On This Day In Roman History, January 14
The Roman politician and general Marcus Antonius is born in Rome on January 14, 83 BCE. This man would go on to play a pivotal role in the transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire. At his political precipice he would serve as a Proconsul, also serving notable Consulships in 34 and 44 BCE. He would later fight many key battles against the Liberators and commence a successful campaign against Parthia. He took his own life in August of 30 BCE, after realizing any hope against Octavian was gone.
Did you know?
Antony had 5 wives and 8 known children. These wives included two women with little historical reference by the names of Fadia, who was shortly succeeded by Antonia Hybrida Minor. From 46 to 40 he was married to Fluvia whom most notably was the first non-mythical woman to appear on a roman coin. Octavia the Younger, married to Marcus from 40 to 32, was the niece of Julius Caesar and daughter of the less famous Gaius Octavius (proconsul). His final wife Cleopatra would find her demise also at the will of Augustus.
Pictured left: A bust of Mark Antony currently within the Vatican City.
M_Antonius.jpg: Amadscientist derivative work: DanieleDF1995 (M_Antonius.jpg) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Happy Birthday Marcus!
Opinion
Marc Antony's appeal to modern culture can be seen most commonly depicted and found within his love story with Cleopatra. The story they interweave is enthralling and can be easily romanticized by not only modern pop-culture, but through any historical lens as well. I tend to view their romance for what it appears to be in historical context; a political maneuver for Cleopatra and a romance for Marc. Unfortunately for Cleopatra, even if she did love Mr. Antony, she backed the wrong horse in the race for imperial supremacy. As she observed the rise of Augustus into his sole mastership of Rome, she made one last desperate attempt at the man in a way that had brought her so much previous success: love. This time however, it would fail. You don't need to take my opinion for it, as they have an entire (massive) wikipedia page dedicated to their relationship to serve as proof of just how obsessed we are with them. I tried to think of a witty couple name for them like CleAntony or something, but instead I'll just leave you with the link. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antony_and_Cleopatra
Sources
P., & Pelling, C. B. (1988). Life of Antony. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Skeat, T. C. (1953). The Last Days of Cleopatra : A Chronological Problem. Journal of Roman Studies, 43(1-2), 98-100. doi:10.2307/297786
Further Reading:
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