Mark Antony, detail of a marble bust; in the Vatican Museum.
(click to enlarge)
Mark Antony, detail of a marble bust; in the Vatican Museum. (credit: Alinari/Art Resource, New York)
(born 83died August, 30 ) Roman general. After military service (5754), he joined the staff of his relative Julius Caesar. He helped Caesar drive Pompey from Italy in 49 and in 44 was made co-consul. After Caesar's assassination, Octavian (later Caesar Augustus) initially opposed Antony but later formed the Second Triumvirate with Antony and Lepidus. Antony helped defeat republican forces at Philippi and took control of Rome's eastern provinces. On a mission to Egypt to question Cleopatra about her loyalty, he became her lover (4140). He returned to Italy in 40 to settle differences with Octavian, whereupon he received command of the eastern provinces. To strengthen his position, he agreed to marry Octavian's sister Octavia. When relations with Octavian again collapsed, he headed for Syria and sent for Cleopatra for aid. Octavian sent Octavia to him, and, when Antony ordered her back to Rome, a fatal breach opened. The Triumvirate ended in 32, leaving Antony little support in Rome. He divorced Octavia, and Octavian declared war on Cleopatra. Antony lost the Battle of Actium, and he and Cleopatra fled to Egypt, pursued by Octavian. When resistance became futile, they committed suicide.

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Mark Antony

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Antony, Mark (correctly Marcus Antonius), (83-30 bc), Roman general and political leader who took part in the final destruction of the republic. Born in 83 bc, he served under Julius Caesar in Gaul and in the Roman civil war of 49-45 bc, and was consul when Caesar was assassinated in 44. In the following year, he formed the Second Triumvirate with Octavian and Lepidus. After his victory at Philippi, he took control of the east to campaign against the Parthians. Having reorganized the eastern empire into three provinces and five client kingdoms, he invaded Armenia in 37, but was forced to withdraw in 36 with disastrous losses. He reinvaded successfully in 34, but the propaganda value of this was negated by the quasi-triumph he held at Alexandria and his granting of client kingdoms to his mistress Cleopatra and their children. Octavian finally declared war on Cleopatra in 31 bc, leading to Antony's defeat in the naval battle off Actium in Greece. Antony and Cleopatra fled to Egypt where they took their own lives a year later.

Bibliography

  • Cassius Dio, 41-51.
  • Huzar, Eleanor G., Mark Antony, A Biography (London, 1986).
  • Plutarch, Life of Antony.
  • —— Appian Civil Wars, ii-v.
  • Syme, Ronald, The Roman Revolution (Oxford, 1939)

— N. Boris Rankov

The Roman politician and general Mark Antony (ca. 82-30 B.C.) was the chief rival of Octavian for the succession to the power of Julius Caesar.

Mark Antony (in Latin, Marcus Antonius) came from a distinguished Roman family. His grandfather had been one of the leading orators in Rome, and his father, Marcus Antonius Creticus, had died in an expedition against pirates. As a young man, Antony became involved in tribunate politics and the Roman East, two areas that were to play a major role in his later life. Among his closest friends was a young man, Curio, who as tribune was a key figure in the conflict between Caesar and the Senate and Pompey. In 58 Antony appears to have been among the supporters of the powerful and violent tribune Clodius.

Career with Caesar

Antony received his first overseas experience in the East when, during 57-55, he served with the Roman governor of Syria, Aulus Gabinius, and distinguished himself as a cavalry officer during campaigns in Palestine and Egypt. From there he went to Caesar in Gaul. In 52 he was elected quaestor in Rome and returned to Gaul to take part in the suppression of the revolt of Vercingetorix. In 50 he was elected tribune, an office that represented the people's interests.

Antony came into the office at a critical time. Caesar's command in Gaul was coming to an end, and a group in the Senate was set on bringing Caesar to trial for alleged misdeeds while consul and proconsul. Caesar depended upon the tribunes to look after his interests in Rome. Curio had played this role masterfully, and Antony tried to emulate him. He vetoed a decree that required Caesar to lay down his arms. When the Senate gave its magistrates special powers to "preserve the state," Antony felt that the measure would be used against him and fled to Caesar. By doing so, he gave Caesar the opportunity to assert his power under the pretext of claiming that he was defending the people's representatives, the tribunes, against the arrogant power of the Senate.

In the course of the civil wars against Pompey, the leader of the Senate faction, Antony was given several important military assignments and distinguished himself. After the victory of Caesar over Pompey at Pharsalus, Antony returned to Italy as Caesar's second in command. In 45 Caesar designated him as consul for 44.

Once again Antony found himself in a key position at an important time. Caesar was rapidly moving in the direction of monarchial government, in fact if not in name, and as a result a conspiracy formed to eliminate him. On March 15, 44, while one of the conspirators detained Antony outside the Senate, Caesar was assassinated. Antony was spared on the grounds that the aim of the conspiracy was to remove an illegal ruler but that slaying the consul, the chief legitimate officer of the Roman state, would besmirch the cause's image.

