Chapters
Shownotes Transcript
Thanks for listening to The Ancients. You can get all History Hit podcasts ad-free, early access and bonus episodes, along with hundreds of original history documentaries by subscribing. Head over to historyhit.com slash subscribe.
This season, Instacart has your back to school. As in, they've got your back to school lunch favorites like snack packs and fresh fruit. And they've got your back to school supplies like backpacks, binders, and pencils. And they've got your back when your kid casually tells you they have a huge school project due tomorrow. Let's face it, we were all that kid.
So first, call your parents to say I'm sorry, and then download the Instacart app to get delivery in as fast as 30 minutes all school year long. Get a $0 delivery fee with your first three orders while supplies last. Minimum $10 in order. Additional terms apply. Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears. He's one of the most famous Romans in history.
His story retold in various formats from Shakespeare to cinema to TV. A headstrong bad boy, a much-loved and feared commander. It's the ancients on History Hit. I'm Tristan Hughes, your host, and welcome to the first episode of a special two-parter on the notorious Roman statesman and general Marcus Antonius. We know him better as Mark Antony.
Living in the 1st century BC, Mark Antony was one of the central figures during those final years of the Roman Republic. His story is intertwined with some of ancient history's biggest names, such as Julius Caesar, Marcus Brutus, Cicero, Augustus and, of course, Cleopatra. It's an incredible tale and we're going to be exploring it all.
Our expert for this deep dive into Mark Antony's life is his 21st century biographer, Professor Geoffrey Tatum. In this first episode, Geoff shines a light on the early life of Mark Antony, how he went from decadent party boy to stellar commander at the side of Julius Caesar. I really do hope you enjoy, and here's Geoff.
Jeff, it is wonderful to have you on the podcast today. It's a delight to be here. Thanks for asking. You're more than welcome. And having first had a brief chat about the weather, as we do as Kiwis and Brits, and now talk about our second favourite topic, which is this extraordinary figure of Mark Antony. Jeff, first things first, no such thing as a silly question. Who exactly was Mark Antony? It's interesting. No one's ever asked me that before. And I think to some degree, that's because
Almost everybody, both in and outside university life, has an opinion about Mark Antony. There are certain figures from antiquity that everyone feels they know already. Cleopatra's one, Caesar's one, and Mark Antony is another. Most people have
I would say very Shakespearean view of who Mark Antony is, but still they feel they know him. But the real Mark Antony is quite a complex figure. Everyone's a complex figure, I get that. But Mark Antony arises as a young noble in Rome. He's clearly good looking, athletic, an inclination towards martial things, like many of his peers. So he's not extraordinary in that respect.
He's fond of Greek culture and Greek literature, like many of his peers. He's not extraordinary in that respect. He's capable of mingling together duty and a certain degree of briciousness and parting, like many of his peers, too. So there's a way in which he looks very much like
other figures in the nobility, but clearly he's distinct. His mixture is a little bit different between his social confidence, his capacity for valor, which clearly exceeds many of his contemporaries, and the way in which he either
enchants his seniors or he offends them in profound ways. It's interesting how offending particular people has affected our view of Mark Antony today as we move on. Before we go on to our main sources for this figure, I guess also setting Mark Antony in the timeframe, you mentioned quite rightly, Jeff, how this is one of those names from ancient history which almost everyone seems to know because of Shakespeare and being in movies and so on and so forth.
And the time that he is alive, that first century BC, Jeff, this is an absolutely massive time, perhaps the most well-known time of turmoil, of change in the Roman Republic.
It is. And we're very well informed about this period. That helps us to discern many of the things that are happening. But even if we were poorly informed, we would know how crucial a time it is because it's the end of the first century BC when the Roman Republic is transformed into the Roman Empire. It's a pivotal moment for Mediterranean history and consequently for European history. So it's crucial. And fortunately for us at this crucial moment,
we have a lot of windows into what's going on. Well, all right, Jeff, let's look at these sources that are writing at this time that give us this really colourful view of figures like Mark Antony. What types of sources do we have available when chronicling his life? Well, in terms of literary sources, we're fortunate in having contemporary sources, especially Cicero.
Antony is a figure in Cicero's letters. He's a figure in Cicero's speeches, especially in Cicero's speeches. And we see more than one Antony, even in this one writer. Cicero at the beginning was a friend of Antony's and they're close. And at the end, they are not close. So, you know, we see an eventful textured life as Antony's situation changes. Antony also appears in some other contemporary sources. He's a figure in Caesar's account of both the Gallic and Civil War, though he's not a principal figure anymore.
in those texts. Our other literary texts come later. They're imperial and mostly written in Greek. The writers like Plutarch, writers like Appian, writers like Dio, who are looking back at this period because it is crucial and pivotal, and Antony is a major player in this. And they're more important for our recovery of the narrative than Cicero is, but as always with later sources, that introduces a different set of problems.
In addition to the literary sources, though, we have material things. We have coinage, we have inscriptions, and these provide us with perspectives and with sheer information that we don't see in our literary sources because their interests are not comprehensive. Politics, war, that sort of thing is what they focus on.
