On page 47, Asterix offers Cleopatra further Gaulish help, and suggests that they could build a channel between the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. Her sculptor demurs: "Oh well, you know what I think of modern art." This is a reference to the permanent profiles in Ancient Egyptian art. On page 30, Cleopatra says she's tired of having her portrait done in profile and wants to be portrayed in three-quarter face. When Edifis introduces the Gauls to his scribe, he says that he "speaks several living languages such as Latin, Greek (Ancient), Celtic and Gaulish." The joke is that all these languages (with the exception of Celtic, or Gaelic, which is still spoken in Ireland, in selected areas ( Irish Gaelic) and Scotland ( Scottish Gaelic) are now dead languages.
When they flee, a small caption says they are now using the tactic of the hare, an allusion to the fable of the The Tortoise and the Hare.
On page 39, the Roman legion makes use of a " tortoise attack". In the English version, the newspaper is the Daily Nile ( The Daily Mail), and the comics are "Pnuts" ( Peanuts) and "Ptarzan" ( Tarzan). In the original French, Artifis reads a newspaper called the Pharaon Soir (a pun on the France Soir) and the feuilleton Chère-Bibis can be viewed on the back page. On page 23, while looking at the pyramids, Getafix says to Obelix: "20 centuries look down upon us." This alludes to Napoleon, who told his soldiers in front of the pyramids, "40 centuries look down upon you."
On page 10, Edifis's scribe says "anyone who can draw can write." This is a reference to an advertising slogan of the ABC school of drawing and painting, "Si vous savez écrire, vous savez dessiner" ("If you can write, you can draw"), a joke about the graphical nature of Egyptian hieroglyphs. This is an allusion to the French philosopher Blaise Pascal, who had articulated the historical significance of Cleopatra's beauty by saying in his Pensées that "Cleopatra's nose, had it been shorter, the whole face of the world would have been changed". The book's cover parodies the film's poster.Ī running gag throughout the album (and also later albums) is Cleopatra's beautiful nose, which is admired by everyone. However, the book itself is largely an extended parody of the then-recent film Cleopatra, starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. The title alludes to William Shakespeare's play Antony and Cleopatra. Edifis and Artifis reconcile and agree to build pyramids together, and Cleopatra gives Getafix some papyrus manuscripts from the Library of Alexandria as a gift. Cleopatra wins her bet and covers Edifis with gold. Caesar's legions are required to fix the damage they caused (without any magic potion to help them) and the palace is successfully completed on time. A furious Cleopatra then hurries to the construction site to berate Caesar. In desperation, Asterix and Dogmatix deliver the news to Cleopatra. The Gauls fight off the Roman soldiers, but the commanding officer proceeds to shell the building with his catapults. Just before the palace is due to be completed, Caesar intervenes by sending legions to try to arrest the Gauls, after he realises the three Gauls are in Egypt when a spy disguises himself as a worker, and sees the effects of the magic potion. Artfis and his henchman are forced to work on the palace, but without magic potion. Edifis is kidnapped and hidden in a sarcophagus in the house of Artifis, but Obelix frees him. Artifis bribes the stone-delivery man to throw his quarry away, before Obelix beats him up, causing him to reveal the truth, a henchman tries to lock the Gauls inside a pyramid but Dogmatix helps him find his way out, he tries to frame the Gauls by sending a poisoned cake to Cleopatra, but Getafix makes an antidote enabling the Gauls to eat it, then cures the taster and claims eating too much rich food was giving him a bad stomach. However Getafix gives the workers magic potion. Artifis tells the workers to demand less whipping, which would slow construction. Thanks to Getafix and his magic potion, the work goes forward on schedule, despite multiple attempts by Edifis's arch rival, Artifis, to sabotage the construction after Edifis says he doesn't want to get help of them. She promises Edifis that if he builds the palace on time he will be covered with gold if he fails, he will be a meal for the sacred crocodiles.Ī worried Edifis thinks he needs magic to help him, enlists the help of the Gauls, Asterix, Obelix, Getafix, and Dogmatix. Cleopatra summons Edifis, who claims to be the best architect in Egypt. Infuriated, Cleopatra makes a wager with Caesar promising to build a new palace in Alexandria within three months. The book begins with an argument between Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, and Julius Caesar, in which Caesar belittles the accomplishments of the Egyptian people.