Second Triumvirate

With the death of Caesar, Antony was forced to fight politically a two-front war. One was against the conspirators. The other was with Caesar's supporters, who were undecided on how to avenge Caesar and also as to who would lead them. Antony initially adopted an attitude that was on the surface conciliatory toward the assassins of Caesar while he strengthened his power position. He might have ensured his supremacy without difficulty if the young Octavian, nephew of Caesar, had not appeared, claiming not only to be Caesar's adopted son and heir but also demanding Caesar's political legacy. Octavian was a man who not only could assume the mantle of Caesar as legitimately as Antony but could also be used by the opponents of Antony as a pawn. Antony tried to strengthen his position by attempting to gain a new 5-year command in Gaul, thus using Caesar's old power base. However, Octavian, stressing his own position as the heir of Caesar, skillfully enticed some of Antony's legions to his side, and Decimus Brutus refused to yield the governorship of Gaul. When Antony attempted to attack Brutus at Mutina (modern Modena), he was in turn attacked by the armies of Octavian and the consuls. He was defeated and forced to retreat north.

In the following months Antony strengthened himself with the armies of the western provinces; while Octavian, realizing that the Senate was trying to use him, began to make political overtures to Antony. The result was the formation of the second triumvirate of Antony, Octavian, and Lepidus. Unlike the first triumvirate of Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus, which was a mere political alliance, this became a constitutionally established organ for ruling the state.

One of the first tasks undertaken by the group was the proscription of leading enemies. The most important of those killed was M. Tullius Cicero, hated by Antony because of his vitriolic oratorical assaults. Antony has often been blamed for these executions. However, this may reflect the propaganda of Octavian, who after the fact wanted to play down his role in the bloody events of these years.

Antony and Octavian now moved eastward to face the army of the conspirators led by Brutus and Cassius. The two forces met at Philippi in 42, and Antony's military skill carried the day.

Antony and Cleopatra

After this battle Antony's career entered its most famous period. While Octavian returned to settle veterans in Italy, Antony went east to order affairs in these provinces. He also prepared a war against Parthia, and needing Egyptian support he summoned Cleopatra, the Ptolemaic queen of Egypt, to Tarsus in 41. An immediate romance followed. This was interrupted when the news arrived that Antony's brother and wife were openly defying Octavian in Italy. Antony moved west and it looked as though fighting would erupt. However, a peace was patched up at Brindisi in 40 and sealed by the wedding of Antony with Octavian's sister, Octavia, after the death of Antony's first wife.

Antony went east again and, except for a return in 37 to aid Octavian against the pirate Sextus Pompey, remained there. In 36 Antony again took up his affair with Cleopatra. He found a complex situation in the East. The area had been seriously disturbed by the wars of Caesar and Pompey and the exactions of Brutus and Cassius. Furthermore, the Parthians were attacking Roman territory. Antony seems to have established good relations with the local dynasts and created for himself a certain amount of popularity, even though his financial exaction must have lain heavily on the provincials. His generals were successful in beating back the Parthians, although an expedition which Antony undertook to Parthia itself turned into a disaster.

In the meantime he was becoming increasingly involved with Cleopatra, politically as well as romantically. Cleopatra saw him as a wonderful opportunity to revive the past glories of the Ptolemies. What the ideas of Antony were is not clear. The picture of Antony enslaved to the Egyptian queen was in part the result of the propaganda efforts of Octavian. However, he certainly was dependent on Cleopatra for money, and he did make territorial concessions and grants of titles to Cleopatra's family.

At the close of 33 the second triumvirate legally came to an end. At the same time the crisis between Octavian and Antony was coming to a head. Antony still had support in Rome. However, Octavian played his cards well, raising public indignation by announcing Antony's divorce of Octavia for Cleopatra, reading Antony's will in which his strong ties to Cleopatra were stressed, and circulating such rumors as Antony's plans to move the capital to Alexandria.

Octavian systematically rallied the support of Italy, while Antony's Roman friends had mixed emotions about waging war on the side of the Egyptian queen. The two men and their armies met off Greece at Actium on Sept. 2, 31. In a confused battle the fleet of Antony was routed. With Cleopatra he fled back to Egypt, where he committed suicide upon the arrival of Octavian.

Further Reading

Ancient sources on Mark Antony are Cicero's Philippics, which presents a hostile view, and Plutarch's Lives. Arthur Weigall, The Life and Times of Marc Antony (1931), is a lively biography. R. Syme, The Roman Revolution (1939; corrected repr. 1952), is still the best work for placing Antony in his period. See also Frank Burr Marsh, A History of the Roman World from 146 to 30 B.C. (1935; 2d ed. rev. 1953), and Hans Volkmann, Cleopatra: A Study in Politics and Propaganda (1953; trans. 1958).

