Antony and Cleopatra

by Adrian Goldsworthy

  Caelius Rufus hadjoined the ‘worse cause’ with the ‘better army’, but after his return from Caesar’s Spanish campaign had steadily come to regret his decision. Elected praetor for 48 BC, he felt that he had been wrongfully denied the prestigious position of urban praetor in spite of earlier promises and his own opinion of his worth. In his last surviving letter to Cicero he claimed to be sickened by the other followers of Caesar and spoke of their unpopularity amongst the wider population. Hoping to exploit the discontent, he proclaimed a sweeping relief of debt. Servilius, Caesar’s consular colleague for 48 BC, acted swiftly and the Senate passed its ultimate decree, just as they had done in 49 BC against Caesar and at other times of crisis. Caelius was stripped of office and fled from the city. He tried to join Milo, whom Caesar had refused to recall from exile, but who had in fact returned and was raising rebellion in Pompey’s name. Milo was killed in some of the initial fighting. Caelius tried to bribe some of Caesar’s auxiliary soldiers to defect, but was arrested and executed.7

  This brief rebellion had occurred before Antony left for Macedonia, but he was already busily preparing at Brundisium. As far as we can tell he was not involved in its suppression in any active way. Yet in 47 BC he would be at the heart of a new crisis sparked by the same issues. Coincidentally, the leader was again an associate of Cicero’s, this time his wild son-in-law Dolabella, who had returned early from the Macedonian campaign on the grounds of illness. Once back in Rome, he copied Clodius and had himself adopted by a plebeian so that he could stand for election as tribune for 47 BC. He was successful, but soon began to quarrel with one of his colleagues, Lucius Trebellius, and the two men’s supporters grew increasingly violent.

  Dolabella announced that he would abolish existing debt. Since he had borrowed on a scale far greater than his capacity ever to repay, cynics suggested that the move was mainly for his own benefit. Even so, there were plenty of other people who welcomed it. Dolabella was willing to intimidate the rest, and there were soon fatalities in the clashes between his men and the followers of Trebellius. Antony was away from Rome dealing with unrest amongst the legions and his ban on individuals carrying weapons in public inside the city was ignored. In an unprecedented move, he had named his uncle, Lucius Julius Caesar, as urban praetor, but the now ageing former consul proved ineffectual. When the Senate once again passed the senatus consultum ultimum, he was unable to marshal enough force to deal with the problem and, apart from the tribunes, there were no other magistrates to assist him in seeing that the Republic came to no harm. Dolabella and his gang occupied the Forum to make sure that the People’s Assembly would pass his debt relief bill.

  Antony may initially have been close to Dolabella, and the two men must certainly have known each other well. The latter was popular and at first it seemed wise to support him. However, other important Caesareans advised him to resist the tribune and a personal hatred developed when Antony became convinced that his wife Antonia was having an affair with Dolabella. The Master of Horse brought a strong force of soldiers to the city and stormed the Forum. There may have been little bloodshed, although a few executions occurred. Dolabella survived, but was forced to abandon his programme.8

  The whole episode had echoes of Clodius and Milo, and all the other violent disputes that had disrupted public life for so many years. Antony had restored order by force, just as Pompey had done in his sole consulship in 52 BC. Nevertheless, the way that he had done this made the Master of Horse unpopular. It also gave people little confidence in the stability of Caesar’s regime. Twice in as many years the Senate had had to pass the same ultimate decree that it had used against Caesar himself, initiating the civil war in the first place. The propertied classes feared that radical measures to abolish existing debts were still likely. If Caesar failed to return from Egypt and the east, then no one could be sure just how his followers would behave. That was assuming that the recovering Pompeians were not able to turn the tide in the civil war and return vengefully to Italy.

  The problems amongst Caesar’s army only added to the sense of nervous uncertainty. Armies that are busy tend to remain under control. Mutinies usually occur in periods of rest and idleness, when resentment over real or perceived grievances has time to grow. The disorder amongst the Ninth Legion in 49 BC had come during a lull in campaigning. After Pharsalus, most of Caesar’s veterans had been shipped back to Italy. Once there, they were left in Campania with little to do apart from wait for new orders, and it was more than a year before Caesar returned. The same discontent that had provoked the earlier mutiny again came to the fore. Men remembered Caesar’s promises to give them discharges as well as money and land to allow them to support themselves and a family. They had so far received nothing and yet the war seemed to be over.

