Cleopatra, the last pharaoh of Egypt, was a woman of wisdom. Her success to the throne came from her knowledge and charismatic ways of conniving people. Her rise to power was merely out of luck when her older brother died in battle while her older sister was exiled. She ruled the Ptolemic kingdom with great challenges. Cleopatra saw a perfect opportunity to take advantage when she encountered Marcus Antonius. She knew her son Ceasarion was too young to lead an army and herself as being a woman didn’t have the tactics to command an army. What Cleopatra didn’t see coming was her struggle for power would lead to Battle of Actium as well as her suicide with Marc Antony.
During this time in Rome the triumvirate, 3 men holding power, consisted of Marc Antonius, Octavian and Lepidus. The three formed the second triumvirate because of the assassination of Julius Ceasar. The triumvirate had defeated Cassius Longinus and Junius Brutus at the battle of Philippi whom were both responsible for the death of Julius. Not only were Brutus and Julius killed but Lepidus was expelled from the triumvirate leaving Antonius and Octavian in charge of Rome. It was only fair enough to split Rome, Octavian in charge of the west while Antonius was in charge of the east. Antonius was in charge of Egypt, parts of north Africa, Syria, Phoenecia, parts of modern day Turkey and other parts of the middle east. To create a relationship with each other Antonius married Octavia, Octavian’s sister. Marc Antony in fear of losing his empire due to the Parthians needed money for a military campaign. Antony knowing the wealth of Egypt decided to lure Cleopatra to the city of Tarsus. Eventually, Antony and Cleopatra had a love affair for their own personal and political benefit.
Marc Anthony had heard of troubles in Rome and needed time to think about his next decision. His brother, Lucius Antonius, had conflicts with Octavian and was preparing to attack. Marc Anthony knew from the beginning that Octavian was a powerful commander and wasn’t in a stable position at the moment. Antony knew that if he went to Rome then he could lose supporters and ruin his career. Antony waited and stayed in Alexandria for his own good where Cleopatra showered him in different forms of entertainment and gifts.
To Antony’s dismay he found out all of Syria and Phoenicia had fallen to the Parthians. Not only he was disappointed but Cleopatra found out he had a wife which created an image of absent father for the children she just bared. She was hurt because she actually fell in love with him and wanted him to create a stable empire for her son to rule. She felt like her dreams were crushed because of his secrets. Antony did divorce Octavia because of his love and loyalty to Cleopatra. However, she found a way to convince him to feel empathy and believe that Egypt needs a ruler like Antonius.
Octavian himself was a greedy man who wanted to rule the Roman world. After finding out about Antonius’s plan, Donations of Alexandria, Antony would divide his territory and give it to Cleopatra’s children. Antonius needed approval from the Roman senate which was already on Octavian’s side. Antony’s ruling of land was seen as illegal since Antony was a Roman citizen who married foreigner which according to Roman law wasn’t allowed. Cleopatra still allowed for Marc Antony to rule but it was not seen as legal. Octavian himself found this as a perfect declaration of war on Cleopatra for letting Antonius get away with such a crime. Octavian also believed Cleopatra would ask for roman possessions in the future and pose as the threat to the roman empire. Octavian did not want Antonius to go through with his plan so he could maintain the land for himself. After the donations of Alexandria had spread a long period of propaganda began. Cleopatra was found to be written by those living in the augustan era. They often described her as a witch and would be destructive towards roman civilization. Also, in her official oath it stated she would do justice onto the roman capitol. She would send letters to Antonius that were deemed luxurious and many romans believed the wealth of the Egyptians was something to be suspicious about. But in reality the romans couldn’t grasp the idea that Egypt itself was drowning in wealth that they desired for themselves.
