Table Of Content

CLEOPATRA AND ANTONY Also by Diana Preston The Road to Culloden Moor: Bonnie Prince Charlie and the ’45 Rebellion A First Rate Tragedy: Robert Falcon Scott and the Race to the South Pole The Boxer Rebellion: The Dramatic Story of China’s War on Foreigners That Shook the World in the Summer of 1900 Lusitania: An Epic Tragedy Before the Fallout: From Marie Curie to Hiroshima By Diana and Michael Preston A Pirate of Exquisite Mind: Explorer, Naturalist, and Buccaneer: The Life of William Dampier Taj Mahal: Passion and Genius at the Heart of the Moghul Empire CLEOPATRA AND ANTONY Power, Love, and Politics in the Ancient World DIANA PRESTON Copyright © 2009 by Preston Writing Partnership All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information address Walker & Company, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10010. Published by Walker Publishing Company, Inc., New York All papers used by Walker & Company are natural, recyclable products made from wood grown in well- managed forests. The manufacturing processes conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA HAS BEEN APPLIED FOR. ISBN: 978-0-80271959-1 First published in somewhat different form in the United Kingdom in 2008 by Transworld Publishers First U.S. edition 2009 Visit Walker & Company’s Web site at www.walkerbooks.com 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2 Typeset by Westchester Book Group Printed in the United States of America by Quebecor World Fairfield In memory of Henry and Lily CONTENTS Map Prologue I. Dynasty of Eagles 1. Keeping It in the Family 2. Siblings and Sibylline Prophecies II. Romulus’ Cesspit 3. The Race for Glory 4. “Odi et Amo” 5. Crossing the Rubicon III. Queen of Egypt, Mistress of Rome 6. Like a Virgin 7. The Alexandrian War 8. “Veni, Vidi, Vici” 9. “Slave of the Times” 10. The Ides of March IV. Isis Alone 11. “Flight of the Queen” 12. Ruler of the East V. Taming Heracles 13. Mighty Aphrodite 14. “Give It to Fulvia” 15. Single Mother 16. “The Awful Calamity” VI. Gods of the East 17. Sun and Moon 18. “Theatrical, Overdone and Anti-Roman” 19. “A Woman of Egypt” 20. The Battle of Actium 21. After Actium 22. Death on the Nile 23. “Too Many Caesars Is Not a Good Thing” Postscript: “This Pair So Famous” Acknowledgments Appendix: Putting a Face to a Famous Name Notes and Sources Bibliography Picture Credits Who Was Who in the First Century BC

Description:

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—t