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Mark Antony

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   Marcus Antonius (Latin: M·ANTONIVS·M·F·M·N) (c. 83 BC– August 1, 30
   BC), known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman politician and
   general. He was an important supporter of Gaius Julius Caesar as a
   military commander and administrator. After Caesar's assassination,
   Antony allied with Gaius Julius Caesar Octavian and Marcus Aemilius
   Lepidus to form an official triumvirate which modern scholars have
   labelled the second triumvirate. The triumvirate broke up in 33 BC and
   the disagreement turned to civil war in 31 BC, in which Antony was
   defeated by Octavian at the Battle of Actium and then at Alexandria.
   Antony committed suicide along with his lover, Queen Cleopatra VII of
   Egypt, in 30 BC.

Early life

   A member of the Antonia gens, Antony was born in Rome, around 83 BC.
   His father was his namesake, Marcus Antonius Creticus, the son of the
   great rhetorician Marcus Antonius Orator executed by Gaius Marius'
   supporters in 86 BC. Through his mother Julia Antonia, he was a distant
   cousin of Caesar. His father died at a young age, leaving him and his
   brothers, Lucius and Gaius, to the care of his mother. Julia Antonia
   (known in sources by her married name, to distinguish her from the
   other Julias) then married Publius Cornelius Lentulus Sura, a
   politician involved in and executed during the Catiline conspiracy of
   63 BC.

   Antony's early life was characterized by a lack of parental guidance.
   According to historians like Plutarch, he spent his teenage years
   wandering through Rome with his brothers and friends ( Publius Clodius
   among them—probably out of hostility to Marcus Tullius Cicero, who had
   caused Lentulus Sura to be put to death as a Catilinarian; the
   connection was severed by a disagreement arising from his relations
   with Clodius's wife, Fulvia). Together, they embarked on a rather wild
   sort of life, frequenting gambling houses, drinking too much, and
   involving themselves in scandalous love affairs. Plutarch mentions the
   rumor that before Antony reached 20 years of age, he was already
   indebted the sum of 250 talents (equivalent to several million
   dollars).

   After this period of recklessness, Antony fled to Greece to escape his
   creditors and to study rhetoric. After a short time spent in attendance
   on the philosophers at Athens, he was summoned by Aulus Gabinius,
   proconsul of Syria, to take part in the campaigns against Aristobulus
   in Judea, and in support of Ptolemy XII in Egypt. In the ensuing
   campaign, he demonstrated his talents as a cavalry commander and
   distinguished himself with bravery and courage. It was during this
   campaign that he first visited Alexandria and Egypt.

Supporter of Caesar

   In 54 BC, Antony became a member of the staff of Caesar's armies in
   Gaul and early Germany. He again proved to be a competent military
   leader in the Gallic Wars, but his personality caused instability
   wherever he went. Caesar himself was said to be frequently irritated by
   his behaviour.

   Nevertheless, raised by Caesar's influence to the offices of quaestor,
   augur, and tribune of the plebes (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, and the general wanted to return to
   Rome for the consular elections. But resistance from the conservative
   faction of the Roman Senate, led by Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, demanded
   that Caesar resign his proconsulship and the command of his armies
   before being allowed to seek re-election to the consulship. This he
   could not do, as such an act would leave him a private citizen—and
   therefore open to prosecution for his acts while proconsul—in the
   interim between his proconsulship and his second consulship; it would
   also leave him at the mercy of Pompey's armies. The idea was rejected,
   and Antony resorted to violence, ending up being expelled from the
   Senate. He left Rome, joining Caesar, who had led his armies to the
   banks of the Rubicon, the river that marked the southern limit of his
   proconsular authority. With all hopes of a peaceful solution for the
   conflict with Pompey gone, Caesar led his armies across the river into
   Italy and marched on Rome, starting the last Republican civil war.
   During the civil war, Antony was Caesar's second in command. In all
   battles against the Pompeians, Antony led the left wing of the army, a
   proof of Caesar's confidence in him.

   When Caesar became dictator, Antony was made Master of the Horse, the
   dictator's right hand man, and in this capacity remained in Italy as
   the peninsula's administrator in 47 BC, while Caesar was fighting the
   last Pompeians, who had taken refuge in the African provinces. But
   Antony's skills as administrator were a poor match to those as general,
   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
   herself 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; for we find 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 at all times. In February 44 BC, during the
   Lupercalia festival ( February 15), 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 by a talk he had with a Senator
   named Casca, who told him the gods would make a strike against Caesar
   in the Roman Forum. Fearing the worst, the next day he went down to
   head off the dictator. Unfortunately, the Liberators reached Caesar
   first, and he was assassinated on March 15, 44 B.C, the date known as
   the Ides of March. 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 of the
   year, seemed to pursue peace and the end of 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, partner in consulship and cousin,
   Antony was the natural choice to make the funeral eulogy. In his
   speech, he sprang his 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,
   demonstrating that, contrary to the conspirator's assertions, Caesar
   had no intention of forming a royal dynasty. Public opinion turned, and
   that night, the Roman populace attacked the assassins' houses, forcing
   them to flee for their lives.

