Source: Legend Love Story
“Cleopatra: If it is love indeed, tell me how much.
Antony: There’s beggary in the love that can be reckoned.”
Above are the lines taken from the opening scene of Shakespeare’s play ‘Antony & Cleopatra”. When Cleopatra asks Antony how much he loves her, he replies that the love that can be fathomed, that can be grasped, isn’t real love at all. Love is unfathomable and its immeasurability makes anyone who claims to have ‘figured it out, a liar. Well, such as the love of these tragic lovers.
They are, without a doubt, one of history's most well-known pairs. Cleopatra VII Philopator was the queen of one ancient civilization, Egypt, and heir to the unparalleled cultural legacy of another, Greece while Marcus Antonius of Rome stood at the apex of power, raging to be the most powerful man in the known world.
For ages, their love story, their war together, their defeat, and finally, their suicides have been told and retold throughout history. They grew into fictional characters as a result of Shakespeare's play, and their story can now be classed with other tales of passionate but accursed romance, as tragic as the final moments of Romeo and Juliet.
Cleopatra: The Egyptian Queen
Cleopatra VII (69 BC-30 BC) was the last descendent of Ptolemies, the Macedonian Greek dynasty that, since the time of Alexander the Great, ruled Egypt for nearly 300 years. In addition, she was Egypt's last genuine pharaoh. The empire she reigned over included Egypt, Cyprus, a portion of modern-day Libya, and other Middle Eastern regions.
Source: Wikimedia Commons
Julius Caesar, the Roman dictator, assisted Cleopatra in becoming Egypt's sole ruler, and she became his mistress, birthing his son, Ptolemy XV Caesar ((also known as Caesarion), nine months after their first illicit rendezvous. When Caesar was killed, she turned to his right-hand man, Marcus Antonius (83–30 BC), who had taken over the dictatorship in Rome with two other men.
“Brilliant to look upon and to listen to, with the power to subjugate everyone.” Such was the way the Egyptian queen has been described. She was known for her passionate personality, charm, brilliance, and determination to further the Ptolemaic legacy. She had the option of having anything or anyone she desired, but she chose the Roman General Mark Antony.
Marcus Antonius: The Roman General
Source: Wikimedia Commons
Marcus Antonius (14 January 83 BC- 1 August 30 BC), or Mark Antony as he is known in English, was a supporter of Julius Caesar. After Caesar was assassinated in 44 BC, a civil war erupted between Antony and Octavian's (Caesar’s great-nephew and future Roman Emperor) forces and those who had orchestrated Caesar's assassination.
Following their victory, Octavian has renamed Augustus Caesar and was given authority over the western parts of the empire, while Antony was given control of the eastern half. was appointed in command of Egypt, and he co-ruled with Cleopatra with the aim of immense fame and power.
Source: Wikimedia Commons
After assuming control in the east, Antony sent for Cleopatra to investigate why she had not backed his men against Caesar's assassins, and in the spring of 41 BC, Cleopatra crossed the Mediterranean and came to Anatolia to meet him. Plutarch, in his work Parallel Lives, describes her arrival:
“[Cleopatra] came sailing up the river Cydnus in a barge with the gilded stern and outspread sails of purple, while oars of silver beat time to the music of flutes and fifes and harps. She lay all along, under a canopy of cloth of gold, dressed as Venus in a picture, and beautiful young boys, like painted Cupids, stood on each side to fan her.”
The Beginning of the Tragic Love Affair
When Antony asked her for her reason for not backing them up, Cleopatra claimed to have gathered a fleet to confront the assassins, but it was unable to arrive on the battlefield in time. It was at this time that Antony was captivated by her completely. Plutarch wrote that,
“The attraction of her person, joining with the charm of her conversation, and the character that attended all she said or did, was something bewitching. It was a pleasure merely to hear the sound of her voice.”
He was so taken by her that he went to Alexandria (Roman Egypt) and spent the winter of 41-40 BC with Cleopatra upon her invitation. In 40 BC, Cleopatra gave birth to twins, Alexander Helios and Cleopatra Selene II. However, upon Octavian’s orders, Antony was forced to return to Rome. But he could never forget about Cleopatra and returned to her side in Alexandria in 37 BC.
Source: Wikimedia Commons
Antony and Cleopatra became powerful dominating power when they joined forces. They were officially together now, and openly a team against Octavian, Antony's power rival in Rome. Antony, as a Roman general with a large army in the eastern parts, gave his new wife a fantastic wedding present - much of the Middle East.
Cleopatra was named Queen of Kings and Queen of Egypt, to rule with her first son, Caesarion, named King of Kings and King of Egypt. Cleopatra and Antony began being presented as divine. They were Dionysus and Aphrodite for the Greeks and Osiris and Isis for the Egyptians.
Battle of Actium & the Pair’s Final End
All the while, relations between Antony and Octavian only continued deteriorating. Then in 33 BC, Octavian officially declared war against the Egyptian Queen, supposedly in retribution for Antony divorcing his sister, Octavia. Finally, Antony and Cleopatra officially went to war with Octavian in 31 BC. It was a great sea battle that took place at Actium, Greece.
Though there aren’t any clear accounts of what happened during the battle, the conclusion was Antony’s defeat and Antony and Cleopatra’s escape to Egypt. The victorious Octavian landed his troops in Egypt and marched on to Alexandria where the Battle of Alexandria was fought. While fighting in the battle, he received false news of Cleopatra’s suicide.
Unable to handle the pain of his love’s death, Antony decided to kill himself too by falling on his sword, as was the Roman tradition. But he was unsuccessful. He was found wounded and was then taken to Cleopatra hiding in the mausoleum, very much alive. He breathed his last breath in his lover’s arms.
Source: Wikimedia Commons
Cleopatra realized that after their utter defeat, she would be taken as a war trophy and paraded around in Rome. The proud queen decided to take her own life. Some sources say that after dressing up in her royal robes, she allowed snakes to bite her veins, some say she injected the poison through a needle, and some say that the poison was introduced through scratching.
Source: Wikimedia Commons
But the conclusion is always the same. The Egyptian queen died at the age of 39 on 10th August 30 BC along with her lover. She was then buried beside Antony in her tomb.
Written By - Sanjana Chaudhary
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