Antony and Cleopatra Love story

Valentine’s week – Day 2 – Propose Day

Article: Antony and Cleopatra Love story
Published by: Nicky Francis

The famous and true love story of Cleopatra and Marc Antony has been told and retold for centuries. The legends of Antony and Cleopatra are as famous as Caesar, Alexender the Great, Plato and Aristotle were glorious personalities of History.

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Cleopatra all Beauty and Intelligence

Cleopatra is the only woman in the list which itself is interesting and a testament to her enduring fascination. Antony and Cleopatra are remembered as a couple and as lovers, even after their suicide, their story had a deep impact for more than two thousand years.

true story of these two historical characters has been dramatized by the master William Shakespeare and is still staged all over the world. The relationship of Antony and Cleopatra is a true test of love.

Cleopatra accused of Julius Caesar’s assassination

One of the most famous women in history, Cleopatra VII was the brilliant and beautiful last Pharaoh of Egypt. The woman was legendary, not only for her breathtaking beauty but also for her great intellect. She was proficient in nine languages and was also a skilled mathematician. Cleopatra is often considered to be a stunning seductress though she has been studying to be a nun.

She became the mistress of the famous emperor Julius Caesar. After he is slain, she is accused of having been a party to Ceaser’s assassination, for there was a rumour in Rome that Cleopatra has been giving help to Cassius, one of the assassins of Caesar.

Love a first sight

Matters came to such a head that Caesar’s successor and best friend Mark Antony, the present emperor of Rome, summoned Cleopatra to explain herself at his headquarters in Anatolia. In the spring of the year 41 BC she crossed the Mediterranean to see him.

But as she saw Marc Antony, she fell in love with him, and he was with her, almost instantly. Sometime later the emperor accepted her invitation to visit her in Egypt and arrived in Alexandria in time to spend a winter of pleasure.

Relationship, Power and Outraged

The relationship between these two powerful people put the country of Egypt in a powerful position. But their love affair outraged the Romans who were wary of the growing powers of the Egyptians. Despite all the threats, Antony and Cleopatra get married in Antioch(in Syria) in 36 BC.

Together, Antony and Cleopatra formed a formidable ruling power. They were now openly together; and openly a team against Octavian, Antony’s rival for power in Rome. As a Roman general, with a powerful army in the eastern provinces, Antony gave his new wife a spectacular wedding present much of the Middle East.

34 BC, he declared Cleopatra to be the Queen of Kings and Caesarion the King of Kings, jointly ruling over Egypt and Cyprus and joint overlords of the kingdoms of the other children.

They started presenting themselves as divine. To Greeks they appeared as Dionysus and Aphrodite; to Egyptians as Osiris and Isis.

Octavian’s Anger and the War that brought the downfall of the Lovers empire.

But Octavian, Antony’s rival in power, had had enough of it. He was a blood relative of Ceaser. how could he bear to see Antony taking his uncle’s place? In 31 BC, he declared a war against Antony. The battle between Octavian and Antony and Cleopatra’s forces took place at Actium, in Greece, on 2 September 31.

The exact course of the battle is not known, but it is said that while fighting a battle in Actium, Antony got false news of Cleopatra’s death. Shattered, he fell on his sword and killed himself. On hearing this news, Cleopatra heartbroken and with no desire to live also killed herself.

The story also goes….

It is also said that Antony escaped to Egypt with Cleopatra when their fortunes in war turned against them. But the royal couple couldn’t escape misfortune. The following year, when Octavian arrived in Egypt with his army, Antony had to commit suicide to escape imprisonment. When Cleopatra learned about Antony‘s death, she was shocked. She was taken a prisoner of Octavian, restricted by his guards to part of her palace. Shattered by her husband’s death and her captivity, with the help of some loyal subjects, she arranged for a small poisonous snake, an asp, to be smuggled into her quarters in a basket of figs.

Then, Cleopatra ordered her chambermaids to leave her. She put on her royal robes, lay on a gold couch, and applied the asp to her breast. A little later she is found dead.

Great love demands great sacrifices. The love story of Antony and Cleopatra epitomizes that love is another name for sacrifice.

Happy Reading !!!

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