Great Loves in History: Antony & Cleopatra--Was it Love or Politics?

By Stephanie Dray

Few lovers in history are more famous than the notorious Queen of the Nile and her Roman general. But was it love between them, or was their alliance one of mutual political need?


Cleopatra was a clever queen who had been swimming in the waters of a burgeoning Roman empire for some time. Antony was not--after all--her first Roman general. First, there was Julius Caesar, the father of her son Caesarion. A young queen in exile, she'd rolled herself out at the feet of the warrior, surrendering herself to his mercy, and hoped for the best. As it turned out, she was a shrewd judge of character. Caesar liked a girl with guts, after all, and they are said to have become lovers that very night.


Though Cleopatra is generally portrayed as the young seductress in this arrangement, we might want to remember that Caesar was many years her senior. He was an experienced lecher who held every last bit of power in the situation. It is more likely that he seduced her. However, the fact that he seems to have also fallen in love with her was much to her benefit. Caesar showed great favor to the young Egyptian queen, going so far as to install a gilded statue of her in his family temple. Some say that his infatuation with her appeared to be a midlife crisis of epic proportions. Cleopatra was no doubt very grateful to him; he had been her savior. He gave her a throne, slew her enemies, and left her with legions for protection.

Her relationship with Antony began on a different note entirely. After Caesar's assassination, she was forced to navigate the tricky waters of a Roman civil war. She certainly seems to have held her own. And though Antony summoned her to Tarsus for an accounting, she seems intent on meeting him as an equal, if not a superior. She went to him in a gilded barge, dressed as a goddess.


Their courtship was well-publicized. They were the Brangelina of their time. (Cleopantony?) They feasted. They wore costumed. They partied late into the night. She invited him to Egypt--and he accepted. There, they conceived their twins, Cleopatra Selene and Alexander Helios. A good time was had by all.


But the moment Antony was free to marry Cleopatra, he married Octavia instead. This leads some to wonder whether his heart was really in it when it came to Cleopatra. Similarly, as the man who would be known as emperor Augustus began to rise in power, Cleopatra needed Antony to advance her son's interests. When they got back together, it was because Antony needed Cleopatra's money and she needed his power. Reason enough for people to doubt that theirs was a love match.


However, I like to believe that hard choices show people's true colors. As we all know, Cleopatra and Antony lost the Battle of Actium. They lost the world. And in the end, they could have turned on one another. In fact, their enemy appears to have offered them both, individually, incentive to do away with the other. Both of them, in various ways, simply refused to part with the other.


Clearly, there was some distrust in the end. Antony worried that Cleopatra would betray him. She had to prove to him several times that she wasn't going to poison him or otherwise abandon him. When he killed himself, it was because--some say--he was certain that Cleopatra was dead, and then when he lay bleeding, found out that she was alive, and thought it was a trick. But the queen's behavior at the death of her beloved tells us everything.


She wept and howled and tore at her clothes and body in grief. She locked herself up with his corpse and tried to turn a knife on herself. Then she refused to eat at the very time she ought to have been negotiating with her conqueror. In short, she behaved like a person who lost someone she loved. And in the end, she followed Antony into death.


Their union may have been about politics...but it was also about love.


Images: Jean-Leon Gerome, Cleopatra before Caesar and Lawrence Alma Tadema, Antony and Cleopatra, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Stephanie Dray's SONG OF THE NILE and LILY OF THE NILE, are available now from Berkeley Books. Both novels are set in the Augustan Age and feature Cleopatra's daughter. 

15 Minutes of Fame: Lucius Cornelius Balbus

By: Stephanie Dray

With the wicked Egyptian seductress dead, the Romans had every reason to believe the Republic would return to normal. Oh, some might argue that Cleopatra’s conqueror now meant to destroy the Republic and rule as king. He had, after all, begun to call himself Augustus (the illustrious one). But now that the civil wars were over, up-and-coming politicians like Lucius Cornelius Balbus bet that everything was going to return to normal.

Though Balbus was born in Spain, he’d been granted Roman citizenship, and had every reason to believe that he had a great future as a leader. He wasn’t a nobody after all. He was from the plebian side of gens Cornelia. Which is to say, he was related, in the complicated way of the Romans, to the Cornelii, a family who had, thus far, produced more Roman leaders than any other.

