Cleopatra and Antony: Power, Love, and Politics in the Ancient World [Hardcover]

Diana Preston (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 31, 2009

The story of the world’s best-remembered celebrity couple, set against the political backdrop of their time.

On a stiflingly hot day in August 30 b.c., the thirty-nine-year-old queen of Egypt, Cleopatra, took her own life rather than be paraded in chains through Rome by her conqueror, Octavian—the future first emperor, Augustus. A few days earlier, her lover of eleven years, Mark Antony, had himself committed suicide and died in her arms. Oceans of mythology have grown up around them, all of which Diana Preston explores in her stirring history of the lives and times of a couple whose names—more than two millennia later—still invoke passion, curiosity, and intrigue.

Preston views the drama and romance of Cleopatra and Antony’s personal lives as an integral part of the great military, political, and ideological struggle that culminated in the full-fledged rise of the Roman Empire, joined east and west. Perhaps not until Joanna in fourteenth-century Naples or Elizabeth I of England would another woman show such political shrewdness and staying power as did Cleopatra during her years atop the throne of Egypt. Her lengthy affair with Julius Caesar linked the might of Egypt with that of Rome; in the aftermath of the civil war that erupted following Caesar’s murder, her alliance with Antony, and his subsequent split with Octavian, set the stage for the end of the Republic.

With the keen eye for detail, abundant insight, and storytelling skill that have won awards for her previous books, Diana Preston sheds new light on a vitally important period in Western history. Indeed, had Cleopatra and Antony managed to win the battle of Actium, the centuries that followed, which included the life of Jesus himself, could well have played out differently.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Going beyond the charisma and romance of two of history's greatest lovers, L.A. Times Book Prize–winner Preston (Before the Fallow) vividly puts their lives in the larger political context of their times. Preston explodes the legends, saying Cleopatra was less a seductress than a politically shrewd ruler, and Antony was not a hotheaded megalomaniac. Preston chronicles Cleopatra's life from her royal upbringing to her marriage to the new Roman emperor Julius Caesar, motivated, says Preston, by political ambition. After Caesar's murder, according to Preston, Cleopatra was wise to join political and sexual forces with Antony, who won favor in her eyes for rebelling against Octavian. For his part, Antony remained loyal to Cleopatra, viewing her as a partner with whom he could rule the Roman Empire. Although the tales Preston rehearses are familiar ones, she provides a rich context and speculates that if Antony and Cleopatra had defeated Octavian, then Cleopatra might have ruled in Judea more benignly than Herod. Her reception of Jesus of Nazareth might have been very different than Herod's, and history itself might have been altered. 30 b&w illus., one map. (Apr.)
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Review

“If there is a better book about Cleopatra for today's reader, I don't know what it is… It’s a very good book.”—Washington Post

“Defying the traditional mythology that paints them as doomed star-crossed lovers, Preston places this amazing power couple firmly into the historical, political, and military contexts that shaped them and were, in turn, shaped by them.”—Booklist

“This very readable work is highly recommended to all history collections, as well as those in gender or women's studies and biography.”—Library Journal

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Walker & Company (March 31, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802717381
• ISBN-13: 978-0802717382
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,085,203 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Balanced Take on History's Most Famous Couple, May 5, 2009

By 

Mark Mellon - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Cleopatra and Antony: Power, Love, and Politics in the Ancient World (Hardcover)

Marc Antony and Cleopatra are probably the most famous romantically linked couple in the Western tradition. They have captured the imagainations of millions down to the present day due to the sheer drama of their situations, the tremendously high stakes that they played for with their lives, the power of their mutual passion for one another, and the exoticism of mysterious, ancient Egypt. The Roman general and the Egyptian queen have inspired a tragedy by Shakespeare and overblown, hammy films featuring Claudette Colbert, Elizabeth Taylor, and Richard Burton.

