Cleopatra, sensing that this was no time for her to linger in Rome, hot-footed it back home. And there, as the Roman world succumbed to a renewed spasm of civil war, she remained.
Caesar's assassins, unable to win Italy for their cause, also fled to the East. In 42 BC, Antony and Octavian together won a great battle outside the Macedonian city of Philippi, destroying the army of Caesar's assassins, and effectively securing the entire Roman empire for themselves. The two victors, sidelining Lepidus to a sinecure in Africa, portioned it up. Octavian, returning to Rome, received the West. Although this gave him mastery of the capital, it was also somewhat of a poisoned chalice.
Italy was in turmoil. Sextus Pompeius, son of the man who had led the armies of the Republic against Julius Caesar, had profited from the chaos of the times to establish himself as the master of Sicily, and the admiral of ships. Preying on the shipping lanes, he began to throttle Rome.
Inevitably, the more the Romans starved, the more unpopular Octavian became. Meanwhile, in the East, Antony was having a far more pleasurable time of it. His indulgences were those that had long been traditional among the Republic's proconsuls: fighting the Iranian kingdom of Parthia, Rome's only surviving major enemy in the East, and patronising Rome's subordinates.
In 41 BC, he summoned Cleopatra to his headquarters - an unconscionable humiliation. The Queen of Egypt, however, wafting into the harbour amid the flashing of silver oars and the cooing of her attendants, had magnificently turned the tables.
She knew Antony of old - vulgar, carnal, ambitious - and had correctly calculated that the best way to win his heart was with overblown spectacle. Just as he had been intended to do, Antony speedily made Cleopatra his mistress and passed a delightful winter with her in Alexandria. As with Caesar, so now with the new master of the Roman world, Cleopatra soon got herself pregnant.
Having delivered Caesar a son, she went one better, and gave her new lover twins. It began to be whispered among Antony's enemies - and even his followers - that he was going native. And this is the moment at which Shakespeare's play begins….
The origins of Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra. Plutarch's Approach Plutarch's historical approach is a gift to a dramatist, focussing, as it does, not only on battles and political treaties but also the looks and demeanour of his subjects and the complexities of their personalities - their desires, fears, strengths, frailties and follies.
North's version describes it this way: 'She disdained to set forward otherwise but to take her barge in the river of Cydnus, the poop whereof was gold, the sails of purple, and the oars of silver, which kept stroke in rowing after the sound of the music of flutes, hautboys, citterns, viols, and such other instruments as they played upon in the barge. Despite Enobarbus's advice, Antony decides to fight at sea at Actium.
In the battle, Cleopatra's ships flee from the Roman fleet, and Antony is defeated. Humiliated by his love for Cleopatra, Antony eventually chooses to fight Caesar on land. His army begins to lose faith in their leader after many portents of Antony's supposedly inevitable defeat. Enobarbus deserts Antony and defects to Caesar's army, leaving Antony saddened, not angry. Enobarbus is overcome with guilt for his betrayal of Antony and dies alone in his grief. At the battle, Cleopatra's men flee, abandoning Antony.
Fearing Antony's anger, Cleopatra takes refuge in her monument. When Antony fears that Cleopatra has betrayed him to Caesar, she sends false word that she is dead, hoping to win over his affections once more.
Antony is devastated by the news and resolves to die himself. Caesar needs Antony to fend off other Roman strongmen like Pompey; he even offers his sister Octavia to him as a bride, despite Antony's reputation as a libertine and his past rivalry with Caesar.
Once Caesar defeats Pompey, however, he needs no allies. He brings charges against Lepidus, denies Antony his spoils from Pompey's defeat, and seizes cities in the eastern Roman colonies that Antony rules.
The play's emphasis, however, is on those whom Caesar defeats: Antony and his wealthy Egyptian ally, Queen Cleopatra. The play does not sugarcoat Antony and Cleopatra's famous love affair, including her calculated attempts to seduce Antony from his duties and his rage when he thinks she has betrayed him to Caesar.
Nonetheless, the lovers find such sensual and emotional satisfaction that Caesar's world conquest seems smaller than what they find in each other. Password Please enter your Password. Forgot password? Don't have an account? Sign in via your Institution. You could not be signed in, please check and try again. Sign in with your library card Please enter your library card number. Antony and Cleopatra ballets Antony and Cleopatra.
Authors William Shakespeare — playwright and poet. All rights reserved. Sign in to annotate.
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