Mark Antony
Marcus Antonius, commonly known in English as Mark Antony (Latin:M·ANTONIVS·M·F·M·N)[note 1] (January 14, 83 BC – August 1, 30 BC), was a Romanpolitician and general. As a military commander and administrator, he was an important supporter and loyal friend of his mother 's cousin Julius Caesar. AfterCaesar 's assassination, Antony formed an official political alliance with Octavian (the future Augustus) and Lepidus, known to historians today as the Second Triumvirate.
The triumvirate broke up in 33 BC. Disagreement between Octavian and Antony erupted into civil war, the Final War of the Roman Republic, in 31 BC. Antony was defeated by Octavian at the naval Battle of Actium, and in a brief land battle at Alexandria. He and his lover Cleopatra committed suicide shortly thereafter. His career and defeat are significant in Rome 's transformation from Republic toEmpire. * |
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Biography
Early life
A member of the Antonia clan (gens), Antony was born most likely on January 14 of 83 BC.[1] According to Suetonius, he shared his birthday with Drusus, the father of the emperor Claudius, who was Antony 's grandson through maternal lineage.[2] Another source[citation needed] states that his birth coincided with Sulla 's landing at Brundisium in the spring of 83 BC,[3] and Plutarch[4] gives his year of birth as either 86 or 83 BC.[5][not in citation given][6] He was the homonymous and thus presumably the eldest son ofMarcus Antonius Creticus (praetor 74 BC, proconsul 73–71 BC) and grandson of the noted orator Marcus Antonius (consul 99 BC, censor 97–6 BC) who had been murdered during the Marian Terror of the winter of 87–6 BC.[7]
Antony 's father was incompetent and corrupt, and according to Cicero, he was only given power because he was incapable of using or abusing it effectively.[8] In 74 BC he was given imperium infinitum to defeat the pirates of theMediterranean, but he died in Crete in 71 BC without making any
The triumvirate broke up in 33 BC. Disagreement between Octavian and Antony erupted into civil war, the Final War of the Roman Republic, in 31 BC. Antony was defeated by Octavian at the naval Battle of Actium, and in a brief land battle at Alexandria. He and his lover Cleopatra committed suicide shortly thereafter. His career and defeat are significant in Rome 's transformation from Republic toEmpire. * |
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Biography
Early life
A member of the Antonia clan (gens), Antony was born most likely on January 14 of 83 BC.[1] According to Suetonius, he shared his birthday with Drusus, the father of the emperor Claudius, who was Antony 's grandson through maternal lineage.[2] Another source[citation needed] states that his birth coincided with Sulla 's landing at Brundisium in the spring of 83 BC,[3] and Plutarch[4] gives his year of birth as either 86 or 83 BC.[5][not in citation given][6] He was the homonymous and thus presumably the eldest son ofMarcus Antonius Creticus (praetor 74 BC, proconsul 73–71 BC) and grandson of the noted orator Marcus Antonius (consul 99 BC, censor 97–6 BC) who had been murdered during the Marian Terror of the winter of 87–6 BC.[7]
Antony 's father was incompetent and corrupt, and according to Cicero, he was only given power because he was incapable of using or abusing it effectively.[8] In 74 BC he was given imperium infinitum to defeat the pirates of theMediterranean, but he died in Crete in 71 BC without making any
References: 2. ^ Suetonius, Claudius 11.3; see detailed commentary on the sentence by Donna W. Hurley, Suetonius: Divus Claudius(Cambridge University Press, 2001), p. 106. 3. ^ Weigall, Arthur S. The Life and Times of Marc Antony. page 39, (1931) New York: G.P. Putnam and Sons. 17. ^ Plutarch. Fall of the Roman Republic. London: Penguin Classics, 1958. * Plutarch 's Parallel Lives: "Antony" ~ Internet Classics Archive (MIT) * Plutarch 's Parallel Lives: "Life of Antony" – Loeb Classical Library edition, 1920 * Babcock, C.L. (1965). "The early career of Fulvia". American Journal of Philology 86: 1–32. * Charlesworth, M. P.; Tarn, W. W. (1965). Octavian, Antony, and Cleopatra. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. * Eyben, Emiel (1993). Restless youth in ancient Rome. Psychology Press. ISBN 0-415-04366-2. * Gowing, Alain M. (1992). The Triumviral Narratives of Appian and Cassius Dio. Michigan Monographs in Classical Antiquity. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. * Huzar, Eleanor G. (1978). Mark Antony: A Biography. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. ISBN 0-8166-0863-6. * Jones, A.M.H. (1938). The Herods of Judaea. Oxford: Clarendon Press. * Lindsay, Jack (1936). Marc Antony, His World and His Contemporaries. London: G. Routledge & Sons. * Scullard, Howard Hayes (1984). From the Gracchi to Nero: A History of Rome from 133 BC to AD 68. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-02527-3. * Southern, Pat (1998). Mark Antony. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. ISBN 0-7524-1406-2. * Syme, R. (1939). The Roman Revolution. Oxford: Clarendon. * Weigall, Arthur (1931). The Life and Times of Marc Antony. New York: G.P. Putnam and Sons. * Suerbaum, Werner (1980). "Merkwürdige Geburtstage". Chiron (10): 327–355. * This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.