Mark Antony was born in ca 82 BC in Egypt, the son of Marcus Antonius Crecitus of Rome and Julia, an old aristocratic family. At the age of twenty-five, he entered the army and served in Palestine and Egypt. Antony served in the Roman army in Gaul in 54-50 BC as one of Caesar's lieutenants and had been elected tribune in Rome as Caesar's representative. Antony was not only a general under Caesar; he was also a close friend of the great Roman emperor. Antony was a brilliant Roman soldier, statesman and orator. Caesar mentioned Antony in his will in which Antony recieved half, while Octavian was to recieve half of the Empire.

A civil war broke out between Pompey and Caesar in which Antony vigorously supported Caesar in the Senate. Caesar placed him in charge of Italy, which he again served 48-47. Antony served in command in Caesar's civil-war victory at Pharsalus in 48 BC as a division commander. During this civil war, Pompey, who was losing the war, fled to Egypt. Caesar followed him and upon his arrival was surprised to learn that the Egyptians had beheaded him four days prior to his arrival. It is at this time that Caesar met Cleopatra. Caesar remained in Egypt and aided Cleopatra in the defeat of her enemies.

In 44 BC, Antony became a consul under Caesar at which time he tried to secure for Caesar the title of king.

Bust of Mark Antony

A few years later, Cleopatra gave birth to a son, Caesarion, whom she claimed to be the son of Caesar. She journeyed to Rome in 46 BC, bringing her son to visit Caesar. She remained in Rome until Caesar's assasination in 44 BC. After returning to Egypt, Cleopatra conspired for the death of her brother so that her son, Caesarion, could inherit the Egyptian throne.

Cleopatra had developed a relationship with Julius Caesar as well as Mark Antony, the two greatest Roman leaders of their time. Cleopatra was not of Egyptian, but rather of Macedonian (Greek) descent. While not particularly beautiful, she was wise in the ways of romance and seduction. Born in Alexandria, Egypt in 69 BC, Cleopatra and her brother, Ptolemy XIII, succeeded the Egyptian throne.

Following Caesar's murder, Antony gave a powerful speech at Caesar's funeral and gathered a force to punish Caesar's assasins: Marcus Brutus and Cassius.

Upon Caesar's death, Antony proclaimed himself dictator. Octavian, Caesar's great-nephew and adopted son, emarged gradually as a rival of Antony's for the succession to Caesar. Antony left Rome to pursue the fleeing Brutus, murderer of Caesar. During Antony's absence from Rome, Octavian won the Senate's support.

At Octavian's request, the Senate sent an army against Antony. In April of 43, a coalition of Octavian, the two consuls of the year, and Decimus Brutus defeated Antony at Mutina/ Modena from which he escaped into the southern part (Narbonensis) of Transalpine Gaul where he was joined by a number of leading commanders including Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, who, had been in charge of Italy following Antony. Together, Antony and Lepidus marched on Rome.

Octavian met them and the three of them came to terms, agreeing to form a trumvirate, dividing the Roman Empire among themselves. In November of 43 BC, Antony formed the Second Triumvirate with Octavian (later Augustus) and Lepidus, which was to last for five years. Antony was given the eastern part of the empire, Octavian was given control over the western part of the empire, while Lepidus was placed in charge of Africa.

One of the first duties of the Triumvirate was to punish the assins of Caesar. In 42 BC, Marcus Brutus and Casius killed themselves after Antony defeated them at the Battle of Philippi, in which Antony greatly distinguished himself as a commander.