Antony, Mark (Marcus Antonius) (c.82–30 BC), Roman general and statesman, grandson of Marcus Antonius (above). He was an officer of Julius Caesar in the wars in Gaul and against Pompey, and after Caesar's assassination in 44 his eloquence won over the people, so that he was in a favourable position to take over the leadership of the Caesarians. However, his leadership was threatened by Caesar's heir Octavian, who sided with the senate in opposition to Antony. Civil war broke out between Caesarians and republicans. It was at this time that Cicero ((1) 5) delivered his speeches against Antony known as the Philippics, and powerfully contributed to raising the republican opposition to him. Antony was defeated by the republican Decimus Brutus at the battle of Mutina in 43. At this time Octavian had joined forces with the senate, but after Mutina the differences between him and Antony were settled, and Octavian, Antony, and Lepidus were appointed as a triumvirate to rule for five years (this period was later extended for another five years). In 42 Antony, sharing the command with Octavian, defeated the republicans Marcus Brutus and Cassius at Philippi. Afterwards a division of the Roman world was made, in which the East was assigned to Antony, the West to Octavian (Lepidus having diminished in importance). But hostilities soon broke out between the two leaders, temporarily settled by the treaty of Brundisium in 40, and by the marriage of Antony to Octavian's sister Octavia (Antony's wife Fulvia having died in 40). This marriage interrupted his liaison with Cleopatra, queen of Egypt, which had begun when he met her at Tarsus in Cilicia in 41. Their association was resumed in 37 and they had three children. On the last day of 33 the agreement between Antony and Octavian came to an end, and in the following year he divorced Octavia. Having alienated the sympathy of Rome he gave Octavian the opportunity to declare a national war against Cleopatra. The result was decided by Octavian's victory in the sea-battle at Actium in 31. In 30 Octavian invaded Egypt; Alexandria capitulated, and Antony took his own life. Shakespeare's play Antony and Cleopatra, based on Plutarch's Life of Antony, in which he is presented as a man who lost the world for love, may give a romantic and distorted view of events.

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Legatus
Marcus Antonius
M·ANTONIVS·M·F·M·N
MarkAntony1.jpg
Bust of Mark Antony (Vatican Museums)
Born January 14, 83 BC
Rome, Roman Republic
Died August 1, 30 BC (aged 53)
Alexandria, Ptolemaic Kingdom
Allegiance Roman Millitary banner.svg Roman Republic
Years of service 54–30 BC
Rank General
Commands held Roman army
Battles/wars Gallic Wars
Caesar's civil war
Battle of Pharsalus
Roman-Parthian Wars
Antony's war on Parthia
Post-Caesarian civil war
Battle of Mutina
Liberators' civil war
Battle of Philippi
Final War of the Roman Republic
Battle of Actium
Other work Consul of the Roman Republic 44 BC and 34 BC, Master of the Horse, Quaestor, Augur, Tribune
Rmn-social-header-1-.svg
These articles cover Ancient Rome and the fall of the Republic
Mark Antony, Cleopatra VII, Assassination of Julius Caesar, Pompey, Theatre of Pompey, Cicero, First Triumvirate, Roman forum, Comitium, Rostra, Curia Julia, Curia Hostilia

Mark Antony (Latin: M·ANTONIVS·M·F·M·N)[note 1] (January 14, 83 BC – August 1, 30 BC) was a Roman politician and general. As a military commander and administrator, he was an important supporter and loyal friend of his mother's cousin Julius Caesar. After Caesar's assassination, Antony formed an official political alliance with Octavian (the future Augustus) and Lepidus, known to historians today as the Second Triumvirate.

The triumvirate broke up in 33 BC. Disagreement between Octavian and Antony erupted into civil war, the final war of the Roman Republic, in 31 BC. Antony was defeated by Octavian at the naval Battle of Actium, and in a brief land battle at Alexandria. He and his lover Cleopatra committed suicide shortly thereafter. His career and defeat are significant in Rome's transformation from Republic to Empire.

Contents

Biography

Early life

A member of the Antonia clan (gens), Antony was born on January 14, 83 BC.[note 2][1][2] He was the homonymous and thus presumably the eldest son of Marcus Antonius Creticus (praetor 74 BC, proconsul 73–71 BC) and grandson of the noted orator Marcus Antonius (consul 99 BC, censor 97–6 BC) who had been murdered during the Marian Terror of the winter of 87–6 BC.[3]

Antony's father was incompetent and corrupt, and according to Cicero, he was only given power because he was incapable of using or abusing it effectively.[4] In 74 BC he was given imperium infinitum to defeat the pirates of the Mediterranean, but he died in Crete in 71 BC without making any significant progress.[5][3][4] Creticus had two other sons: Gaius (praetor 44 BC, born c.83 BC) and Lucius (quaestor 50 BC, consul 41 BC, born c.81 BC).

Antony's mother, Julia, was a daughter of Lucius Caesar (consul 90 BC, censor 89 BC). Upon the death of her first husband, she married Publius Cornelius Lentulus (consul 71 BC), an eminent patrician.[6] Lentulus, despite exploiting his political success for financial gain, was constantly in debt due to the extravagance of his lifestyle. He was a major figure in the second Catilinian conspiracy and was extrajudically killed on the orders of Cicero in 63 BC.[6]

Antony lived a dissipate lifestyle as a youth, and gained a reputation for heavy gambling.[5] According to Cicero, he had a homosexual relationship with Gaius Scribonius Curio.[7] There is little reliable information on his political activity as a young man, although it is known that he was an associate of Clodius.[8] He may also have been involved in the Lupercal cult, as he was referred to as a priest of this order later in life.[9]

In 58 BC, Antony travelled to Athens to study rhetoric and philosophy, escaping his creditors. The next year, he was summoned by Aulus Gabinius, proconsul of Syria, to take part in the campaigns against Aristobulus II in Judea, as the commander of a Gallic cavalry regiment.[10] Antony achieved important victories at Alexandrium and Machaerus.

