Rot palace spread about ancient queen (9)

I believe the answer is:

cleopatra

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'ancient queen' is the definition.
'Cleopatra' can be an answer for 'queen' (Cleopatra is an example). I'm not certain of the 'ancient' bit.

'rot palace spread' is the wordplay.
'spread' indicates an anagram.
'rot'+'palace'='rotpalace'
'rotpalace' is an anagram of 'CLEOPATRA'.

'about' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for cleopatra that I've seen before include "Heroine" , "Poet Clara is a queen" , "Good part for actress" , "Needlewoman" , "beauty of old" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.

Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.