-- Reviewed by John D. Haley, B.A., M.A., M.A.
It is very difficult to write an accurate biography of an historic figure. It is even more difficult to render an accurate representation of a figure from antiquity. And finally, with some of the more celebrated or legendary figures, the task is virtually impossible. Occasionally, though, a gifted scholar will surpass the reader's expectations and produce an account that is both readable and believable. Such is the case with Pat Southern and her book Mark Antony (Stroud Gloucestershire: Tempus, 1998).
One of the first and most important points that Southern makes in her book is that much of the surviving information about Antony is unreliable. After his defeat at Actium and subsequent suicide, Antony was declared nefastus ("unholy") by the Roman Senate. Undoubtedly, the senators were acting under the influence of Octavian, soon to be declared Augustus Caesar. In order to validate his own claim to power, it was necessary for Octavian to vilify his enemies. Consequently, the monuments to Antony were destroyed, and his reputation was perverted in a smear campaign. He was deliberately portrayed as a drunkard and a libertine, as a somewhat inept commander, and, ultimately, as a "strumpet's fool." It was this distorted image which survived the fall of Rome and, with Shakespeare's help, was perpetuated into the modern world.
Yet, at least some of this criticism is warranted. All the ancient sources agree that Antony lived his life with gusto. Heavy meals, late-night drinking bouts, and casual trists were typical. Of course, the Romans had always been a rather brutish people, and, in general, they would have been willing to excuse these excesses, but, behind them, there lay a noticable lack of discretion and good judgement. Unlike Julius Caesar and Octavian, Antony rarely displayed the ability to tactfully distance himself from potentially-damaging relationships.
Then, of course, there was Cleopatra VII. Like Antony, she has been the victim of a carefully-orchestrated propaganda campaign--frequently portrayed as an evil temptress who used her feminine wiles to seduce Antony in order to gain his support for her own personal aspirations. Yet, the surviving portraits of Cleopatra, while not exactly plain, are far from extraordinary, and it is worth noting that the ancient sources claim that her most seductive quality was not her face or her figure, but rather her voice. Lastly, it should be remembered that Cleopatra was the first and only Ptolemy who bothered to learn the Egyptian language so that she could communicate with her subjects in their native tongue.
It is not known if Antony married Cleopatra or not. What is known is that he abandoned two Roman wives (one of which was Octavian's sister Octavia) and four children for her. Moreover, if he did marry Cleopatra (ca. 37 B.C.), it was clearly in defiance of Roman law, which prohibited Roman men from marrying foreign women. It was also rumored that, in his will, Antony requested that he be buried next to Cleopatra--in Alexandria! All of this provided Octavian with ample ammunition, but, since Antony was a war hero and had never marched on Rome, Octavian shrewdly directed his attack against the Egyptian queen. Unfortunately, in light of Antony's continued absence from Rome, no one had reason to doubt the gossip.
In any event, no one can doubt that Antony and Cleopatra loved each other. They had at least two children together. After Actium, Antony gallantly offered to commit suicide if Octavian would agree to spare Cleopatra, while she adamently refused to surrender Antony in exchange for lenient terms. It is probably true that they died in each other's arms in Cleopatra's monument, but, as Southern points out, even if this claim could be refuted, no one would ever believe it because the image has become so deeply-ingrained in the Western tradition.
Although it was not necessary, the normally stoic Octavian honored Antony's wish and had the couple buried side by side in Egypt (their tomb has never been found). His subsequent efforts to belittle Antony, however, have failed. Three Roman emperors (Caligula, Claudius, and Nero) would later celebrate Antony as their ancestor. Over the centuries, the image of Antony would again be transformed into that of a heroic underdog and a hopeless romantic. It is entirely appropriate that Southern ends her study with the observation that, while "some of the details are lost . . . Mark Antony has never been forgotten" (152).
For those who may be interested, Mr. Haley also recommends the following works:
Califf, David J. The Battle of Actium. Philadelphia: Chelsea House, 2004.Carter, John M. The Battle of Actium: The Rise and Triumph of Augustus Caesar. New York: Weybright and Talley, 1970.
Chauveau, Michel. Cleopatra: Beyond the Myth. Trans. David Lorton. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell Univ. Pr., 2002.
Flamarion, E. Cleopatra: From History to Legend. London: Thames and Hudson, 1997.
Grant, Michael. Cleopatra. Edison, N.J.: Castle Bks., 1972.
Gurval, Robert Alan. Actium and Augustus: The Politics and Emotions of Civil War. Ann Arbor: Univ. of Mich. Pr., 1995.
Hughes-Hallett, Lucy. Cleopatra: Histories, Dreams and Distortions. New York: Harper and Row, 1990.
Huzar, Eleanor G. Mark Antony: A Biography. Dover, N.H.: Croom Helm, 1986.
Lindsay, Jack. Cleopatra. New York: Coward McCann and Geoghegan, 1970.
-----. Marc Antony: His World and His Contemporaries. London: G. Routledge and Sons, 1936.
Roberts, A. Mark Antony: His Life and Times. Upton-upon-Severn, Worcestershire: Malvern Pub. Co., 1988.
Southern, Pat. Cleopatra. Stroud Gloucestershire: Tempus, 1999.
Weigall, Arthur. The Life and Times of Marc Antony. Garden City, N.Y.: Garden City Pub., 1935.