  This time the trouble was centred around the Tenth Legion, a unit which Caesar had specially favoured from the time of his arrival in Gaul. In battle, this legion was normally deployed in the place of highest honour on the right flank of the line and often Caesar himself chose to stay with it. Yet many of its men were long overdue for demobilisation, felt that the war was already won and wanted to settle down and enjoy the rewards deserved by their long and faithful service. Many of the tribunes and centurions were sympathetic, for their own promised bounties were very generous indeed. Sticking together, the Tenth and other legions refused to accept orders from some of the more senior Caesareans sent by Antony to calm them. The need to suppress the violence caused by Dolabella and restore order at Rome had prevented the Master of Horse from confronting the mutineers in person.

  Caesar finally landed in Italy in September 47 BC and hurried to Rome. Along the way, he met Cicero, and reassured the nervous orator of his goodwill. At Rome he appointed magistrates for the remainder of the year, giving the consulship to two of his loyal supporters. Caesar acted quickly, replacing the confusion of the last year with definite action and continuing his generally moderate approach to major problems, including the burden of debt. When the dictator was actually present, his regime seemed a good deal more stable and less repressive than when government was left to his subordinates.

  The mutiny took a little longer to resolve. Caesar sent Sallust – the future historian – to the legions, but he was attacked and barely escaped with his life. The legions then marched on Rome to demand that their grievances were met. Caesar rode into their camp himself. He unnerved the mutineers by his calm, and then broke their spirit by addressing them not as ‘comrades’ (commilitones) in his normal way, but as ‘citizens’ (Quirites) – not soldiers at all, but mere civilians. In Gaul he had once shamed the army into advancing, by telling them that he would go on alone with just the Tenth Legion if the others refused to follow. Now he singled out the Tenth in a different way, saying that he would accept all the others apart from them back into his service. In the end, the veterans of the Tenth were begging him to decimate them – executing one soldier in ten –just so long as he would take them back into his service. Caesar graciously granted the request, did not execute anyone and would soon lead the Tenth to Africa where it would again fight with great distinction.9

  Antony did not accompany Caesar when he set off to fight the Pompeians in Africa, nor was he given any formal role to perform in his absence. In contrast, Dolabella did go with the army, although it is possible that this was to ensure that he got up to no more mischief. Caesar had decided not to extend his dictatorship, and instead became consul for the third time for 46 BC. The Senate had granted him the right to ignore the usual restriction and hold consecutive consulships. As a colleague he took Lepidus, the man who as praetor had looked after Rome in 49 BC.10

  By December Caesar was in Sicily, waiting to embark with his army for the crossing to Africa. Before he left Rome he began the public auction of the property of dead Pompeians. Antony was one of the most enthusiastic bidders, so that he was still sharing in the spoils of victory even if for the moment he held no office. Amongst his purchases were Pompey’s grand house in the
newly fashionable region known as the Carinae (literally, ‘keels’), which led off from the Via Sacra, and several of his country estates. Dolabella also purchased a good deal of property during these auctions.11

  Both men were greatly surprised when Caesar insisted that they must actually pay the high sums they had bid, since they had clearly expected either to pay less or nothing at all. Antony paid grudgingly, and we do not know enough about his personal fortunes to say whether he was now able to do this from his own funds or again needed to borrow, but the latter seems likely. Antony continued to live well beyond his means, trusting to future success to stave off creditors. Pompey’s house and country villas became the scenes of wild feasts and celebrations, as the great man’s wine cellars were consumed or given away to friends by their new owner. Cicero no doubt exaggerated when he attacked Antony for his excesses, but it is doubtful that he had to invent very much.12