Supporter of Caesar

In 54 BC, Antony became a staff officer in Caesar's armies in Gaul and Germany. He again proved to be a competent military leader in the Gallic Wars, but his personality quirks caused disruption. Antony and Caesar were the best of friends, as well as being fairly close relatives. Antony made himself ever available to assist Caesar in carrying out his military campaigns.

Raised by Caesar's influence to the offices of quaestor, augur, and tribune of the plebeians (50 BC), he supported the cause of his patron with great energy. Caesar's two proconsular commands, during a period of ten years, were expiring in 50 BC, and he wanted to return to Rome for the consular elections. But resistance from the conservative faction of the Roman Senate, led by Pompey, demanded that Caesar resign his proconsulship and the command of his armies before being allowed to seek re-election to the consulship.

This Caesar would not do, as such an act would at least temporarily render him a private citizen and thereby leave him open to prosecution for his acts while proconsul. It would also place him at the mercy of Pompey's armies. To prevent this occurrence Caesar bribed the plebeian tribune Curio to use his veto to prevent a senatorial decree which would deprive Caesar of his armies and provincial command, and then made sure Antony was elected tribune for the next term of office.

Antony exercised his tribunician veto, with the aim of preventing a senatorial decree declaring martial law against the veto, and was violently expelled from the senate with another Caesar adherent, Cassius, who was also a tribune of the plebs. Caesar crossed the river Rubicon upon hearing of these affairs which began the Republican civil war. Antony left Rome and joined Caesar and his armies at Ariminium, where he was presented to Caesar's soldiers still bloody and bruised as an example of the illegalities that his political opponents were perpetrating, and as a casus belli.

Tribunes of the Plebs were meant to be untouchable and their veto inalienable according to the Roman mos maiorum (although there was a grey line as to what extent this existed in the declaration of and during martial law). Antony commanded Italy whilst Caesar destroyed Pompey's legions in Spain, and led the reinforcements to Greece, before commanding the right wing of Caesar's armies at Pharsalus.

Administrator of Italy

When Caesar became dictator for a second time, Antony was made Master of the Horse, and in this capacity he remained in Italy as the peninsula's administrator in 47 BC, while Caesar was fighting the last Pompeians, who had taken refuge in the province of Africa. But Antony's skills as an administrator were a poor match for his generalship, and he seized the opportunity of indulging in the most extravagant excesses, depicted by Cicero in the Philippics. In 46 BC he seems to have taken offense because Caesar insisted on payment for the property of Pompey which Antony professedly had purchased, but had in fact simply appropriated.

Conflict soon arose, and, as on other occasions, Antony resorted to violence. Hundreds of citizens were killed and Rome itself descended into a state of anarchy. Caesar was most displeased with the whole affair and removed Antony from all political responsibilities. The two men did not see each other for two years. The estrangement was not of long continuance, with Antony meeting the dictator at Narbo (45 BC) and rejecting the suggestion of Trebonius that he should join in the conspiracy that was already afoot. Reconciliation arrived in 44 BC, when Antony was chosen as partner for Caesar's fifth consulship.

Whatever conflicts existed between the two men, Antony remained faithful to Caesar but it is worth mentioning that according to Plutarch (paragraph 13) Trebonius, one of the conspirators, had 'sounded him unobtrusively and cautiously...Antony had understood his drift...but had given him no encouragement: at the same time he had not reported the conversation to Caesar'. On February 15, 44 BC, during the Lupercalia festival, Antony publicly offered Caesar a diadem. This was an event fraught with meaning: a diadem was a symbol of a king, and in refusing it, Caesar demonstrated that he did not intend to assume the throne.

On March 14, 44 BC, Antony was alarmed when Cicero told him the gods would strike Caesar.[citation needed] Casca, Cicero and Cassius decided, in the night before the Assassination of Julius Caesar, that Mark Antony should stay alive.[11] The following day, the Ides of March, he went down to warn the dictator but the Liberatores reached Caesar first and he was assassinated on March 15, 44 BC. In the turmoil that surrounded the event, Antony escaped Rome dressed as a slave; fearing that the dictator's assassination would be the start of a bloodbath among his supporters. When this did not occur, he soon returned to Rome, discussing a truce with the assassins' faction. For a while, Antony, as consul, seemed to pursue peace and an end to the political tension. Following a speech by Cicero in the Senate, an amnesty was agreed for the assassins.

Then came the day of Caesar's funeral. As Caesar's ever-present second in command, co-consul and cousin, Antony wanted to give the eulogy. Brutus and Casius were reluctant at first, but Brutus decided it would be harmless, Cassius disagreed. In his speech, he made accusations of murder and ensured a permanent breach with the conspirators. Showing a talent for rhetoric and dramatic interpretation, Antony snatched the toga from Caesar's body to show the crowd the stab wounds, pointing at each and naming the authors, publicly shaming them.