For nearly five-hundred years Rome had been ruled by her citizenry through elected bodies, governed by a carefully constructed constitution of checks and balances. Unlike our own Constitution, it didn’t guarantee equal opportunity for all--but Balbus believed it gave him a decent chance! Since Rome had done away with kings long ago, an ambitious young man could reach the pinnacle of power by working hard for the public. Young Romans started upon what was known as the cursus honorum (a course of offices) starting with military service and lowly magistracies and stretching all the way to the lofty heights of the consulship of Rome. If a young man had a taste for military life, he might become a pro-consul or governor of a province, and if he won a successful war, he would even be granted a giant military parade known as a triumph

This military parade was one of Rome’s highest honors and a man who was granted one of these would be known as a triumphator for the rest of his life! The Senate had never allowed anyone to celebrate a triumph who hadn’t been born a Roman citizen, but Balbus thought he might have a shot, if only there were a foreign war to be found.

He’d started his military career serving under Julius Caesar. When the dictator was assassinated, Balbus appears to have gone off to find his fortune in Mauretania at the side of King Bogud. Mauretania was just across the straight from Balbus’ home town of Gades and it was a land of plenty. Good fishing, lots of natural resources, and big plantations on which Balbus could grow wheat. Not a bad place to settle down--if Balbus had been the settling kind.

Before long, Mark Antony fell in love with Cleopatra and both of them went to war with Rome. So when King Bogud sided with Mark Antony and Balbus may have been with them both at Actium. Whatever the truth of the matter, when the war was over, instead of returning to Spain, Balbus decided to make a name for himself in Africa.

Africa was, after all, Rome’s latest obsession. Once Augustus chose to marry Cleopatra’s daughter to King Juba II and make them both the rulers of Mauretania, it became clear that Africa was the hip and happening place to be. Balbus may have travelled with the court of Juba II & Cleopatra Selene. As an able soldier and veteran of the wars, he’d have been the natural choice for a Roman advisor to the new monarchs. He almost assuredly had land there and would have wanted to be on good terms with the new folks in charge. Especially since Juba and Selene were nominal members of Augustus’ extended family

Juba and Selene were indebted to Augustus and sought to honor him at every turn. They had realized what Balbus had not; the Republic was on its way out. Augustus was about to form a monarchy in fact if not name, and “the new Caesar” didn’t look kindly upon rivals. Augustus had no intention of ever allowing another Roman--especially not one born in Spain like Balbus--to have any true independent power.

But Balbus still had big plans. He accepted a post as the Pro-Consul of Africa Nova--a province just to the east of Mauretania. There he waged an aggressive war against the Garamantes, a Berber tribal people of ferocious spirit. And when he captured their settlements, collected their loot, and dealt them a decisive defeat, he appealed to the Roman Senate to grant him a triumph.

Now, as mentioned before, Augustus didn’t like rivals. The so-called First Citizen appears to have decided that he should be the only man allowed to celebrate triumphs anymore. Consequently, when Marcus Licinius Crassus (grandson of the more famous triumvir) returned from a very successful campaign in the Balkans, Augustus tried to block him from celebrating a triumph. Crassus also disappears from the historical record shortly thereafter. This is unlikely to be an accident, considering the fate that befell others outside of the Julio-Claudian family who sought military honor. (Another example is the Praefect of Egypt, Cornelius Gallus, who was forced to commit suicide for boasting of his military achievements.)

Fortunately for Balbus, when he made his request for a triumph, Augustus happened to be out of town. (The would-be-emperor was off in the East poised for war with the Parthians and perhaps a little bit out of the loop.) In what would be one of their last independent acts, the Senate granted Balbus his heart’s desire. With high hopes and ambitions, Balbus apparently went to Rome with his soldiers, rode through the streets in a chariot, his face painted crimson, a slave whispering behind him a reminder that he was still a mortal. Balbus was the first non-Roman-born general to celebrate such an honor.

He was also the last.

He showed off his prisoners and loot, was hailed as an imperator, and saw the pinnacle of his career. He was treated like a king for a day. And then he was more or less never heard from again.

As far as Augustus was concerned, the legions all belonged to him now. Roman generals were only borrowing the army from him--not from the state--and therefore, every victory was actually his victory. Henceforth, only smaller celebrations and honors and ovations were allowed to those outside the imperial family. Returning from the East with the battle-standards that had been captured by Parthia in previous wars, Augustus snuffed out the Republic’s last breath and became the first emperor of Rome.

Stephanie Dray's debut historical fiction novel, LILY OF THE NILE , was just release by Berkley Books. The sequel is expected to release at the end of 2011. Both novels are set in the Augustan Age and feature Cleopatra's daughter.

