Antony and Cleopatra [Hardcover]

Adrian Goldsworthy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 28, 2010

In this remarkable dual biography of the two great lovers of antiquity, preeminent historian Adrian Goldsworthy goes beyond myth and romance to create a nuanced and historically acute portrayal of his subjects, set against the political backdrop of their time. A history of lives lived intensely at a time when the world was changing profoundly, the book takes readers on a journey that crosses cultures and boundaries from ancient Greece and ancient Egypt to the Roman Empire.

Drawing on his prodigious knowledge of the ancient world and his keen sense of the period’s military and political history, Goldsworthy creates a singular portrait of the iconic lovers. “Antony and Cleopatra were first and foremost political animals,” explains Goldsworthy, who places politics and ideology at the heart of their storied romance. Undertaking a close analysis of ancient sources and archaeological evidence, Goldsworthy bridges the gaps of current scholarship and dispels misconceptions that have entered the popular consciousness. He explains why Cleopatra was consistently portrayed by Hollywood as an Egyptian, even though she was really Greek, and argues that Antony had far less military experience than anyone would suspect from reading Shakespeare and other literature. Goldsworthy makes an important case for understanding Antony as a powerful Roman senator and political force in his own right.

A masterfully told—and deeply human—story of love, politics, and ambition, Goldsworthy’s Antony and Cleopatra delivers a compelling reassessment of a major episode in ancient history.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Readers who recognize Goldsworthy (How Rome Fell) as Britain's most prolific and perhaps finest popular historian of Roman times will find him once again at his best. Shakespeare and Hollywood portray Antony and Cleopatra as star-crossed lovers, but historians understand that Antony (83–30 B.C.E.) was Julius Caesar's right-hand man, ruthless and ambitious. Cleopatra (69–30 B.C.E.) was not Egyptian but Greek, descended from Ptolemy, whose family had ruled Egypt for three centuries. She became Caesar's mistress in 48 B.C.E. In the Roman civil war that followed Caesar's assassination four years later, Antony shared power with Caesar's adopted son, Octavian (later emperor Augustus), until they quarreled. Antony and Cleopatra first met in 41 B.C.E. and ruled Egypt together for three years until Octavian's invading armies approached, at which point they both committed suicide. Unlike many competing authors, Goldsworthy never disguises the scanty evidence for many historical events. Some of his best passages review surviving documents, discuss their biases, draw parallels from his vast knowledge of Roman history, and recount what probably happened unless, as he often admits in this thoughtful, deeply satisfying work, even speculation is impossible. Maps.
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From Booklist

A classicist on the ascent, Goldsworthy previously wrote Caesar (2006), to which this title is a natural sequel. It can be seen as a corrective to Diana Preston’s Cleopatra and Antony (2009), which strove to give the Egyptian queen top billing in ancient history’s most famous romance. Affection there may have been between Cleopatra and Caesar’s right-hand man, but love was a political instrument in Cleopatra’s relationship to Caesar and, after his assassination, to Marcus Antonius. Goldsworthy stresses Cleopatra’s twin goals of keeping her throne (to which Caesar restored her) and warding off Egypt’s annexation by the Roman Empire. As for Antony, Goldsworthy, reminding readers of contemporary hostility to him, depicts a personality to counter the condemnations left by Cicero and Augustan propaganda. Still, Antony does not come off well in Goldsworthy’s estimation of him as a mediocre general and a self-interested power seeker. Narrating his and Cleopatra’s parts in the tumultuous end of the Roman Republic, Goldsworthy skillfully integrates the partial and partisan source material into an accessible presentation of a classic tale from classical times. --Gilbert Taylor

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 480 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press; 1St Edition edition (September 28, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 030016534X
• ISBN-13: 978-0300165340
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 5.9 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #352,115 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Adrian Goldsworthy was born in 1969 in Cardiff. He was educated in Penarth and then read Ancient and Modern History at St. John's College, Oxford, where he subsequently completed his doctorate in ancient history. His D.Phil. Thesis was the basis for his first book, The Roman Army At War 100 BC - AD 200, which looked at how the Roman army actually operated on campaign and in battle.

For several years he taught in a number of universities, and began to write for a wider audience. A succession of books followed dealing with aspects of ancient military history, including Roman Warfare, The Punic Wars (which was later re-issued as the Fall of Carthage), Cannae, In the Name of Rome and the Complete Roman Army. More recently he has looked at wider themes, combining the military focus with discussion of politics and society in a biography of Caesar, and a study of the decline and fall of the Roman Empire, titled How Rome Fell (although released in the UK as The Fall of the West). His latest book is a paired biography of Antony and Cleopatra.

He is now a full time writer, and no longer teaches, although he is currently a Visiting Fellow at the University of Newcastle. However, he frequently gives one off lectures and talks both to universities and other groups in the UK, USA, Canada, and Europe. In the last couple of years audiences have included local history societies, graduates and undergraduates in a range of countries, the cadets of VMI, and the distinguished cast of a new production of Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra. He frequently appears as a talking head or presenter in TV documentaries and has acted as consultant on both documentaries and dramas. He will appear in six of the eight episodes of the forthcoming When Rome ruled series for National Geographic. He often appears on radio.

More information can be found on his website - www.adriangoldsworthy.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

47 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent read - in depth history, September 21, 2010

By 

rhun10 (Cambridge, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Antony and Cleopatra (Hardcover)

Adrian Goldsworthy's Antony and Cleopatra is delicious reading. Like his previous books - Caesar & In The Name Of Rome - Goldsworthy gives you a brilliant background of the Ptolemies and the Roman Republic that provides a firm footing to enjoy his lovely writing. It is a complex period featuring a number of very political people that Goldsworthy clarifies in an intriguing fashion.

31 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Contents, not cover or even cost, must be the basis of review., October 5, 2010

By 

John M. Johnson - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Antony and Cleopatra (Hardcover)

I found Adrian Goldsworthy's book of ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA an excellent account of the history of these two historical characters in which played such a significant role in a most turbulent time in Roman History. The author knows his subject and presents it in an outstanding manner for comprehension of the subject. It is reseached well and I would recommend the book highly. I find the two other reviewers opinions and sentiment entirely irrelevant. Literature, history, philosophy, etc must always be judged by its contents and never be reviewed by its cover or even its cost---but only by the authors knowledge of the material and the way the information is presented to readers. I would suggest that anyone interested in this period of ancient history will not be dissappointed in the reading of Goldsworthy's book of ANTONY and CLEOPATRA. The book is excellent and I recommend it quite highly. JMJ

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Read, October 6, 2010

By 

Talon - See all my reviews

This review is from: Antony and Cleopatra (Hardcover)

I've only so far read The Punic Wars by this author, but it was such a spectacular read that I decided to grab more books by Goldsworthy. One of those books was this one, and I'm not disappointing. The book shows the relationship between Antony and Cleopatra that's not Shakespeareized, or Hollywoodized. I heartily recommend this book for anyone interested in the era!

And, ignore the one-star reviews. They review the price, not the content, which is ridiculous.