During the eulogy he also read Caesar's will, which left most of his property to the people of Rome: whatever Caesar's real intentions had been, Antony presumably meant to demonstrate that contrary to the conspirators' assertions, Caesar had no intention of forming a royal dynasty.[citation needed] Public opinion turned, and that night, the Roman populace attacked the assassins' houses, forcing them to flee for their lives.

Enemy of the state and triumvirate

Roman aureus bearing the portraits of Mark Antony (left) and Octavian (right). Struck in 41 BC, this coin was issued to celebrate the establishment of the Second Triumvirate by Octavian, Antony and Marcus Lepidus in 43 BC. Both sides bear the inscription "III VIR R P C", meaning "One of Three Men for the Regulation of the Republic".[12]

Antony, left as sole Consul, surrounded himself with a bodyguard of Caesar's veterans and forced the senate to transfer to him the province of Cisalpine Gaul, which was then administered by Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus, one of the conspirators. Brutus refused to surrender the province and Antony set out to attack him in the beginning of 43 BC, besieging him at Mutina.

Encouraged by Cicero, the Senate denounced Antony and in January 43 they granted Octavian imperium (commanding power), which made his command of troops legal and sent him to relieve the siege, along with Aulus Hirtius and Gaius Vibius Pansa Caetronianus, the consuls for 43 BC. In April 43, Antony's forces were defeated at the Battles of Forum Gallorum and Mutina, forcing Antony to retreat to Transalpine Gaul. However, both consuls were killed, leaving Octavian in sole command of their armies.

When they knew that Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius were assembling an army in order to march on Rome, Antony, Octavian and Lepidus allied in November 43 BC, forming the Second Triumvirate to stop Caesar's assassins. Brutus and Cassius were defeated by Antony and Octavian at the Battle of Philippi in October 42 BC. After the battle, a new arrangement was made between the members of the Second Triumvirate: while Octavian returned to Rome, Antony went on to govern the east. Lepidus went on to govern Hispania and the province of Africa. The triumvirate's enemies were subjected to proscription including Mark Antony's archenemy Cicero who was killed on December 7, 43 BC.

Antony and Cleopatra

Antony and Cleopatra, by Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema (1883).

Antony summoned Cleopatra to Tarsus in October 41 BC. There they formed an alliance and became lovers. Antony returned to Alexandria with her, where he spent the winter of 41 BC – 40 BC. In spring 40 BC he was forced to return to Rome following news of his wife Fulvia's involvement in civil strife with Octavian on his behalf. Fulvia died while Antony was en-route to Sicyon (where Fulvia was exiled). Antony made peace with Octavian in September 40 BC and married Octavian's sister Octavia Minor.

The Parthian Empire had supported Brutus and Cassius in the civil war, sending forces which fought with them at Philippi; following Antony and Octavian's victory, the Parthians invaded Roman territory, occupying Syria, advancing into Asia Minor and installing Antigonus as puppet king in Judaea to replace the pro-Roman Hyrcanus. Antony sent his general Ventidius to oppose this invasion. Ventidius won a series of victories against the Parthians, killing the crown prince Pacorus and expelling them from the Roman territories they had seized.

Antony now planned to retaliate by invading Parthia, and secured an agreement from Octavian to supply him with extra troops for his campaign. With this military purpose on his mind, Antony sailed to Greece with Octavia, where he behaved in a most extravagant manner, assuming the attributes of the Greek god Dionysus in 39 BC. But the rebellion in Sicily of Sextus Pompeius, the last of the Pompeians, kept the army promised to Antony in Italy. With his plans again disrupted, Antony and Octavian quarreled once more. This time with the help of Octavia, a new treaty was signed in Tarentum in 38 BC. The triumvirate was renewed for a period of another five years (ending in 33 BC) and Octavian promised again to send legions to the East.

But by now, Antony was skeptical of Octavian's true support of his Parthian cause. Leaving Octavia pregnant with her second child Antonia in Rome, he sailed to Alexandria, where he expected funding from Cleopatra, the mother of his twins. The queen of Egypt lent him the money he needed for the army, and after capturing Jerusalem and surrounding areas in 37 BC, he installed Herod as puppet king of Judaea, replacing the Parthian appointee Antigonus.

Antony then invaded Parthian territory with an army of about 100,000 Roman and allied troops but the campaign proved a disaster. After defeats in battle, the desertion of his Armenian allies and his failure to capture Parthian strongholds convinced Antony to retreat, his army was further depleted by the hardships of its retreat through Armenia in the depths of winter, losing more than a quarter of its strength in the course of the campaign.

Meanwhile, in Rome, the triumvirate was no more. Octavian forced Lepidus to resign after the older triumvir attempted an ill-judged political move. Now in sole power, Octavian was occupied in wooing the traditional Republican aristocracy to his side. He married Livia and started to attack Antony in order to raise himself to power. He argued that Antony was a man of low morals to have left his faithful wife abandoned in Rome with the children to be with the promiscuous queen of Egypt. Antony was accused of everything, but most of all, of "going native", an unforgivable crime to the proud Romans. Several times Antony was summoned to Rome, but remained in Alexandria with Cleopatra.

A map of the Donations of Alexandria (by Mark Antony to Cleopatra and her children) in 34 BC.