But with coins, we can see Antony exhibiting himself in different facets and for a different audience. I mean, Jeff, that is all so interesting. I could ask one more question on the sources, whether it's Cicero or Caesar. But I am going to ask quickly about Plutarch, one of those later Greek writers that you mentioned there, because...
We were talking about it just before we started. Plutarch, of course, he writes all of these different lives of noble Greeks and Romans in his eyes. And I had no idea just how long his life of Mark Antony is. And this is the longest life of them all, longer than even Caesar or Alexander. Yeah.
Yes, it's a big life, and Plutarch is our most important literary source. It's comprehensive, and it's a biography, so he's done a lot of the work for us. He's also, in a sense, the West's most important source. Shakespeare's Antony is Plutarch's Antony. And for many modern historians who are quite important, like Ronald Syme and others, his Antony is Plutarch's Antony. And that throws up issues. It's a long life because Plutarch writes long,
the life of Antony, as a negative example. Most of his lives tell you you should behave this way. The Antony is there to tell you how you should not behave. He wants his Antony to engage you because he's excessively good and bad. He's a great-natured man who succumbs to his appetites. And as Plutarch tells us this story, he becomes increasingly fond of Antony's great nature and increasingly fond of
of the ways in which he disappoints others and disappoints himself. There's a humanizing quality to Plutarch's treatment of Antony that makes it bigger and bigger and bigger. And then, of course, when Cleopatra comes on the scene, Plutarch can't resist talking about her at great length either. So there's a lot of material in that biography. What kind of family is Mark Antony born into? What do we know about, let's say, his parents and maybe his wider family too?
Well, Antony is a noble in the technical Roman sense of being part of the nobilitas. So an elite family, even in the world of the elite, in the senatorial order, the nobles are the creme de la creme. It's a recently ennobled family. The family becomes noble owing to the consul of 99, also named Marcus Antonius, who's a brilliant soldier and a brilliant orator, much admired by Cicero, as a matter of fact.
And this Antony's two sons were quite distinguished. One, Gaius Antonius, was actually Cicero's colleague in the consulship, a totally sleazy, horrible guy, but a success. And Antony's father, who died fighting pirates with a special command. But it's a distinguished family in itself. And Antony's mother is a Julia, distantly related to Julius Caesar, but a Julia whose brother was also Antony.
So as Anthony is growing up, he has not just consuls in the background, but close kin who are consuls already. So he's connected. He's as connected as you can be when you're a young Roman aristocrat. Being that elite status, that elite of the elites in that society at that time,
for what he ultimately becomes in his rise in Roman politics, is having that initial high standing so key in allowing him to embark on that career that will ultimately seem right at the heart of what happens to this whole republic. His nobility is a factor that you just can't underestimate because it opens so many doors. When he's a young man who's looking for positions in the provinces where he can command
cavalry, he doesn't have to apply. People want him because they want to be associated with a noble. His friendships, like his early friendship with Cicero, has much to do with the fact that he has so much cachet as an Antonius that people want to know him. In Rome, the people who make it to the very top, who make it to the consulship, are almost always, not always, but almost always nobles.
At the same time, though, it's not as though it's a given that he'll succeed. There are a lot of noble failures because there are lots of nobles, not so many chances to make it to the top. So the competition amongst the nobility can be fierce. But being a noble in the first place,
is a tremendous advantage. Advantage indeed. Well, let's then go into his early life. I'm presuming he has quite a good education if he's the son of this elite family. But do we hear from Plutarch, from the other sources, do we get an insight into what he enjoyed? I mean, what kind of personality he had during those earlier years as he's becoming a youth, maybe getting into his late teens? Do we have any idea about that early time in Mark Antony's life?
This is a problem with ancient figures because ancient biographers and ancient writers aren't that interested in children. They regard childhood and one's teenage years as formative,
But they're not controversial. If you have your fingers and your toes and you get a proper education, you'll be okay. So they don't discuss it a lot. When we get glimpses of any prominent figure when they're young, think of the Gospels. The only time we see Jesus as a child, he's already doing what he's going to do.
when he's an adult. So what we do is we have a lot of information about how education works, how the culture works, expectations of the youth. And we tend to say, you know, when we're writing a biography, Antony must have done this. He must have done that. Now, where we do get some glimpses of Antony is in Ciceronian invective.
