The Murder of Cleopatra by Pat Brown

Author:Pat Brown
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9781616146511
Publisher: Prometheus Books
Published: 2013-04-17T16:00:00+00:00

She had received many letters from Antony and his friends summoning her but she disdained and mocked the man by sailing up the River Cydnus in a ship with its stern covered in gold, with purple sails fluttering, with rowers pulling with silver oars as flutes played accompanied by pipes and lyres. Cleopatra reclined beneath a canopy embroidered with gold, decked out to resemble a painting of Aphrodite, and boys, made to look like the Erotes we see in art, stood on either side and fanned her. Likewise, her most beautiful maids, dressed as Nereids and Graces, stood, some by the rudders and some by the ropes. The marvelous scent of copious incense fills the riverbanks. Some of the men escort her from either side, directly from the river, while others come down from the city to see the sight. As the crowd thinned in the marketplace finally Antony was left alone sitting on the speaker’s platform. The news went around that Aphrodite had come to revel with Dionysus for the good of Asia. Then he sent word inviting her to dinner; instead she suggested he come to her. He, wishing to display his courtesy and kindness, accepted and went. He found the preparations beyond words and was struck most of all by the multitude of lights. Indeed it is said that so many were suspended and displayed everywhere at once and were ordered and positioned at such intricate angles to one another and in such patterns, like squares and circles, that it was a sight of beauty and delight for the viewer.1

This show was probably just some frosting for the cake, since both Antony and Cleopatra already knew that they needed each other, but they also needed to maintain a level of diplomatic dignity. This showy pretext allowed the necessary partnership to be sugarcoated and spiced up, thereby making the whole concept of cooperation much more palatable.

Why, then, at that particular time, did Antony send for Cleopatra? He certainly knew that Octavian would go to any extreme to attack his character and stir up as much animosity as he possibly could with the Roman people, the ruling class, and the Senate. Octavian did not disappoint him. He went all out, trashing Cleopatra and Antony’s liaison with her.

Cassius Dio writes his interpretation of how Octavian viewed his two enemies and how he might have presented them to the Roman people:

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