Apart from Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare’s
star-crossed lovers whose young love was cut short because of tragedy. Another
love tandem, whose story in history was the inspiration of William Shakespeare,
is the tragic couple Mark Antony and Cleopatra. Two people who were players in
the dangerous game of politics.
Cleopatra was known as a very seductive, intelligent woman and proficient in nine languages. She used her feminine wiles to attract Julius Ceasar and keep him wrapped around her slender fingers. Stories of her first meeting with the great Roman general to cement an alliance caught the romantic fancies of people around the world. According to Plutarch, she was hidden in a Persian carpet and was unrolled to reveal herself to Ceasar. The latter was smitten by her charms and they became lovers. It’s also interesting to note that perhaps apart from her charms, Ceasar find her so enchanting because she was also a direct descendant of Alexander the Great. Their affair produced a son whom they named Ceasarion. Their love affair lasted until Ceasar’s assassination.
| Anthony and Cleopatra |
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Mark Antony was one of the allies of Julius
Ceasar. He came from a powerful political Roman family and he joined the
military where he rose to the ranks because of the influence of his close
relations to Ceasar being his mother’s cousin. When Julius Ceasar was
assassinated, Antony, along with the triumvirate which included Octavianand Lepidus ruled Rome. In 41 BC, Antony summoned
Cleopatra to ensure her loyalty to Rome. However, Cleopatra was a very proud
woman and as a queen in her own right she was clearly trying to send a message
to Antony that she was not in his beck and call like a common peasant woman. But
finally the fateful meeting happened. Cleopatra, in her usual flair for the
dramatics sailed up in the River Cydnus in a luxurious barge. Antony fell under
her spell.
Antony and Cleopatra got married in the
Egyptian tradition in 36 AD. Their relationship earned the disgust of many
Romans, apart from the fact that Antony was already married. Their union
produced twins and another son.
Regardless of the people against their relationship, they were a
formidable pair. Perhaps they can be called the Brangelina of the ancient
times. In 31 BC, Antony’s powerful rival
in Rome Octavian declared war on the power couple. Octavian was wary of the
growing power and influence of Egypt in Rome and that was something he would
not allow.
Perhaps, it also angered Octavian too that
Antony has cast aside his wife Octavia Minor his sister for Cleopatra. Even if
Cleopatra funded his war, they were defeated. Fearing for her life, she hid in
her tombs to escape being captured and taken prisoner. Antony heard reports
that Cleopatra was dead, ended his life. He did not know that she just sort of
“faked” her own death. So in Romeo and Juliet style, when Cleopatra found out
that her lover was dead, she also committed suicide. There were many versions
of how she actually died, but the most famous was when she had an asp smuggled
inside the palace in a basket of figs. After dismissing her servants, she lied
on a gold gilded couch and placed the asp on her breast. She was found dead
later on.
A lot of historians questioned the true
nature of the love affair of Antony and Cleopatra.
Perhaps, at the beginning it was just for political gain. But later on, it
blossomed into something more. If it is fitting to end this article in the way
Shakespeare ended Romeo and Juliet: For
never was a story of more woe, than this of Cleopatra and her Antony.
