Antony And Cleopatra Roman History
Mark Antony was one of the most popular and important political leaders and army generals in the history of Rome. He was the general and a close friend of Julius Caesar. After Caesar’s assassination, Antony occupied the eastern province, where he called for Cleopatra. |
Although she ignored the first two summonses sent to her by Antony, she met him the third time dressed as the Goddess of Venus. She had decided to seduce Antony to remain in power for the wellbeing of her country. Mesmerized by her charm, Mark Antony fell in love with her. When Cleopatra when to Alexandria, Antony followed her and offered a military partnership to her in 41 BC.
After Antony’s wife, Fulvia, attacked Octavius in his name in a hope to get him back from Cleopatra, Antony returned to Rome. After Fulvia’s death, Antony married Octavia, sister of Octavius. In the meanwhile, Cleopatra had given birth to twins and also extended her power to become even wealthier than before. Cleopatra is also said to have supported Antony when his army was being defeated. Antony returned to her in Alexandria and married her officially in 37 BC. Thus, Antony and Cleopatra Roman history is remarkable because of the significance of their love affair and marriage in the political developments in Rome and Egypt. Their marriage was undoubtedly a political affair. While Cleopatra had huge amounts of money to support Antony, the latter had the power to retain her position in Egypt.
However, Antony’s marriage with Cleopatra strained his relations with Octavius, who soon declared a war upon them. When Antony’s armies were failing, he decided to leave the battle field and sent a word about it to Cleopatra. However, after Octavius spread rumors that Cleopatra betrayed Antony, Antony went back to work out an agreement with Octavius to save himself from humiliation. Meanwhile, Cleopatra had locked herself in her tomb and rumors spread that she committed suicide. Upon hearing the rumors of her death, Antony committed suicide. After Antony’s death, Cleopatra knew that she would be captured and made a slave by the Romans. To save her dignity, she committed suicide in 30 BC by inducing an asp to bite her arm.
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