One unfortuante result of this attention, however, is that the mythical Antony and Cleopatra have largely supplanted the actual historical figures. In the modern mind, Cleopatra is usually seen as a sensual, promiscuous creature, given over to debauchery and shameless pagan rites, while Antony is depicted as a degenerate sot entirely in thrall to the seductive, emasculating Cleopatra. The fact that these inaccurate and misleading characterizations still largely prevail is in large part due to the extremely effective propaganda campaign that was carried out against Antony and Cleopatra by their most deadly rival, Julius Caesar's nephew and adopted son, Octavian, later Augustus, first emperor of Rome.

Mr. Preston's book is therefore welcome in that it largely debunks these myths and does a straightforward job of presenting Cleopatra and Antony as they really were (that is, as best as that can be determined in reliance on the existing historical record). Rather than a wanton, heathen slattern, Cleopatra is shown as a highly educated, extremely intelligent and capable woman in an age when women were supposed to have no role at all other than as childbearers and domestic helpmeets. Similarly, a rounded portrait is given of Antony who, despite his gross appetites and vanity, was a gifted and esteemed Roman politician and military leader, the architect of victory at the Battle of Philippi where Caesar's murderers were defeated.

In addition to providing us with accurate portraits of the book's subjects, the author also pithily describes the many ins and outs of both Roman domestic politics and international relations during this period of antiquity. There is also some interesting, informed speculation on such questions as what the course of history might have been if Antony and Cleopatra had prevailed rather than Octavian (whose victory was not at all preordained) and what Cleopatra actually looked like (not the irresistible sylph of myth or the hook-nosed harpy that some scholars have argued for based on the evidence of a few coins).

Unlike other authors on subjects of this type, Diane Preston does not appear to strictly deal with the classics and Antiquity. She instead is what was once known as a "popularizer," doing research and writing books on a number of topics from the Boxer Rebellion in China, to the sinking of the Lusitania in WWI, to other diverse subjects. Her clear prose and level-headed analysis work very well in the context of ancient history, as they undoubtedly do in other contexts as well. I recommend this book specifically to anyone interested in the ancient world and generally to anyone who would like to read a good, memorable account of two of the most interesting people in history.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good history, but nothing new, May 17, 2010

By 

Enjolras (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Cleopatra and Antony: Power, Love, and Politics in the Ancient World (Paperback)

Diana Preston's Cleopatra and Antony: Power, Love, and Politics in the Ancient World is a well-told history of this infamous couple. The best parts of the book are the rich descriptions of the luxuries of Cleopatra's court. The days of feasting and debauchery are mind-boggling, even by the standards of today's college students. In one scene, Cleopatra bets that she can throw a meal worth 10 million sesterces, and then achieves this by throwing one of her diamond earrings into the vinegar!

I wouldn't say there's anything particularly new or different about this book. In fact, it is really geared toward "popular" audiences (the first page even has a footnote that all dates are BC). If you're unfamiliar with the ancient world, this is a good book to start with. Preston gives a long and thorough "back history" of the Roman Republic and Ptolemaic Egypt. However, if you're a history buff, it might seem like there's too much general history, not enough detail about Antony and Cleopatra. For the latter audience, I suspect Adrian Goldsworthy's new Antony and Cleopatra would be a better bet.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Realistic Look at the Era of Cleopatra and Antony, September 24, 2009

By 

Joan A. Adamak "Joan Adamak" (Prescott Valley, AZ) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Cleopatra and Antony: Power, Love, and Politics in the Ancient World (Hardcover)

I have read several books on this couple, some of them more fanciful than perhaps realistic and I thought Colleen McCullough had covered these people fairly well, but this book truly sets the politics, morals and interests of that era. Ms. Preston did extensive research which she documents very well in the Notes and Sources and probably has done the best arranging of the idiosyncrasies and personalities of the most influential movers and shakers of Rome during the last century A.D. Through her, Antony became a much more capable military man and politician than what he is usually portrayed, but also his appetite as a womanizer and heavy drinker and Cleopatra was more thoroughly shown to be the powerful head of state that she was. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and it was a page turner for me and read as interestingly as non-fiction adventures. Although the reference to "Antony and Cleopatra" usually immediately reflects a tempestuous and passionate romance, Ms. Preston uses these two people as only a means to an end to set forth history in an honest and colorful narrative.