Marcus Antonius

Triumvir of Rome (w/Augustus, Lepidus)

aka Mark Antony

Born: 82 BC in Rome?
Died: Spring 31 BC at Alexandria, shortly after defeat by Augustus at the battle of Actium

Father: Marcus Antonius Crecitus of Rome (c110-c50 BC)
Mother: Julia of Rome (3rd cousin of Julius Caesar)

Spouse1: ?
Spouse2: Octavia, Minor of Rome (c50-09 BC, sister of Augustus)
Concubine: Cleopatra of Egypt

Children:

  • Antonia, Minor of Rome (c50 BC - c10 AD) m. Nero Claudius Germanicus (c50 BC - c10 AD), Drusus of Rome (younger bro of Tiberius RE2 42 BC - 37 AD r14-37 12C p86), Antonia/Germanicus parents of Claudius RE4)
  • others?

    Pictures at right ===>>


    • tIoJC p49


    tIoJC p83
    tIoJC p76
    RoAR p63
    Basalt head of Octavia, Octavian's sister and Mark Antony's 2nd wife (tSfC p125)
    Marble bust (tSfC p128+)


    "This portrait bust has been tentatively identified as Kleopatra VII, last of the Ptolemaic rulers of Egypt" (PHAAG p115) and lover of first Caesar, then Mark Antony

    JC2: "... Caesar used his powers justly, giving Rome many needed reforms ... [he refused the title Emperor out of respect for the Senate, but was k. 44 BC by Brutus and others at the Senate by '23 plunging daggers'] they decided that only by killing him could they save the Republic ... Soon after Caesar was killed, though, the Roman Republic also died. Caesar's adopted son, Octavius, and his lieutenant, Marc Antony, defeated his chief assassins in 42 BC. Then they turned on each other. The civil war between Octavius and Antony finally killed the Republic. Octavius prevailed and took the position that Caesar would not - first emperor of Rome. Like all Roman emperors to come after him, Octavius adopted the name Caesar. Even after the last Caesar ruled Rome, despots and kings used the name Caesar to invoke the powers of supreme command - in Russian, czar (or tsar); in German, kaiser; and in Arabic, qaysar. Perhaps because of his absolute power, Julius Caesar will live always as the symbol of the eternal tyrant."

    tIoJC: The conspirators [who killed Julius Caesar] failed for 2 reasons; 1) His death unleashed a backlash by "plebes, populares, and soldiers [who] saw him as their champion" (97) and 2) "the republic they were defending existed more in their minds than in reality. As Caesar had long ago realized, [it] had been dying of mortal wounds ever since ... Marius and Sulla" (97). For a time, Rome was paralyzed, then civil war ensued. "After driving the conspirators and their supporters from Italy, Antony soon joined forces with Marcus Lepidus, a powerful general, and Gaius Octavius, known as Octavian. Caesar's gnephew and adopted son, the 18yo Octavian appeared at first glance [weak] ... Only Cicero [forsaw his rise] ... Antony, Octavian, and Lepidus formed the 2nd Triumvirate in the winter of 43 and, in a purge reminiscent of those of Marius and Sulla, immediately began eliminating their enemies. Cicero, the last great republican remaining in Rome, was first on their hit list, and they hung his head in the city's main square. The triumvirs then proceeded to Greece, where Cassius, Brutus, and their republican diehards had raised an army with which to make their last stand. In the summer of 42, near Philippi, in N Greece, Caesar's successors crushed these last remnants of the republic. Overcome with anguish and hopelessness, Cassius and Brutus committed suicide ... [the triumvirs then turned on one another] Antony and Octavian first pushed Lepidus aside and then fought each other ... As Caesar had done, Antony took Cleopatra as a lover and ally (as Caesar had done before). But the lovers' dreams of ruling Rome together evaporated when Octavian decisively defeated them in a huge sea battle near Actium, in W Greece, in the spring of 31 [with the aid of his friend, the military strategist Marcus Agrippa 99]. Antony and Cleopatra fled to Alexandria and soon afterward, with Octavian closing in on them, they took their own lives" (98). Octavian became Rome's first emperor (i.e. Imperator Augustus Caesar or 'The Great Victor and Ruler'), and after 15 yrs of civil war since Julius Caesar's death, most people were relieved at his imposed order and stability (i.e. happy to trade some freedom). "Under the long line of Augustus's successors, each of whom also took the prestigious title of Caesar, Rome continued to expand until it encompassed 3.5 million square miles and more than 100M people" (100).

    Sources:
    - tIoJC = (The Importance of) Julius Caesar, Don Nardo, Lucent Bks, 1997 (FHL).
    - JC2 = Julius Caesar, Robert Green, Franklin Watts (Grolier), 1996 (FHL).
    - tAR = The Ancient Romans, Don Nardo, Lucent, 19?? (FHL).
    - tSfC = The Search for Cleopatra, Michael Foss, Arcade, 1997 (FHL).
    - WBDC = The Wycliffe Biographical Dictionary of the Church, Eds. Elgin S. Moyer, Earle Cairns, Moody, 1982 (SBC).
    - RoAR = Rulers of Ancient Rome, Don Nardo, Lucent, 1999, Mustang.
    - PHAAG = The Penguin Historical Atlas of Ancient Greece, Robert Morkot, Penguin, 1996, 144pp, Mustang.