Cicero is writing all this stuff, you know, “Ah, Antony is just getting drunk all the time, and he’s having these wild parties, and he’s surrounded by actors which is terrifying.” Some how at some point, Antony wrote a rebuttal on his own drunkenness, and we have no idea of knowing whether what he was saying was, “In fact, I’m not that drunk. There is one text-it doesn’t survive, we don’t have it-but it was called “On his Own Drunkenness,” and it seems to be a response to Cicero. KA: He wrote speeches on his own for himself on his behalf. RK: There are even record of Antony’s own writing. So we have a lot of material about Antony depicted in a really negative way but help reveal the picture of Antony, the political creature, before everything happens with Egypt. Antony was a super successful politician. “Why are the people of Rome supporting somebody who has such a flashy and exciting way of life?” And for Cicero, the answer was not obvious that the people of Rome loved being entertained by politicians with flashy and exciting ways of life. A lot of what he is saying is rhetorically amplified, but it all points to somebody who had a reputation for wild living that made him really popular in Rome in a way that terrified Cicero. There is a whole series of speeches directed at him by the orator, Cicero, which just tear apart his character, say all sorts of horrible things about his drunkenness and debauchery and lack of regard for civic virtue and everything, and that’s kind of an intentional character assassination in the context of the years 43, 42 right after the assassination of Julius Caesar. KA: Antony has his own kind of independent existence in Latin literature. We actually know a lot about Antony and his life from writings both before and after his death. In fact, while Caesar was in Egypt having his own affair with Cleopatra and squashing the last of the resistance to his rule, he left Antony in charge of Rome, and after Caesar was assassinated, Antony made a bid for power, splitting the empire 3 ways with Octavian and Lepidus. For most of his life, in fact, Rome was in a state of civil war, and as Antony matured, he found himself on one winning side and then another before he finally met up with Julius Caesar in the 40s, becoming one of his most trusted lieutenants. RK: Marc Antony was born in 83 BCE, a year of civil war, Acton says. Their dates are actually really important for understanding these people, theses historical people, and why they did the things they did. Their deaths really mark the end of the roman republic and the beginning of what we call the Principate, or the period of Roman Empire. Antony and Cleopatra died in 30 BCE, so they are living and operating in the first century BCE. I’m the Roman historian, especially in empirical history, but I have a soft spot in my heart for the late republic. I’m an assistant professor in the Classics department. Louis to get the scoop on the real Antony and Cleopatra and the sources Shakespeare used to write his play. Louis about their current production of Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra, I decided to meet up with one of the classics professors and Roman historians at Washington University in St. This week, following our interview with Shakespeare Festival St. I’m Rebecca King, and you’ve just tuned in to Hold That Thought. Was Antony a party-boy? Did Cleopatra kill herself out of love for Antony? Together, we look back at Plutarch's The Life of Antony, which William Shakespeare used to write his play, and the texts that survive about the lovers from their contemporaries, rivals, and ancient Roman writers. Louis to get a sense of the real people behind the legend. Louis about their current production of Antony and Cleopatra, I decided to meet up with Roman historian Karen Acton at Washington University in St. After talking with Shakespeare Festival St.
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