mausoleums... such is the stuff of drama - the history and its inheren...