Movie Adaptations: Cleopatra

By Stephanie Dray

"Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale her infinite variety." ~ William Shakespeare, on Cleopatra

Cleopatra is a timeless icon of femininity and feminism. She is the most famous woman in the history of the world--perhaps because she was, and remains, the most powerful woman in the history of the world. No subsequent queen or prime minister or secretary of state has ever had the geographic dominion, relative wealth, and unfettered authority that was enjoyed by Cleopatra VII of Egypt.

Yet, almost everything we know about her has been filtered through the propaganda of her enemies. The unbiased facts seem to be these: She was a woman of extraordinary charm who shared a bed with not one, but two of the most powerful men in the ancient world--Julius Caesar and Marcus Antonius. She would become mortal enemies with a third--Octavian, otherwise known as Augustus Caesar--who did more to immortalize her than either of her lovers.

She comes down to us through the ages without a face. Her coins--many of which depict her in quite severe and haggish ways--are stylized portraits, meant to impart terror rather than admiration. The few busts that we believe portray the Egyptian queen cannot be verified. There are no extant portraits nor textual descriptions of her. Because of this, artists have a blank canvass upon which they can imagine this cunning political queen in any way they like.

That is a siren's call to Hollywood.

The first cinematic portrayal of Cleopatra was in 1917. It was a silent film starring seductive actress Theda Bara who paraded on stage in a variety of costumes that would be considered risky even by today's standards. Unfortunately, not much is known about the film because even though it was popular in its day, it was deemed profane under the Hay's Code in the 1930s and subsequently destroyed. Only fragments of it exist today in a museum. However, we do have some images of Theda Bara, the so-called Serpent of the Nile, and they are oh, so pretty to look at.

In 1934, Claudette Colbert starred in a Cecil B. DeMille production about the Queen of the Nile. The production is in black and white, old-fashioned in style, but the dialog is often fun. This is an Egyptianized version of the queen, which is not necessarily entirely inaccurate, but there is little visual reference to her cultural heritage as a Macedonian Greek. I especially like the invention of Herod making trouble between Cleopatra and Antony--which is unlikely to have happened the way it plays out on screen, but hints at the genuine trouble between the two client monarchs! There's a certain jaded maturity that Claudette Colbert brings to the role, but the entire picture seems too small to incorporate such a big historical figure.

Almost thirty years later, Hollywood had another go at it, this time creating a budget-busting visual extravaganza that would give the world its most iconic images of Cleopatra in the person of violet-eyed actress, Liz Taylor. The movie is a huge, splashy melodrama that bankrupted the studio, launched careers and destroyed the marriages of its co-stars; it's the film on which Richard Burton and Liz Taylor fell in love. Their sexual chemistry burns up the screen, their personal lives echoing those of the characters. One cannot watch without feeling the tiniest bit voyeuristic, and the authenticity of their connection makes what might otherwise be a schmaltzy production into something emotionally gripping.

This is not to say that the film is all eye-candy and soap-opera. The acting is stupendous. Rex Harrison is utterly charming as Caesar. Richard Burton smolders as a brooding Antony. And Liz Taylor is a revelation as Cleopatra. She's by turns clever and naive, petty and big-hearted, grasping and generous. She's a difficult woman, but not a foolish one. There's a reason that even though she'd go on to win awards for other films, this one will probably be her most memorable role.

The costuming and set-decor is an interesting mix of Egyptian, Roman and Greek--all of this in keeping with accounts we have of Alexandria where cultural fusion was the norm. Though the film never mentions Cleopatra's children by Antony--including the heroine of my own debut novel, Cleopatra Selene--it's fairly historically accurate; viewers will learn from this film as well as be entertained. Not much better can be said for Hollywood than that!

Perhaps with an eye to how difficult it would be to top the 1963 Elizabeth Taylor version, Cleopatra has appeared primarily on the small screen ever since. The 1999 Television Mini-Series starring Billy Zane, Timothy Dalton and Leonor Varela was based on Margaret George's excellent novel. Unfortunately, the series bears little resemblance to the book. In this version, Cleopatra is a foot-stomping, whining, little brat. Alexandria is rendered similarly unimpressive. Worse, the story has many small gratuitous inaccuracies which make little sense in light of the fact that the older versions managed to get it right. But what kills the miniseries is Leonor Varela. Her acting is so atrocious that it's painful to watch. The only redeeming thing about this version is actually Billy Zane’s boyish rendition of Marcus Antonius. He's very convincing as a hedonistic Antony and brings all his considerable charms to bear. He's not hard to look at either.

