Mark Antony was a statesman and general who ruled a part of the Roman
Empire and fell in love with Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, in one of the
greatest love stories of history. All this happened about two thousand
years ago. Mark Antony's name in Rome was Marcus Antonius. He was born
about 83 B.C. and became an officer in the armies of Julius Caesar,-
Rome's greatest general, who became his friend.
Mark Antony was a statesman and general who ruled a part of the Roman Empire and fell in love with Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, in one of the greatest love stories of history. All this happened about two thousand years ago. Mark Antony's name in Rome was Marcus Antonius. He was born about 83 B.C. and became an officer in the armies of Julius Caesar,- Rome's greatest general, who became his friend. When Caesar was killed by several Roman senators, as told in the article on Julius Caesar, Mark Antony made such a stirring speech at Caesar's funeral that the people of Rome became angry at the killers and they were forced to flee from the city. After Caesar's death, Mark Antony became one of the three rulers of Rome, along with Octavian, Caesar's adopted son, and Emilius Lepidus, a Roman general.
They divided the vast Roman Empire, which included North Africa, most of Europe, and parts of Asia. Each of them was called a triumvir, which means "one of three rulers," and their reign was called a triumvirate. Antony was given control of the empire in Asia and in Egypt, the greatest country of northern Africa. He went to Egypt, where he fell in love with Cleopatra, the young and beautiful queen of Egypt. Octavian, who had the western part of the empire but wanted all of it, made war on Antony. After defeating Antony in the battle of actium (about which there is a separate article), Octavian invaded Egypt. Deserted by his own army, which went over to Octavian, Antony committed suicide by falling on his sword. He died in 30 B.C. Cleopatra then took her own life by letting a poisonous snake bite her. The story is told in a great play, Antony and Cleopatra, by William Shakespeare.