With the defeat of Antony’s army against the king of Armenia and king of media Cleopatra brought him back from the campaign. Cleopatra advised Antony that all the roman’s who attempt to win Parthia end up failing. She advised him to take his army, supplies and money to overthrow Octavian. Cleopatra who had pushed Antony fortified himself near the mouth of the Gulf of Ambracia. However, Octavian settled along the ionian sea controlling it. Antony had two options at this point either go into Greece and have Octavian chase after or fight to break through the gulf and blockade Octavian’s supplies. Cleopatra told Antony to blockade Octavian’s supplies in order for him to surrender. Things took a turn for Antony when Octavian had small victories like capturing some of Antony’s ships. Antony became depressed and filled with helplessness when things continued to fall apart. Hurricanes hit Athens where the statue of Bacchus, god who Antony associated himself with, was destroyed along with inscriptions of his name on other statues. And if things couldn’t get worse Antony’s camp was infected with mosquitos due to the damp air and many begged for them to move inland and get the defeat over with. Cleopatra kept enforcing the blockade but Antony’s men couldn’t agree. Their logic was that they can’t just defeat Octavian and barge into Rome and take it, the people would be outraged. Cleopatra was disappointed in Antony and was worried that he might leave since he took her money for the war. Due to their disagreements along the line when Antony forced Cleopatra to sail home to Alexandria.
Besides their anger, they both truly cared for each other. Antony wanted an end to the battle so he decided to get his ships moving. Cleopatra finally left after Antony told her the consequences of being captured, enslaved, killed and even losing her title and crown. She left in a hurry aboard her flagship while Antony followed. He gave up the battle to stick to her for the rest of his life. He couldn’t bare to see her leave him behind after all they have done for each other.
According to Cassius Dios translated in the Roman history he is angered by what Marc Antony has done. Cassius insults “For it is impossible for one who leads a life of royal luxury, and coddles himself like a woman, to have a manly thought or do a manly deed, since it is an inevitable law that a man assimilates himself to the practices of his daily life.” Cassius expressed the fact that Antony is too weak to have any position at all and is merely treated like a slave by Cleopatra. Antony cannot live his own life for his own sake. Another translation of Cassius’s concern is the fact that Antony actually went into a pointless war and it costed the lives of a thousands of men and to suddenly turn back and follow Cleopatra was a disgrace. Cassius points out the battle of Actium was a pointless act of trying to prove oneself. Cassius knew that Antony didn’t stand a chance against Octavian and his army. Antony was not determined to win the war and only served as Cleopatra’s puppet. P 495
According to Plutarch a scholar who lived during Cleopatras time wrote about their deaths. Cleopatra was in fear of Antony after his defeat and decided to lock herself in her tomb and sent out a fake message saying she’s dead. To Antony’s surprise he was in absolute with what the queen has done to herself. Antony sobbed aloud and questioned himself as to why he continuous on knowing the one thing he that kept him going in life is now dead. Antony beyond depressed told a trusted slave, Eros, to stab him in the chest. Eros being forever loyal to Antony took the sword and pierced himself in the chest. Antony then stabs himself in the stomach while still alive in agony. He orders his men to strike him one last time until a scroll was sent ordering Antony to be brought to cleopatras tomb. They hoisted him onto a rope where he was brought up to her and Cleopatra in absolute shock could not process what was happening. “She stood over him, tearing her clothes, pounding on her breast, and scratching herself with her hands. She smeared his blood on her face and called him her master, her husband, her general, and for a short while, she was almost able to forget her own troubles in her pity for him.” As he was slowly dying he told her to move on and not worry she still has so many opportunities with her life. Cleopatra ended her life but there are multiple versions of the story. Some claim she wanted figs and a snake hidden within to eventually find it and have it bite her. Others say she had the snake sealed in the jar and eventually poked at it in order to bite her. Those in the palace claimed they saw a trail on the beach near the tomb possibly caused by a snake. There were also rumors she drank poison stored in a hairpin she had. She gave orders for her body to be buried next to Antonius’s and have an honorable ceremony for the nobility that they were. After their deaths cleopatras statues remained but Antonius were taken down because on a superstitious level they didn’t want to suffer the same fate as he did. The battle of Actium marked a period of Rome going from a Republic to an Empire with Egypt as its province. The death of Cleopatra also brought an end to the Ptloemaic Kingdom as well as the Hellenistic Period.