Again with Egyptian money, Antony invaded Armenia, this time successfully. In the return, a mock Roman Triumph was celebrated in the streets of Alexandria. The parade through the city was a pastiche of Rome's most important military celebration. For the finale, the whole city was summoned to hear a very important political statement. Surrounded by Cleopatra and her children, Antony ended his alliance with Octavian.

He distributed kingdoms between his children: Alexander Helios was named king of Armenia, Media and Parthia (which were never conquered by Rome), his twin Selene got Cyrenaica and Libya, and the young Ptolemy Philadelphus was awarded Syria and Cilicia. As for Cleopatra, she was proclaimed Queen of Kings and Queen of Egypt, to rule with Caesarion (Ptolemy XV Caesar, son of Cleopatra by Julius Caesar), King of Kings and King of Egypt. Most important of all, Caesarion was declared legitimate son and heir of Caesar. These proclamations were known as the Donations of Alexandria and caused a fatal breach in Antony's relations with Rome.

While the distribution of nations among Cleopatra's children was hardly a conciliatory gesture, it did not pose an immediate threat to Octavian's political position. Far more dangerous was the acknowledgment of Caesarion as legitimate and heir to Caesar's name. Octavian's base of power was his link with Caesar through adoption, which granted him much-needed popularity and loyalty of the legions. To see this convenient situation attacked by a child borne by the richest woman in the world was something Octavian could not accept. The triumvirate expired on the last day of 33 BC and was not renewed. Another civil war was beginning.

The Battle of Actium, by Lorenzo Castro, 1672, National Maritime Museum, London.

During 33 and 32 BC, a propaganda war was fought in the political arena of Rome, with accusations flying between sides. Antony (in Egypt) divorced Octavia and accused Octavian of being a social upstart, of usurping power, and of forging the adoption papers by Caesar. Octavian responded with treason charges: of illegally keeping provinces that should be given to other men by lots, as was Rome's tradition, and of starting wars against foreign nations (Armenia and Parthia) without the consent of the Senate.

Antony was also held responsible for Sextus Pompeius' execution with no trial. In 32 BC, the Senate deprived him of his powers and declared war against Cleopatra – not Antony, because Octavian had no wish to advertise his role in perpetuating Rome's internecine bloodshed. Both consuls, Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus and Gaius Sosius, and a third of the Senate abandoned Rome to meet Antony and Cleopatra in Greece.

In 31 BC, the war started. Octavian's loyal and talented general Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa captured the Greek city and naval port of Methone, loyal to Antony. The enormous popularity of Octavian with the legions secured the defection of the provinces of Cyrenaica and Greece to his side. On September 2, the naval battle of Actium took place. Antony and Cleopatra's navy was destroyed, and they were forced to escape to Egypt with 60 ships.

Octavian, now close to absolute power, did not intend to give them rest. In August 30 BC, assisted by Agrippa, he invaded Egypt. With no other refuge to escape to, Antony committed suicide by stabbing himself with his sword in the mistaken belief that Cleopatra had already done so. When he found out that Cleopatra was still alive, his friends brought him to Cleopatra's monument in which she was hiding, and he died in her arms.

Cleopatra was allowed to conduct Antony's burial rites after she had been captured by Octavian. Realising that she was destined for Octavian's triumph in Rome, she made several attempts to take her life and was finally successful in mid-August. Octavian had Caesarion murdered, but he spared Antony's children by Cleopatra, who were paraded through the streets of Rome. Antony's daughters by Octavia were spared, as was his son, Iullus Antonius. But his elder son, Marcus Antonius Antyllus, was killed by Octavian's men while pleading for his life in the Caesareum.

Aftermath and legacy

Cicero's son, Cicero Minor, announced Antony's death to the senate. Antony's honours were revoked and his statues removed (damnatio memoriae). Cicero also made a decree that no member of the Antonii would ever bear the name Marcus again. “In this way Heaven entrusted the family of Cicero the final acts in the punishment of Antony.”[13]

When Antony died, Octavian became uncontested ruler of Rome. In the following years, Octavian, who was known as Augustus after 27 BC, managed to accumulate in his person all administrative, political, and military offices. When Augustus died in 14 AD, his political powers passed to his adopted son Tiberius; the Roman Principate had begun.

The rise of Caesar and the subsequent civil war between his two most powerful adherents effectively ended the credibility of the Roman oligarchy as a governing power and ensured that all future power struggles would centre upon which of two (or more) individuals would achieve supreme control of the government, rather than upon an individual in conflict with the Senate. Thus Antony, as Caesar's key adherent and one of the two men around whom power coalesced following his assassination, was one of the three men chiefly responsible for the fall of the Roman Republic.

Marriages and issue

Antony had been married in succession to Fadia, Antonia, Fulvia, Octavia and Cleopatra, and left behind him a number of children. Through his daughters by Octavia, he would be ancestor to the Roman Emperors Caligula, Claudius and Nero.