  Another person to benefit from the auctions was Caesar’s mistress Servilia, who purchased several estates at a knock-down price. Gossips claimed that around this time she had arranged for Caesar to sleep with her daughter, who after the Roman fashion was simply called Tertia, or ‘third’. Cicero joked that there was a ‘third’ off the price. Her husband was Cassius, who at the moment was relieved simply to have been pardoned by Caesar, although it is possible that this encouraged his later resentment of the dictator.13

  Antony divorced his wife Antonia around this time and publicly alleged that she had betrayed him with Dolabella. He still had Cytheris as his mistress and remained happy to be seen in public with her. Marriage for a senator was normally a political act, where any emotional attachment either came later or was coincidental. In the case of Antony’s third marriage there may have been more to it than this, for he seems quickly to have taken a new wife as well and, at least on his side, the passion was genuine. This was Fulvia, the widow of Clodius and Curio, and the match made sense politically. She was also clearly a formidable character and accounted one of the great beauties of her day. Perhaps Antony had been infatuated with her for years and the rumours that this had caused his split with Clodius were genuine.14

  Caesar may have wanted to give the impression that Antony was out of favour as a way of distancing himself from the excesses that had occurred while his Master of Horse was in charge. Perhaps he also wanted to let Antony know that his approval could not be taken for granted. However, it is also worth noting that there were other loyal supporters to reward, and it is possible that even as a private citizen Antony continued to work informally on Caesar’s behalf. Since he held no office, we hear little about Antony’s activities in 46 BC. Caesar defeated the Pompeians at Thapsus in April, and was back in Italy by June, and Rome by July. However, Cnaeus Pompey, along with Labienus and other die-hard Pompeians, had raised another army in Spain, and by November Caesar had set out for war once again.15

  Dolabella went with Caesar to Spain and was wounded during the fighting that led to the victory at Munda. Antony remained behind, but in 45 BC he journeyed through Gaul to greet Caesar on his victorious return. If there had been a breach between the two men, then it was now healed, for Caesar treated Antony with great honour, letting him ride in the same carriage. More was to come. Caesar would once again be consul in 44 BC and this time he chose Antony as his colleague, even though at thirty-nine the latter was still several years below the legal age for the office.

  Antony was excited by his return to favour and rushed back to Rome, where he celebrated in a tavern. When it was dark, he came to his own house – once Pompey’s – in an exuberant mood. He came in disguise, posing as one of his own slaves with a message for Fulvia from her husband, and was promptly ushered in to her presence. She was worried, fearing that he wrote because something bad had happened – a natural fear, made all the more powerful since she had already been widowed twice. Cicero claims it was actually a passionate letter in which he promised at long last to be devoted only to her and to give up Cytheris, but there is no way of knowing whether there was any basis for this. As Fulvia started to read, the ‘slave’suddenly took her in his arms and kissed her.16

  [XV]

  NOT KING, BUT CAESAR

  Cleopatra’s first child was a boy. We do not know when he was born, although some time late in 47 BC seems most likely. Inevitably, the baby was given the name Ptolemy, and in later years this was extended to ‘Ptolemy called Caesar’. From quite early on the Alexandrians nicknamed him Caesarion (‘Little Caesar’).

  Caesar never formally acknowledged the baby as his son – there would have been little point. Cleopatra was not a Roman citizen and the child was illegitimate, so by Roman law he could have no official status or inherit any of Caesar’s property. On the other hand, Caesar does not seem to have done anything to prevent the informal use of his name. After his assassination there would be debate over whether or not he was actually the boy’s father. Antony claimed that Caesar had said in front of witnesses that the child was his and some people claimed a strong physical resemblance. Others were equally vehement in denying his paternity and both sides had a vested interest in proving their case. One of Cicero’s letters written just months after Caesar’s death makes it clear that wider opinion saw the child as his.1

  In the course of three long marriages, Caesar had fathered just one child – his daughter Julia, born back in the early 70s BC. He does seem to have been eager for more children, especially a son to continue the family line, but was disappointed. On top of this, his numerous affairs produced no certain illegitimate children, although a century later at least one Gaulish aristocrat boasted that he was the product of an illicit liaison between his great-grandmother and the proconsul Caesar.2

  This has led some scholars to question whether Caesar was capable of having children by the time he met Cleopatra. Such things are inherently hard to prove and not entirely predictable, even in this day and age. Apart from this there could easily be other explanations for the failure to produce more than one child – even assuming there were not other pregnancies that ended in miscarriage or a stillborn baby, which went unrecorded in our sources. The second marriage ended in divorce and may well have been unhappy. Caesar and Calpurnia were married for fourteen years, but after the first few months he left for Gaul and they were apart for a decade, and afterwards only reunited during his brief visits to Rome. Quite simply the couple had little opportunity to conceive.

