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M. Antony & Octavia,
Cistophorus (silver coin replica) 39 BC.
From Wikipedia,
the free encyclopedia:
Marcus Antonius
(Latin: M·ANTONIVS·M·F·M·N¹)
(ca. 83 BC
– August 30
BC), known in English
as Mark Antony, was a Roman
politician
and general. He was an important supporter of Julius
Caesar as a military commander and administrator. After Caesar's assassination,
Antony allied with Octavian
and Marcus
Aemilius Lepidus to form 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
with Cleopatra
in 30 BC.
Early life
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
Caesaris, he was a distant cousin of Julius
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 roaming through Rome with his brothers and
friends (Publius
Clodius Pulcher among them - probably out of hostility to Cicero,
who had caused Lentulus Sura to be put to death as a Catilinarian; the
connexion 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 rumour that before Antony reached twenty
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
Auletes 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 Egypt
and Alexandria.
Supporter of Caesar
In 54
BC, Antony became a member of the staff of Caesar's armies
in Gaul. 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 plebs (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 Pompey,
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. Antony proposed that
both generals lay down their commands. The idea was rejected, and Antony
resorted to violence, ending up 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 offence 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 on foot. 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 of 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
15, 44 BC
(the Ides
of March), Julius Caesar was assassinated by a group of Senators,
led by Gaius
Cassius Longinus and Marcus
Junius Brutus. 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 Marcus
Tullius 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 scars from his wounds. 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, one of the conspirators. Brutus refused to surrender
the province, and Antony set out to attack him in October 44
BC.
The second triumvirate
The death of Caesar had
left an open 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 C.
Vibius Pansa, 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, Spain 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,
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; knowing that Antony had a grudge against him, the
writer committed suicide before they could kill him. (Livy,
however, writes that he merely refused to resist the executioners).
Antony and his 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 took control of the Western provinces, and
Octavian remained in Italy with 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 Judaea
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, her brother-in-law, Fulvia raised eight 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.
Fulvia's death was
providential. A reconciliation was effected between the triumvirs, and
cemented by the marriage of Antony with Octavia
in October 40 BC, Octavian's beloved sister. 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 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
sceptical 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 Egyptian 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 and her funds.
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 Caesar, son of Julius Caesar), King of Kings and King of Egypt.
Most important of all, Caesarion was declared legitimate son and heir of
Julius 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 Julius 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 sired 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.
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 Julius 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 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 sixty 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 in the mistaken belief that
Cleopatra had already done so (30
BC). A few days later, Cleopatra herself followed his example.
Antony had been married
in succession to Fadia, Antonia, Fulvia and Octavia, and left behind him
a number of children.
Aftermath and Legacy
With the death of Antony,
Octavian became uncontested ruler of Rome: no one else attempted to take
power from him. In the following years, Octavian, known as Augustus
Caesar after 27
BC, managed to accumulate in his person all administrative,
political, and military offices. When Augustus died in AD 14,
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
-
Marriage to Fadia
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Marriage to Antonia
Hybrida (his direct cousin)
According to Plutarch,
Antony threw his cousin out of his Roman House, because she slept with
his friend the tribune Dolabella. However, it is not known whether they
divorced or she died, before Antony married Fulvia.
-
Marriage to Fulvia
-
Marriage to Octavia
-
Children with
Cleopatra
Chronology
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