  1. Marriage to Fadia, a daughter of a freedman. According to Cicero, Fadia bore Antony several children. Nothing is known about Fadia or their children. Cicero is the only Roman source that mentions Antony’s first wife.
  2. Marriage to first paternal cousin Antonia Hybrida Minor. According to Plutarch, Antony threw her out of his house in Rome, because she slept with his friend, the tribune Publius Cornelius Dolabella. This occurred by 47 BC and Antony divorced her. By Antonia, he had a daughter:
  3. Marriage to Fulvia, by whom he had two sons:
  4. Marriage to Octavia the Younger, sister of Octavian, later Augustus; they had two daughters:
  5. Children with the Queen Cleopatra VII of Egypt, the former lover of Julius Caesar:

Descendants

Through his youngest daughters, Antony would become ancestor to most of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, the very family he had fought unsuccessfully to defeat. Through his eldest daughter, he would become ancestor to the long line of kings and co-rulers of the Bosporan Kingdom, the longest-living Roman client kingdom, as well as the rulers and royalty of several other Roman client states. Through his daughter by Cleopatra, Antony would become ancestor to the royal family of Mauretania, another Roman client kingdom, while through his sole surviving son Iullus, he would be ancestor to several famous Roman statesmen.

1. Antonia, born 50 BC, had 1 child
A. Pythodorida of Pontus, 30 BC or 29 BC – 38 AD, had 3 children
I. Artaxias III, King of Armenia, 13 BC – 35 AD, died without issue
II. Polemon II, King of Pontus, 12 BC or 11 BC – 74 AD, died without issue
III. Antonia Tryphaena, Queen of Thrace, 10 BC – 55 AD, had 4 children
a. Rhoemetalces II, King of Thrace, died 38 AD, died without issue
b. Gepaepyris, Queen of the Bosporan Kingdom, had 2 children
i. Tiberius Julius Mithridates, King of the Bosporan Kingdom, died 68 AD, died without issue
ii. Tiberius Julius Cotys I, King of the Bosporan Kingdom, had 1 child
i. Tiberius Julius Rhescuporis I, King of the Bosporan Kingdom, died 90 AD, had 1 child
i. Tiberius Julius Sauromates I, King of the Bosporan Kingdom, had 1 child
i. Tiberius Julius Cotys II, King of the Bosporan Kingdom, had 1 child
i. Rhoemetalces, King of the Bosporan Kingdom, died 153 AD, had 1 child
i. Eupator, King of the Bosporan Kingdom, died 174 AD, had 1 child
i. Tiberius Julius Sauromates II, King of the Bosporan Kingdom, died 210 AD or 211 AD, had 2 children
i. Tiberius Julius Rhescuporis II, King of the Bosporan Kingdom, died 227 AD, had 1 child
i. Tiberius Julius Rhescuporis III,King of the Bosporan Kingdom, died 227 AD
ii. Tiberius Julius Cotys III, King of the Bosporan Kingdom, died 235 AD, had 3 children
i. Tiberius Julius Sauromates III, King of the Bosporan Kingdom, died 232 AD
ii. Tiberius Julius Rhescuporis IV, King of the Bosporan Kingdom, died 235 AD
iii. Tiberius Julius Ininthimeus, King of the Bosporan Kingdom, died 240 AD, had 1 child
i. Tiberius Julius Rhescuporis V, King of the Bosporan Kingdom, died 276 AD, had 3 children
i. Tiberius Julius Pharsanzes, King of the Bosporan Kingdom, died 254 AD
ii. Synges, King of the Bosporan Kingdom, died 276 AD
iii. Tiberius Julius Teiranes, King of the Bosporan Kingdom, died 279 AD, had 2 children
i. Tiberius Julius Sauromates IV, King of the Bosporan Kingdom, died 276 AD
ii. Theothorses, King of the Bosporan Kingdom, died 309 AD, had 3 children
i. Tiberius Julius Rhescuporis VI, King of the Bosporan Kingdom, died 342 AD
ii. Rhadamsades, King of the Bosporan Kingdom, died 323 AD
iii. Nana, Queen of Caucasian Iberia, died 363 AD
i. Rev II of Iberia
ii. Aspacures II of Iberia
c. Cotys IX, King of Lesser Armenia
d. Pythodoris II of Thrace, died without issue
2. Marcus Antonius Antyllus, 47 BC – 30 BC, died without issue
3. Iullus Antonius, 43 BC – 2 BC, had 3 children
A. Lucius Antonius, 20 BC – 34 AD, had 2 children
I. Marcus Antonius Primus, 30/35 AD – after 81 AD
II. Antonia Postuma, born 34 AD
B. Gaius Antonius
C. Iulla Antonia, born after 19 BC
4. Prince Alexander Helios of Egypt, born 40 BC, died without issue (presumably)[14]
5. Cleopatra Selene, Queen of Mauretania, 40 BC – 6 AD, had 2 children
A. Ptolemy, King of Mauretania, 1 BC – 40 AD, had 1 child
I. Drusilla, Queen of Emesa, 38 AD – 79 AD, had 1 child
a. Gaius Julius Alexio, King of Emesa, had 1 child
i. Gaius Julius Fabia Sampsiceramus III Silas, King of Emesa, had at least 1 child[15]
B. Princess Drusilla of Mauretania, born 5 AD or 8 BC
6. Antonia Major, 39 BC – before 25 AD, had 3 children
A. Domitia Lepida the Elder, c. 19 BC – 59 AD, had 1 child
I. Quintus Haterius Antoninus
B. Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus, 17 BC – 40 AD, had 1 child
I. Nero (see line of Antonia Minor below)
C. Domitia Lepida the Younger, 10 BC – 54 AD, had 3 children
I. Marcus Valerius Messala Corvinus
II. Valeria Messalina, 17 AD or 20 AD – 48 AD, had 2 children
a. (Messalina was the mother of the two youngest children of the Roman Emperor Claudius listed below)
III. Faustus Cornelius Sulla Felix, 22 AD – 62 AD, had 1 child
a. a son (this child and the only child of the Claudia Antonia listed below are the same person)
7. Antonia Minor, 36 BC – 37 AD, had 3 children
A. Germanicus, 16 BC or 15 BC – 19 AD, had 6 children
I. Nero Caesar, 6 AD – 30 AD, died without issue
II. Drusus Caesar, 7 AD – 33 AD, died without issue
III. Caligula, 12 AD – 41 AD, had 1 child;
a. Julia Drusilla, 39 AD – 41 AD, died young
IV. Agrippina the Younger, 15 AD – 59, had 1 child;
a. Nero, 37 AD – 68 AD , had 1 child;
i. Claudia Augusta, Jan. 63 AD – April 63 AD, died young
V. Julia Drusilla, 16 AD – 38 AD, died without issue
VI. Julia Livilla, 18 AD – 42 AD, died without issue
B. Livilla, 13 BC – 31 AD, had three children
I. Julia, 5 AD – 43 AD, had 4 children
a. Gaius Rubellius Plautus, 33 AD – 62 AD, had several children[16]
b. Rubellia Bassa, born between 33 AD and 38 AD, had at least 1 child[17]
i. Octavius Laenas, had at least 1 child
i. Sergius Octavius Laenas Pontianus
c. Gaius Rubellius Blandus
d. Rubellius Drusus
II. Tiberius Julius Caesar Nero Gemellus, 19AD – 37 AD or 38 AD, died without issue
III. Tiberius Claudius Caesar Germanicus II Gemellus, 19 AD – 23 AD, died young
C. Claudius, 10 BC – 54 AD, had 4 children
I. Claudius Drusus, died young
II. Claudia Antonia, c. 30 AD – 66 AD, had 1 child
a. a son, died young
III. Claudia Octavia, 39 AD or 40AD – 62 AD, died without issue
IV. Tiberius Claudius Caesar Britannicus, 41 AD – 55 AD, died without issue
8. Prince Ptolemy Philadelphus of Egypt, 36 BC – 29 BC, died without issue (presumably)[14]