In 42 BC, Antony took Egypt as his share of the Empire. His need for Egyptian gold and grain led him to invite Cleopatra for negotiations in Tarsus in 41 BC. Following Caesar's death, Cleopatra had been hesitant about taking sides in the ensuing civil war that followed. Three times Antony had requested her to explain her position to him and twice she had refused. Antony had met Cleopatra in 46 BC when Caesar brought her to Rome. He too had fallen in love with the romance of Cleopatra. After the third summons, Cleopatra agreed to meet with Antony and in order to impress him, she arrived in a barge filled with women dressed as nymphs as well as young boys dressed as cupids while she, herself, appeared in the guise of Aprhrodite. In 40 BC, Cleopatra gave birth to twins. Antony was the father. Shortly after the twin's births, Cleopatra learned of Antony's marriage to Octavia.

Octavia

[Caesar and Pompey knew Cleopatra when she was] still a girl, and ignorant of the world,[3] but it was a different matter in the case of Antony, because she was ready to meet him when she had reached the time of life when women are most beautiful and have full understanding. So she prepared for him many gifts and money and adornment, of a magnitude appropriate to her great wealth and prosperous kingdom, but she put most of her hopes in her own personal magical arts and charms. 26. Although she had received many letters from Antony and his friends asking her to come to meet him [in Cilicia], she took his summons so lightly and laughed at it, that she sailed up the Cydnus river in a barge with a gilded stern, with purple sails outstretched, pulled by silver oars in time to piping accompanied by fifes and lyres. She herself lay under a gold-embroidered awning, got up like Aphrodite in a painting, with slaves dressed as Erotes fanning her on either side. Likewise the prettiest slave-women, dressed like Nereids and Graces, were at the tillers and the ropes. Remarkable perfumes from many censers surrounded them. People followed after Cleopatra on both sides of the river, and others came downstream from the city to see the sight. When finally the entire crowd in the marketplace had disappeared, Antony was left sitting on the tribunal by himself, and word got round that Aphrodite was leading a festival procession to Dionysus for the benefit of Asia. Antony sent messengers inviting her to dinner. She insisted instead that he come to her. Because he wished to show his readiness to accept her invitation and his friendship, he obeyed her summons and came. The preparations she had made for him were indescribable, and he was particularly struck by the number of lights. Many are said to have been lowered and lit up at the same time, ordered and arranged in such intricate relationships with one another, and patterns, some in squares, some in circles, so that it was a sight among the most noteworthy and beautiful.[4] 27. The next day he invited her in return, and he considered it a matter of honour to exceed the magnificence and care of her entertainment, but when he was outdone and vanquished by her in both respects, he was the first to make fun of himself for his bombast and rusticity. Cleopatra saw the soldierly and common nature of Antony's jokes, and she used the same soldier's humour towards him in a relaxed and confident manner. For (as they say) it was not because her beauty in itself was so striking that it stunned the onlooker, but the inescapable impression produced by daily contact with her: the attractiveness in the persuasiveness of her talk, and the character that surrounded her conversation was stimulating. It was a pleasure to hear the sound of her voice, and she tuned her tongue like a many-stringed instrument expertly to whatever language she chose, and only used interpreters to talk to a few foreigners; usually she gave responses by herself, as in the case of Ethiopians, Troglodytes, Hebrews, Arabs, Syrians, Medes, Parthians, and she is said to have learned the languages of many other peoples, although her predecessors on the throne did not bother to learn Egyptian, and some had even forgotten how to speak the Macedonian dialect.[5] 28. She took such hold over Antony, that while his wife Fulvia was carrying on the war in Rome against Octavian on his behalf, and the Parthian army had been gathered in Mesopotamia (the general of that Army, Labienus was now being addressed by the generals of the King of Persia as Commander of the Parthians) and was about to invade Syria, Antony was carried off by Cleopatra to Alexandria, and amused himself there with the pastimes of a boy on holiday and games, and spent and luxuriated away that (as Antiphon says) most precious of commodities, time ... Cleopatra   John William Waterhouse 29. Cleopatra used not (as Plato says) the four kinds of flattery,[6] but many, and whether Antony were in a serious or playful mood she could always produce some new pleasure or charm, and she kept watch over him and neither by day or night let him out of her sight. She played dice with him and hunted with him and watched him exercising with his weapons, and she roam around and wander about with him at night when he stood at people's doors and windows and made fun of the people inside, dressed in a slave-woman's outfit; for he also attempted to dress up like a slave. He returned from these expeditions having been mocked in return, and often beaten, although most people suspected who he was. But the Alexandrians got pleasure from his irreverence and accompanied it with good timing and good taste, enjoying his humour and saying that he showed his tragic face to the Romans and his comic one to them. Although it would be a waste of time to catalogue all of his amusements, one time he went fishing and had the misfortune not to catch anything while Cleopatra was present. So he ordered the fisherman secretly to dive underneath and attach fish that had already been caught to his hooks, but Cleopatra was not fooled after she saw him pull up two or three. She pretended to be amazed and told her friends and invited them come as observers on the next day. After a large audience had gathered on the fishing boats and Antony had lowered his line, Cleopatra told one of her slaves to get in ahead of the others and attach a salted fish from the Black Sea to his hook. When Antony thought he had caught something he pulled it up, and when (as might be expected) loud laughter followed, she said 'General, leave the fishing rod to us, the rulers of the Pharos and Canopus; your game is cities and kingdoms and countries'.

