A lot of ink has been spilled covering the lives of history’s most influential figures, but how much of the forest is lost for the trees? In Charles River Editors’ Legends of the Ancient World series, readers can get caught up to speed on the lives of antiquity’s most important men and women in the time it takes to finish a commute, while learning interesting facts long forgotten or never known.
Mark Antony (83-50 B.C.) is one of the most unique and best known figures of antiquity, a man whose relationships with some of history’s giants ensured his own legacy. A protégé of Julius Caesar’s, a lover of Cleopatra’s, a sworn enemy of Cicero’s, and a foil for Octavian, Antony has long been remembered for the role he played in others’ lives more than for his own accomplishments. Fittingly and ironically, Antony might be best remembered today for the words Shakespeare put in his mouth for Caesar’s eulogy.
While Antony’s relationships with Rome’s most famous leaders and history’s most famous woman were central components in his lives, the fact that his legacy has been intertwined with them belies the fact that he was a powerful man in his own right. Coming up as a capable and competent military man who Caesar trusted as his right hand, Antony parlayed that into governing Rome itself while Caesar fought Pompey. After Caesar’s assassination in 44 B.C., Antony deftly navigated from tenuous footing as a declared enemy of the state to become one of Rome’s two most powerful leaders, arguably its most powerful, in just a matter of years, outmaneuvering and getting the best of enemies like Brutus and Cicero. At the same time, Antony was notorious in his own time for his voracious appetite for vice, and the branding of him as a boor has persisted for over 2,000 years.
Of course, Antony’s relationship with Cleopatra has become the stuff of legends, and one of history’s most famous love stories, but even that was a byproduct of the fact that Antony ruled the eastern third of the Roman Empire as triumvir. Had Octavian and fate not caught up with him at the Battle of Actium, one of the most famous naval battles ever, history might have been very different.
Legends of the Ancient World: The Life and Legacy of Mark Antony provides an entertaining look at the facts and myths surrounding one of Rome’s most famous leaders and one of history’s most famous lovers. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about Antony like you never have before, in no time at all.