Big Noses

Cleopatra

"CLEOPATRA's nose, had it been shorter, the whole face of the world would have been changed." So wrote philosopherBlaise Pascal in Pensées. No one knows precisely what Cleopatra looked like, but legend has it that the beguiling queen of Egypt had an extra-large nose which was part of her exotic beauty. Her charms were enough to attract Julius Caesar and then Mark Antony, who became her lover and political ally. Their relationship helped lead to civil war between Antony and another Roman leader, Octavian, who finally crushed Antony's forces in the naval battle of Actium. Octavian then assumed total control of Rome, becomingCaesar Augustus (and prompting Pascal's remark 16 centuries later).