Antony and Cleopatra

With the Roman Empire at stake, both Antony and Octavian fought over control. Octavian won over much of Rome. One of the reasons that Antony went to Egypt was to gain help in his quest for leadership of the Empire. Egypt had wealth and control of much of Rome's corn supply. Cleopatra III was the present "Pharaoh" of Egypt, having been placed there by Caesar. She also had a child by Caesar, which could aspire to the throne.

Antony had earlier married Fulvia. Late in 40 BC, news reached him that Fulvia along with her brother, Antonius had attacked Octavian in her husband's name, hoping to ruin Antony's friendship with Octavian. The news forced Antony to return to Rome. Fulvia's army was defeated and she died soon thereafter. Antony and Octavia had a daughter, Antonia born in 36 BC in Rome.

Mark Antony coins

During Antony's stay in Rome, Cleopatra spent her time growing wealthier, building ships and enlarging her army. When Antony's army was failing, she gave some of her army supplies to him.

During Antony's stay in Rome, the two triumvirs were reconciled when Antony married Octavian's sister, Octavia. The marriage was political in nature, as Antony believed this would gain him some power in Rome and reconfirm his friendship with Octavian. Again, the Roman Empire was divided, with Antony taking the eastern provinces.

In 38, however, differences had arisen between Antony and Octavian and Antony sent Octavia back to Italy from Greece when he left again in 37 BC for the East and arranged for Cleopatra to join him in Syria. Cleopatra needed Antony in order to revive the Ptolemaic kingdom and Antony needed Egypt as a source of supplies and funds. Octavian, who had won against Sextus Pompeius, sent Octavia to Antony in Syria, along with troops and provisions. But the soldiers fell far short of the numbers Antony expected and he then made a future breach between the two leaders almost inevitable by ordering Octavia to return to Rome. He then married Cleopatra in 37 BC appointing her as ruler of Egypt, Cyprus, Crete and Syria. He also claimed the twins as his own children. Antony and Cleopatra had thrown their lots together and stood to make a stand against Octavian.

Antony and Cleopatra coins

Antony's marriage to Cleopatra was not only for love. It was also a political marriage in which Antony had access to the Egyptian wealth and Cleopatra had the great Roman, Antony, to protect her and defend Egypt.

Antony had angered many of the Romans by celebrating his victory over the Armenians in Alexandria rather than in Rome. He gave Cleopatra's son by Caesar, Caesarion, land and he also gave his illegitimate children by Cleopatra, land in northern Africa as well as in Armenia. Some of the land he gave the three children were not even in Roman control at the time. In this way, Antony was announcing that he would soon take over the entire empire, as well as these new lands. Upon hearing the news that Antony had given large portions of the eastern empire to Cleopatra and the three sons, the Roman Senate refused him any support. Cleopatra's liason with Antony had set in motion a final confrontation with their Roman enemies. In Rome, Octavian led a propaganda campaign naming Antony as a traitor, which led to a resolution of declaring war on Egypt.

