Mark Antony

I was born in 83 BC into the house of the Antonii. Early I learned soldiering under Aulus Gabinius in Syria and Egypt, when we restored Ptolemy XII to his throne. Later I served Caesar in Gaul, and as tribune of the plebs in 49 I was driven from the Senate and fled to him at the Rubicon. From that hour I bound my fortunes to his.

At Pharsalus I commanded Caesar’s left and watched Pompey’s legions give way. As consul beside Caesar in 44, I tested Rome’s temper at the Lupercalia, offering him the diadem he refused. When steel found him on the Ides, I took charge of his papers and will, raised his bloodied cloak before the people, and the benches of the Forum became his pyre.

Peace did not follow. With Octavian and Lepidus I made lawful the Second Triumvirate; the proscriptions were our instrument, and Cicero’s name stood among them. At Philippi we crushed Brutus and Cassius, and I took the governance of the eastern provinces. To seal a momentary peace I married Octavia; then, in Tarsus, I summoned Cleopatra, whose treasury and statecraft matched any legion.

Parthia bled my army in 36; the lost siege train taught me how far deserts can stretch. In Alexandria I honored Cleopatra as partner and queen; at the Donations I set crowns on our children, and Rome called it arrogance. Actium’s winds favored Agrippa; we withdrew to Egypt and held a last defense. When the city fell, I chose my sword over Octavian’s chains, and I was laid beside her.