   Antony 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 October 44 BC.

   Later in October Antony set out to Egypt and met Caesar's former lover,
   Cleopatra. He wanted Cleopatra for Egypt's wealth, and she wanted
   Antony for the Roman armies under his control.

The second triumvirate

   Denarius minted by Mark Antony to pay his legions. On the reverse, the
   standard of his Third legion.
   Enlarge
   Denarius minted by Mark Antony to pay his legions. On the reverse, the
   standard of his Third legion.

   The death of Caesar had left an empty space in Rome's politics. The
   Republic was dying, and yet another civil war was starting. It was then
   that Octavian, Caesar's great-nephew and adopted son, arrived from
   Illyria, and claimed the inheritance of his "father." Octavian obtained
   the support of the senate and of Cicero; and the veteran troops of the
   dictator flocked to his standard. He was also very willing to fight for
   power with the other two main contestants: Antony himself and Lepidus.

   Antony was denounced as a public enemy, and Octavian was entrusted with
   the command of the war against him. Antony was defeated at Mutina
   (43 BC) where he was besieging Brutus. The consuls Aulus Hirtius and
   Gaius Vibius Pansa Caetronianus, however, fell in the battle, and the
   Senate became suspicious of Octavian, who, irritated at the refusal of
   a Triumph and the appointment of Brutus to the command over his head,
   entered Rome at the head of his troops, and forced the senate to bestow
   the consulship upon him ( August 19). Meanwhile, Antony escaped to
   Cisalpine Gaul, effected a junction with Lepidus and marched towards
   Rome with a large force of infantry and cavalry. Octavian betrayed his
   party, and came to terms with Antony and Lepidus. The three leaders met
   at Bononia and adopted the title of Triumviri reipublicae constituendae
   as joint rulers. Gaul was to belong to Antony, Hispania to Lepidus, and
   Africa, Sardinia and Sicily to Octavian.

   The Triumvirs for the Organization of the People gained official
   recognition by the Lex Titia, a law passed by the Assembly in 43 BC,
   which granted them virtually all powers for a period of five years. To
   solidify the alliance, Octavian married Clodia Pulchra, Antony's
   step-daughter. The triumvirs then set to pursue the assassins' faction,
   who had fled to the East, and to murder the conspirators' supporters
   who remained in Rome. A reign of terror followed; proscriptions,
   confiscations, and executions became general; some of the noblest
   citizens were put to death. Cicero was the most famous victim of these
   violent days, having been executed during his attempt to flee,
   according to Anthony Everitt's recent biography. Antony and his new
   third wife Fulvia did not spare the body: Cicero's head and hands were
   posted in the Rostra, with his tongue pierced by Fulvia's golden
   hairpins. After the twin battles at Philippi and the suicides of Brutus
   and Cassius, the senatorial and republican parties had been
   annihilated; no one else would defy the triumvirate's power.

   With the political and military situations resolved, the triumvirs
   divided the Roman world among themselves. Lepidus, marked out as an
   unequal partner took control of Africa, and Octavian remained in Italy
   with control of the Western provinces and the responsibility of
   securing lands for the veteran soldiers—an important task, since the
   loyalty of the legions depended heavily on this promise. As for Antony,
   he went to the Eastern provinces, to pacify yet another rebellion in
   Judea and attempt to conquer the Parthian Empire. During this trip, he
   met Queen Cleopatra VII of Egypt in Tarsus, in 41 BC, and became her
   lover, spending the winter in her company at Alexandria.

   Meanwhile, in Italy, the situation was not pacified. Octavian's
   administration was not appeasing, and a revolt was about to occur.
   Moreover, he divorced Clodia, giving a curious explanation: she was
   annoying. The leader of this revolt was Fulvia, the wife of Antony, a
   woman known to history for her political ambition and tempestuous
   character. She feared for her husband's political position and was not
   keen to see her daughter put aside. Assisted by Lucius Antonius, Mark
   Antony's brother, Fulvia raised 8 legions with her own money. Her army
   invaded Rome, and for a while managed to create problems for Octavian.
   However, in the winter of 41–40 BC, Fulvia was besieged in Perusia and
   forced to surrender by starvation. Fulvia was exiled to Sicyon, where
   she died while waiting for Antony's arrival.
   Coin depicting Mark Antony and his wife Octavia Minor, sister of
   Octavian.
   Enlarge
   Coin depicting Mark Antony and his wife Octavia Minor, sister of
   Octavian.