Which brings us to the latest incarnation of Cleopatra: Lyndsey Marshal's version on HBO's Rome. While I can find nothing bad to say about the series as a whole, which was masterfully written, funny, absorbing and dramatic--our Egyptian queen got the short end of the stick. Here she's portrayed as a drug-addled slut who deceives Caesar about the parentage of her son. Other than Augustus' accusations against her, there's nothing in the historical record to suggest this but not every portrayal can resuscitate the queen's image. Marshal's Cleopatra is without moral scruple--in that, hers may be the closest portrayal of the historical woman.

Now Hollywood seems poised to make another attempt. Given the run-away success of Stacy Schiff's recent biography, a new movie is being planned starring Angelina Jolie. Given that she's the biggest, most scandalous star in Hollywood, the choice seems apt. Moreover, her appearance in the ill-fated movie Alexander may have costume designers eager to turn her into another ancient queen. Reportedly, this film will focus more on Cleopatra as a mother and strategist. It remains to be seen what sort of images will leave their mark in popular culture this time, but Cleophiles like me will be waiting in line to find out!


Stephanie Dray's debut historical fiction novel, LILY OF THE NILE , was just release by Berkley Books. The sequel is expected to release at the end of 2011. Both novels are set in the Augustan Age and feature Cleopatra's daughter.

Guest Author: Stephanie Dray

This week on Unusual Historicals we're happy to help contributor Stephanie Dray celebrate the release of her historical fiction debut, LILY OF THE NILE, in which Cleopatra's daughter struggles to survive in the treacherous Roman court. Check out below how you can win a copy!

With her parents dead, the daughter of Cleopatra and Mark

Antony is left at the mercy of her Roman captors. Heir to one empire and prisoner of another, it falls to Princess Selene to save her brothers and reclaim what is rightfully hers...In the aftermath of Alexandria's tragic fall, Princess Selene is taken from Egypt, the only home she's ever known. Along with her two surviving brothers, she's put on display as a war trophy in Rome. Selene's captors mock her royalty and drag her through the streets in chains, but on the brink of death, the children are spared as a favor to the emperor's sister, who takes them to live as hostages in the so-called lamentable embassy of royal orphans...
Now trapped in a Roman court of intrigue that reviles her heritage and suspects her

faith, Selene can't hide the hieroglyphics that carve themselves into her flesh. Nor can she stop the em

peror from using her for his own political ends. But faced with a new and ruthless Caesar who is obsessed with having a Cleopatra of his very own, Selene is determined honor her mother's lost legacy. The magic of Egypt and Isis remain within

her. But can she succeed where her mother failed? And what will it cost her in a political game where the only rule is win or die?

***

If you had to compare your novel to a movie or television series, what would it be?

LILY OF THE NILE is based on the true life story of Cleopatra's daughter,who was taken prisoner by the Romans at the age of ten and marched through the streets in chains, only to be pardoned by the emperor who would eventually make her the most powerfulqueen in his empire. Because of this, it's almost like a continuation of HBO's hit series, "Rome".The characters are all the same, the sex, greed, scandal and ambition is theretoo. And of course, the great food of ancient Roman banquets.

What kind of readers does your novel appeal to?

Fans of historical fiction will find lots to love in LILY OF THE NILE, but because the story is also infused with magic realism and explores the transition from female-centric religion to a world in which god is exclusively male, I think my writing will very much appeal to fans of Marion Zimmer Bradley's Mists of Avalon series. (I was so very honored to get a blurb recommendation from her collaborator, the fabulous Diana Paxson.)

If historical fiction writers come up with solutions to history's mysteries, what puzzles did you attempt to solve?

Historical sources tell us that Rome's first emperor, Augustus, could be cold and ruthless with a long memory for grudges. That he actively promoted Cleopatra's image as a great queen was in his interest--he wanted to be seen as having made an important conquest. But his strange fascination with her iconography has remained a mystery for thousands of years and the fact that he was willing to make Cleopatra's daughter the most powerful queen in his empire is nothing short of astonishing. For me, the solution was simple: Augustus simply transferred his fascination with the dead queen to her living daughter. When I made that decision the rest of the historical pieces fell into place in a strangely consistent order...I loved that!

What books inspired you while writing your novel?

I owe everything to Beatrice Chanler's 1932 book entitled Cleopatra's Daughter: Queen of Mauretania. Her writing is beautiful but old-fashioned, and most of her ideas have been lost as her book went out of print. I wanted to modernize her most controversial theories. I owe a debt of gratitude to also to Margaret George, whose book The Memoirs of Cleopatra made me obsessed with the Queen of the Nile!

Is there anything else you'd like for us to know?