  As far as we can tell, Caesar did believe himself to be the boy’s father and was most probably right to do so. Absolute certainty would require the sort of intimate knowledge that is rare enough for the recent past, let alone the ancient world. Apart from those who denied the boy’s paternity, none of our other sources hints that Cleopatra took another lover at this time. Once again, it is worth stressing that there is no good evidence for any men in her life apart from Caesar and later Antony.3

  Caesar first saw the boy when his mother brought him to Rome late in the summer of 46 BC. Suetonius tells us that he had summoned the queen to the city, but it is unlikely to have been primarily from a desire to see his son. Nor was the main reason romantic. Cleopatra also brought her brother and husband, Ptolemy XIV, with her. The whole royal party was accommodated in a villa in Trastevere owned by Caesar and technically outside the boundary of the city. This was well within the traditions of Roman hospitality. Ptolemy Auletes had stayed in one of Pompey’s villas during his visit to Rome.4

  Arsinoe was also in Rome at this time, but as a prisoner. Between 21 September and 2 October, Caesar celebrated four triumphs in succession – one more than Pompey in his entire career. The second of these was over Egypt and the Nile, and amongst the floats carrying paintings of the campaign and trophies of victory was a statue of the Nile as a river god and a flame-belching model of the Pharos lighthouse. Amongst the prisoners was Cleopatra’s younger sister. At the end of his Gallic triumph, the chieftain Vercingetorix, held captive since his surrender at Alesia eight years before, was ritually strangled. The death of
the enemy leader confirmed Rome’s total victory in a conflict.

  Dio tells us that the Roman crowd was overwhelmed with sympathy for the teenage Arsinoe. It is most unlikely that Caesar had ever considered having her executed. Women had been included amongst the famous prisoners in earlier triumphs, but had never been executed as part of the ceremony. Arsinoe was kept as a prisoner – as was the four-year-old son of King Juba, who had been part of the triumphal procession for the victory in Africa. She was soon sent to live as an exile in the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus. Cleopatra’s attitude towards her sister at this stage is not recorded, but later events suggest that it was scarcely warm. During the triumph, Caesar’s soldiers enjoyed the traditional entertainment of singing ribald songs about their commander. Some of the verses joked about his affair with Cleopatra. We do not know whether she ever heard about this.5

  Caesar did not live in the villa with the royal party, but that is not to say that the affair was over. He doubtless spent time with the queen whenever he could, as before enjoying her wit, intelligence and companionship, as well as making love. Yet he was exceptionally busy and as usual drove himself hard, drawing up new plans and legislation, and responding to petitions, as he strove to deal with the great backlog of public business. There was little time for pleasure. Caesar was also no more faithful to his mistresses than he was to his wives. During the months in Africa he had bedded another queen, this time Eunoe, the wife of King Bocchus of Mauretania.6

  Cleopatra’s rule was based on Rome’s approval. The royal army had overwhelmingly supported her brother. Many died or were dispersed during the Alexandrian War and those who survived were of questionable reliability, so that the legions left behind by Caesar were the main insurance for her rule. Their commander Rufio was a man Caesar trusted, but interestingly he was the son of a freedman. The appointment may purely have been made on merit, but it is also likely that Caesar wished to avoid having a more senior subordinate stationed in Egypt, given the Alexandrians’ reaction to his own symbols of office. The troops were there, but some illusion was preserved that they were controlled by the monarch and not the other way around. Another reason for appointing Rufio to command the garrison may have been that he was not prominent enough to be dangerous.7