   Fulvia's death was providential. A reconciliation was effected between
   the triumvirs, and cemented by the marriage of Antony with Octavia,
   Octavian's beloved sister, in October 40 BC. A new division of the
   Roman world was made, Lepidus receiving Africa, Octavian the West, and
   Antony the East. This peace, known as the Treaty of Brundisium,
   reinforced the triumvirate and allowed Antony to finally prepare his
   long-awaited campaign against the Parthians.

Antony and Cleopatra

   With this military purpose on his mind, Antony sailed to Greece with
   his new wife, where he behaved in a most extravagant manner, assuming
   the attributes of the god Dionysus (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 severed, Antony and Octavian
   quarreled again. This time with the help of Octavian, 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 of her second Antonia in Rome,
   he sailed to Alexandria, where he expected funding from Cleopatra, the
   mother of his twins. The queen of Egypt loaned him the money he needed
   for the army, but the campaign proved a disaster. After a series of
   defeats in battle, Antony lost most of his army during a retreat
   through Armenia in the peak of winter.

   Meanwhile, in Rome, the triumvirate was no more. Lepidus was forced to
   resign after 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 "becoming native", an unforgivable crime to the proud
   Romans. Several times Antony was summoned to Rome, but remained in
   Alexandria with Cleopatra.

   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 was about to put an
   end to his alliance with Octavian. He distributed kingdoms between his
   children: Alexander Helios was named king of Armenia and Parthia (not
   conquered yet), his twin Cleopatra 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 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.

   Distributing insignificant lands among the children of Cleopatra was
   not a peace move, but it was not a serious problem either. What did
   seriously threaten Octavian's political position, however, was the
   acknowledgement 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 Last Republican Civil War

   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. 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 falling on his
   sword in the mistaken belief that Cleopatra had already done so
   (30 BC). A few days later, Cleopatra committed suicide. Her servants,
   Iras and Charmion, also killed themselves, and Caesarion was murdered.
   Antony's own children were spared .

Aftermath and legacy

   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.

Antony's marriages and descendants

   Antony had been married in succession to Fadia, Antonia, Fulvia and
   Octavia, and left behind him a number of children. Through his
   daughters by Octavia, he would be ancestor to the emperors Caligula,
   Claudius, and Nero.
    1. Marriage to Fadia
    2. Marriage to Antonia Hybrida (his first cousin patrilineally).
       According to Plutarch, Antony threw his cousin out of his house,
       because she slept with his friend, the tribune Publius Cornelius
       Dolabella. However, it is not known whether they divorced or she
       died, before Antony married Fulvia.
    3. Marriage to Fulvia, by whom he had two sons
          + Marcus Antonius Antyllus, executed by Octavian in 30 BC
          + Iullus Antonius, married Claudia Marcella Major, daughter of
            Octavia
    4. Marriage to Octavia Minor, sister of Octavian, later Augustus; they
       had two daughters
          + Antonia Major, married Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus;
            grandmother of the Emperor Nero
          + Antonia Minor, married Drusus, the son of Livia; mother of the
            Emperor Claudius, grandmother of the Emperor Caligula,
            great-grandmother of the Emperor Nero
    5. Children with Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, and former lover of Julius
       Caesar
          + The twins
               o Alexander Helios, the sun
               o Cleopatra Selene, the moon, married King Juba II of
                 Numidia (and, later, Mauretania)
          + Ptolemy Philadelphus.

Chronology

     * 83 BC—born in Rome
     * 54–50 BC—joins Caesar's staff in Gaul and fights in the Gallic wars
     * 50 BC— Tribune of the Plebeians
     * 48 BC—Serves as Caesar's Master of the Horse
     * 47 BC—Ruinous administration of Italy: political exile
     * 44 BC—First Consulship with Caesar
     * 43 BC—Forms the Second Triumvirate with Octavian and Lepidus
     * 42 BC—Defeats Cassius and Brutus in the Battle of Philippi; travels
       through the East
     * 41 BC—Meets Cleopatra
     * 40 BC—Returns to Rome, marries Octavia Minor; treaty of Brundisium
     * 38 BC—Treaty of Tarentum: Triumvirate renewed until 33 BC
     * 36 BC—Disastrous campaign against the Parthians
     * 35 BC—Conquers Armenia
     * 34 BC—The Donations of Alexandria
     * 33 BC—End of the triumvirate
     * 32 BC—Exchange of accusations between Octavian and Antony
     * 31 BC—Defeated by Octavian in the naval Battle of Actium
     * 30 BC—Antony commits suicide in the mistaken belief that Cleopatra
       had already done so

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