The significance of Cleopatra, Octavian, and Caesar
In 'The Pandorica Opens', River tries to pass herself off as Cleopatra, & her hallucinogenic lipstick causes a Roman soldier to hallucinate that the Doctor is Caesar. Caesar and Cleopatra were of course, lovers, and their relationship solidified Cleopatra's power on the throne.
That's very interesting.
Then there's Father Octavian back in the Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone. From Wikipedia:
....The result unforeseen by the assassins was that Caesar's death precipitated the end of the Roman Republic.[110] The Roman middle and lower classes, with whom Caesar was immensely popular and had been since before Gaul, became enraged that a small group of high-browed aristocrats had killed their champion. Antony, who had been drifting apart from Caesar, capitalised on the grief of the Roman mob and threatened to unleash them on the Optimates, perhaps with the intent of taking control of Rome himself. But, to his surprise and chagrin, Caesar had named his grandnephew Gaius Octavian his sole heir, bequeathing him the immensely potent Caesar name as well as making him one of the wealthiest citizens in the Republic
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_Caesar
Immensely potent names, eh?
Some more on Cleopatra:
After Caesar's assassination in 44 BC, she aligned with Mark Antony in opposition to Caesar's legal heir, Gaius Julius Caesar Octavian (later known as Augustus). With Antony, she bore the twins Cleopatra Selene II and Alexander Helios, and another son, Ptolemy Philadelphus. Her unions with her brothers produced no children. After losing the Battle of Actium to Octavian's forces, Antony committed suicide. Cleopatra followed suit, according to tradition killing herself by means of an asp bite on August 12, 30 BC.[3] She was briefly outlived by Caesarion, who was declared pharaoh, but he was soon killed on Octavian's orders. Egypt became the Roman province of Aegyptus.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleopatra_VII_of_Egypt
So, whats the deal with all this Roman imagery sorrounding River and the Doctor? Father Octavian? It's too obviously well thought out to be an accident. I wish I had more than a surface level education about Roman history so I could understand it better. Guess what I'm going to be reading about for the next six months...
EDIT//
I did some wiki-ing and put together all the ancient history references I could find.
http://kaptnjack.livejournal.com/250368.html#cutid1