Yes! I'd like people to know that I tweet and there's nothing I would rather do than chat with readers and fellow authors. I also give away goodies and free content to subscribers of my very infrequent newsletter, so please join and I'll keep you up to date on the sequel, SONG OF THE NILE.

Reviews:

"Dray deftly mixes magic and history in her debut... Selene discovers hidden powers within herself to fight for her Egyptian beliefs and proves an active, vibrant take-charge protagonist as she goes toe to toe with Octavian and staunchly defends her people. Readers will eagerly look forward to the next installment." ~ Publishers Weekly

"With clear prose, careful research, vivid detail and a dash of magic, Stephanie Dray brings true life to one of Egypt's most intriguing princesses." ~ Susan Fraser King, bestselling and award winning author of Queen Hereafter and Lady MacBeth

"Graceful history infused with subtle magic and veiled ancient mysteries... Meticulously researched, thoroughly believable, this is a different kind of book, and a true achievement." ~ Vera Nazarian, two-time Nebula Award nominated author of Lords of Rainbow and Mansfield Park and Mummies

"The glimpses of the cult of Isis leave one wanting to know more, and the story keeps you turning the pages until the end." Diana Paxson, bestselling author and collaborator on the Mists of Avalon series

***

Sounds fabulous! Thanks for being with us today, Stephanie. Readers, if you'd like the chance to win a copy of LILY OF THE NILE, answer this: Do you enjoy magical realism, those little touches of the unexplained in your history? Why or why not? I'll draw a winner at random on Sunday. Void where prohibited. Best of luck!

Real Life Heroes: Mark Antony

By Stephanie Dray

Mark Antony comes to us through history most famously in Shakespeare as the man who fled from the naval battle at Actium to chase after his lover, Cleopatra. Even setting aside the cowardice attached to Antony in the bard’s famous play, there's also the historical record which includes several ruthless political acts that Antony performed as a Roman leader and military commander.

As a result, he makes a most unlikely, and perhaps unwise, choice for this series about heroes of history. However, I've never been one to back away from a challenge.

Antony's faults are well-documented. He was a hedonist who spent lavishly, partied hard, and may well have been a drunkard. He engaged in adulterous affairs, skipped out on debts, had children with at least four different women, and played a part in bringing down the Roman Republic. But in the course of the civil war he waged with Octavius for dominance, he was also the victim of an unprecedented propaganda campaign and his memory has been much maligned. (For example, it's highly unlikely that Antony fled the battle of Actium in cowardice; most historians now believe that he and Cleopatra were attempting to break a naval blockade.)

If it is true that heroism and vice can co-exist in a single man, there may be no better example of that than Antony, who is seldom remembered for his genuine acts of valor, and ought to be.

In the immediate aftermath of Julius Caesar's assassination, Antony gave shelter to Caesar's widow, Calpurnia and ultimately risked the public turning against him when he made a world-changing eulogy during the dictator's funeral. While that speech may have ultimately been self-serving, it was also an act of loyalty to his dead friend, and one taken at considerable peril.

Not long after, Antony fought a disastrous battle in Cisalpine Gaul. His legionaries were beset with every kind of calamity including famine. According to Plutarch, "Antony, on this occasion, was a most wonderful example to his soldiers. He, who had just quitted so much luxury and sumptuous living, made no difficulty now of drinking foul water and feeding on wild fruits and roots. Nay, it is related they ate the very bark of trees, and, in passing over the Alps, lived upon creatures that no one before had ever been willing to touch."

But it wasn't just by serving as a good example that Antony helped save his army. The plan was to meet up with friendly forces on the other side of the Alps, but when they reached the other army, Lepidus had turned against them. Again, at great risk to himself, Antony treated directly with the enemy soldiers and won them to his cause, sparing Lepidus and treating him honorably.

It seems that Antony's heroism often showed itself in adversity. Though he fought and won many battles, it was during his disastrous defeat in Parthia that the bravery with which he mounted his retreat so impressed even his Parthian enemies that they cheered when his army crossed the river to safety.

At the end of Antony's career, when it became clear that he might be able to save his own life by giving up Cleopatra or getting rid of her, Antony would not do it, and that also says something about his character.

Because I'm writing a trilogy about the daughter of Antony and Cleopatra, I like to reflect upon the man's more admirable qualities. These are likely the stories that young Cleopatra Selene was told about her father and I thought readers might enjoy knowing them too.

Stephanie Dray's debut historical fiction novel, LILY OF THE NILE , will release January 2011 from Berkley Books. The sequel is expected to release at the end of 2011. Both novels are set in the Augustan Age and feature Cleopatra's daughter.