Is it possible to trace one's ancestry back to Cleopatra?

[Elsa]

I sometimes read about people who claim to be descendants of Cleopatra, Julius Caesar or some other ancient celebrity. Is it possible to trace one's ancestry back to a particular historical figure from antiquity? I suspect not, because of a lack of reliable genealogical records and also the issue of misattributed paternity.

[ab000]

Possible in the sense that they might have the same dna they won't be a direct descendant. Unless they can make that up with physical evidence.

[Not a Cop]

Welll theoretically it is possible,although if only the figure was real. As far as i know nowdays it's not so hard to trace your ancestors up to XIV or XV century in Germany for example.

For example Japanese royal family can track their line up to 660 B.C., which is pretty much antiquity

[Ouistreham]

No.
Many Italian noble houses claim an ancestry in Ancient Roman aristocracy, but for all of them there are several generations of uncertainty at some point, in the dark ages.
Europe's oldest documented lineages are those descended from Frankish king Louis I (Clovis, Chlodwig) but that doesn't lead further back than to the 5th century.

[ab000]

Some people claim to be the direct descendants of the Phoenicians or like the Kalash claim to be the descendants of Alexander the Great's foot soldier's.

[SardiniaAtlantis]

I sometimes read about people who claim to be descendants of Cleopatra, Julius Caesar or some other ancient celebrity. Is it possible to trace one's ancestry back to a particular historical figure from antiquity? I suspect not, because of a lack of reliable genealogical records and also the issue of misattributed paternity.

Very difficult...and only possible in SOME cases. When there has been physical evidence to survive or a proven unbroken chain of descent that has been well recorded long enough to test that physical evidence.. Either Way something physical needs to be left behind that is well established and testable. So I am sorry Novella... you may not be able to prove you descend from Cleopatra and Loki from Mark Anthony. :/

[Lusos]

Well a branch of my family Is traced back to Circa 900.
Before that date Is complicated because the names were also spelled different.
Per example;Gomes from that date Guma before.

[SexyLionMan]

It’s possible and Cleopatra was 33/64 Macedonian, 5/64 Afghan Sogdian (Kangju) same as me, 1/8 Pontic, 1/8 Syrian, 3/32 Greek and 1/16 Unknown Ancestry.

[apcar]

See the Wiki on descent from antiquity.

For Europe there are no descents from antiquity that can be histroically verified. The furthest you can get back is to around 500 AD. Then there is a gap for the dark ages. There is a historically proven line from about 700 AD back to Armenian kings of antiquity, but I doubt there is any paper trial that can take you back to those cira 700 AD ancestors.

There are a lot of junk genealogies floating aboug, usually just names of men, going back sometimes thousands of years and often just kings, which is highly unlikely. The Anglo-Saxon kings are traced back to Woden; many spurious British genealogies go back to "Brutus the Trojan" and then back to Adam and Eve; as well as containing Joseph of Arimathea (the man who buried Jesus) as living in Britain. Other from Europe list vauge European tribes and again end up with Adam and Eve.

I don't know what records are on offer in other parts of the world, but I suspect if there are any reliable lines that can go back before 1 AD that they'd be from Japan or China.