Artistic portrayals

Works in which the character of Mark Antony plays a central role include:

Dramas

Novels

Poetry

Notes

  1. ^ In full, Marcus Antonius Marci Filius Marci Nepos; in English, "Marcus Antonius, son of Marcus, grandson of Marcus".
  2. ^ In Life of Antony, 86.8, Plutarch implies that he was either born in 86 BC or 83 BC. The later date is generally accepted

References

  1. ^ Huzar 1978, pp. 10–11
  2. ^ Suerbaum 1980, 327–334.
  3. ^ a b Huzar 1978, p. 14
  4. ^ a b Huzar 1978, p. 15
  5. ^ a b Scullard 1980, p. 154
  6. ^ a b Huzar 1978, p. 17
  7. ^ Eyben 1993, p. 236
  8. ^ Eyben 1993, p. 58
  9. ^ Huzar 1978, p. 25
  10. ^ Weigall 1931, p. 102
  11. ^ Together with English Literature, p. 17, Rachna Sagar ISBN 978-81-8137-092-1
  12. ^ Sear, David R. "Common Legend Abbreviations On Roman Coins". http://www.davidrsear.com/academy/roman_legends.html. Retrieved August 24, 2007. 
  13. ^ Plutarch. Fall of the Roman Republic. London: Penguin Classics, 1958.
  14. ^ a b Roller, The World of Juba II and Kleopatra Selene p. 84–89
  15. ^ Zenobia, Queen of Palmyra claimed descent from Cleopatra VII of Egypt through Silas and his father Alexio
  16. ^ Their names are unknown, but it is known that all of them were killed by Nero, thus descent from this line is extinct
  17. ^ Sir Ronald Syme claims that Sergius Octavius Laenas Pontianus, consul in 131 under Emperor Hadrian, set up a dedication to his grandmother, Rubellia Bassa.

Primary sources

Secondary sources

External links

Media related to Marcus Antonius at Wikimedia Commons

Political offices
Preceded by
Gaius Julius Caesar without colleague
Consul of the Roman Republic
first with Gaius Julius Caesar,
then with Publius Cornelius Dolabella (suffectus)

44 BC
Succeeded by
Aulus Hirtius and Gaius Vibius Pansa Caetronianus
Preceded by
Lucius Cornificius and Sextus Pompeius
Consul of the Roman Republic
first with Lucius Scribonius Libo,
then with Aemilius Lepidus Paullus (suffectus)

34 BC
Succeeded by
Caesar (Octavianus) and Lucius Volcatius Tullus


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Lepidus, Marcus Aemilius (Roman leader)
Agrippa, Marcus Vipsanius (Roman soldier and statesman)
Brutus, Marcus Junius (Roman politician and general)