In 32 BC, at the insistence of Octavian (who had already managed to have Lepidus deposed), the Senate deprived Antony of the right to rule and declared war on Antony and Cleopatra, officially ending the Triumvirate. Male heirs were important and Cleopatra had already given him two sons, while Octavia had given birth to one daughter. Antony would divorce Octavia in 32 BC after Octavian had declared war on both Antony and Cleopatra.

Antony marshalled his principal fleet in the gulf of Ambracia (northwestern Greece). Antony had five hundred ships and seventy thousand infantry, while Octavian had four hundred ships and eighty thousand infantry. But Octavian's admiral Agrippa and then Octavian himself, succeeded in sailing from Italy across the Ionian Sea and effecting landings, and Agrippa captured decisive points along the line. Antony's troops were inexperienced in naval battle techniques, while those of Octavian were seasoned in naval battles.

Due to a lack of unity and the inexperience of Antony's crews, the decisive battle was lost before it ever began. It took place off Actium, outside the Ambracian Gulf on 2 September 31 BC.

Battle of Actium

Antony suffered the inevitable defeat and realizing that he was losing the battle, he sent word to Cleopatra whose ships lay outside the area of the battle. Cleopatra broke through the enemy line with her sixty ships and joined by her lover, retreated to Egypt. Antony's ships soon followed them to Egypt.

Octavian spread rumors that Cleopatra had left him in the midst of the battle to die and that Antony had followed her, so great was her control over him. In an attempt to make up for his loss, Antony went to Octavian to negotiate an agreement. Cleopatra, in Egypt, locked herself into a temple she had constructed for herself, adding to the rumors of her death.

Within a year, Octavian reached Alexandria. In a desperate attempt, Cleopatra spread rumors of her own suicide. Antony, unaware of her plan, killed himself, thrusting himself upon his sword. His servants, having learned of Cleopatra's rouse, took the mortally wounded Antony to Cleopatra, where he died in her arms. Octavian, learning the whereabouts of Cleopatra, went to her tomb and captured her. Realizing that with the death of Antony, she could never become ruler of Egypt, Cleopatra took her own life by allowing an Egyptian scarob or asp to bite her. Two of her servants, who had smuggled the asp into her room, chose to die with her. Cleopatra was then thirty-nine years of age. She had ruled Egypt for twenty-two years and was the last of the Ptolemies to rule over Egypt.

Even before the death of Cleopatra, the Romans searched for, discovered and executed her son, Caesarion, fearing that he would one day claim himself to be Caesar's rightful heir.

Cleopatra   Graeco-Roman Museum in Alexandria, Egypt

Antony and Cleopatra had three children: Alexander Helios, Cleopatra Selene and a third son, Ptolemy Philadelphius.

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2. Mark Antony. Internet. http://library.thinkquest.org/J0112722/Cleopatra/Affairs/markantony.htm

3. Mark Antony, Roman General. Rodney R. Baird. 2000. Internet. http://www.ancientroute.com/people/Antony.htm

4. Cleopatra's Affairs with Mark Antony. Internet. http://www.norfacad.pvt.k12.va.us/project/cleopat/antony.htm

5. Mark Antony Marcus Antonius. The Macmillan Encyclopedia 2001 @ Market House Books, Ltd. 2000. Internet. xreter. http://www.xrefer.com/entry/509502

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7. A portrait of Cleopatra. Egypt. 1st cent. B.C. Plutarch, Live of Mark Antony 25.5-28.1,29.2d cent. A.D. G) Internet. http://www.uky.edu/ArtsSciences/Classics/wlgr/wlgr-publiclife175.html