In his second Philippic, when they're enemies, he's attacking them in the Senate. It's a standard thing. All Roman orators know how to do it. You vituperate somebody's life from practically the day they were born until the present day. So in their youth, their youth then is teeming with unnatural relationships.
crime, sex, deplorable things told in a vivid way. Cicero has this great story of Antony sneaking into one of his boyfriend's houses. He's not allowed in, so he comes in through the impluvium at the top of an atrium, but he gets stuck and he's found hanging there the next morning. And none of this is true, but it's captivating. And of course, when Plutarch begins writing about Antony, the only real source he has for Antony's young days is
is this invective. And so these terrible stories, largely sucked from Cicero's thumb, enter into a historical tradition. Because isn't it? Yeah, I got in my notes here, and this is probably the Cicero invective, as you mentioned there. These stories that he's a bit of a party boy, he doesn't seem that interested in all of this stuff. And then it's almost, it all starts to change as he goes a bit further east. But I mean,
Is that the impression we get, therefore, from the surviving sources? Is that for the longest time, he is this kind of party boy figure, and then it all suddenly changes? There's no doubt that before we can really see him, he almost certainly was...
a party boy. And again, so far as we can tell, you know, young aristocrats, they study hard. They've got their university educations by the time they're teenagers. They have to learn to be officers and be brave. They have to learn to be orators. And when they blow off steam, they blow off steam, not unlike some of the young people in the frat houses that are only two blocks from me in this flat. But in Antony's case, and you're right about this, it goes on for him. We can see in Cicero's letters at a time when Cicero's not his enemy, he's
that when Antony has important public business to do, he's still involved with a courtesan. He's still involved with actors and actresses.
So his work-life balance is a little different from the normative expectations of someone by the time he's in his 20s and 30s. Well, let's go to his 20s and 30s now. And that's kind of why I mentioned the word like heading east, because this seems quite an interesting time in his early career. Jeff, set the scene for us. I mean, why does Marc Antony at this time, what's the story about him heading to the eastern Mediterranean and like the eastern reaches places like Syria and Judea and that area?
Young aristocrats want to be involved in provincial service. They need to be. They need to exhibit martial valor. They need to show some military service in order to qualify for higher magistracies. And they want to do it. I mean, it's built into the culture that they want to engage in command and put themselves at risk. At the same time, provincial service gives an aristocrat an opportunity to develop
social connections in the East because you want to be part of a Mediterranean-wide network of influence, and it gives you time to develop financial interests. The Roman system is very much about extracting wealth from its provinces, and this is a process that's largely in private hands. There are opportunities for Romans on the scene to profit from it,
And so a young man goes off to win some valor, to build connections and to come back with more money than he had when he left. And if he's good, he develops friendships, he invests, and he becomes a part of that provincial scene.
And Syria, where he goes to serve with Alice Gabinius, is one of the richest provinces in the East. So it's a tremendous opportunity for Antony, and it affects his whole life. He becomes involved with the elite families of Judea. He becomes involved eventually with distinguished families in Egypt long before he's ever a triumvirate.
And so he has a presence there. It's part of a family tradition. The Antoni are very much invested in the island of Crete because his father and his grandfather both campaigned there. They had presences there. So they obviously have investments there. A person like Antony isn't just a figure in Roman politics and Roman society, if we can say this as the Mediterranean. He's global.
in terms of investments and influence. And this puts him there so that he's not just a name at the bottom of a letter, but he's a palpable figure who can know
influential figures on the scene. Well, exactly. I guess also maybe there's a bit of instability there at the time, but those powerful figures in Judea, my mind immediately will go to figures like the family of King Herod in Egypt. You say you've got the Ptolemies, the father of Cleopatra, and you've got the powerful Romans there as well, like Gabinius, as you said. This all helps alongside gaining that money. Is there also military experience? Is this where he also starts to develop his reputation
as being a military man. That's what Plutarch tells us. Plutarch tells us this was the moment. And Plutarch's relying on earlier writers who talk Antony up during this period, largely because these are writers who, at the time, are actually quite friendly with Antony and his family. So just as we have to distrust, I think, Cicero's invective, we also have to be a little suspicious of
When an account tells us how wonderful Antony is, Josephus tells us a lot about this too, relying on the same sources. You would think Antony was the only person the Romans needed to control Syria. He's always the first, you know, on the wall of an enemy city. He's always the most valiant. So it may be a little hyperbolic, but I don't think there's any reason to doubt that he excelled and that he was good. That's one of the reasons he attracted Caesar's attention.
He was good at what he did, but we can't go too far one way or the other with infective or adulation. Hey folks, since you're a fan of history, you clearly want to understand how we've ended up with the world that we have. Well, I'd like to tell you about my show. It's called Dan Snow's History Hit. And on that show, you get a daily dose of history and the stories that really explain just about everything that's ever happened.
If you want to know the origin stories of the cities we inhabit, what's in our kitchen cupboards, why we've always been drawn to dictators, the deep history that explains what's going on, for example, in the Middle East, well, we've got you covered. And if you'd rather be regaled with dramatic tales of powerful empires, we do that too. Get a little bit smarter every day with Dan Snow's History Hit, wherever you get your podcasts.
Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile. With the price of just about everything going up during inflation, we thought we'd bring our prices down. So to help us, we brought in a reverse auctioneer, which is apparently a thing. Mint Mobile, unlimited premium wireless. Give it a try at mintmobile.com slash switch.
$45 upfront for three months plus taxes and fees. Promote it for new customers for a limited time. Unlimited more than 40 gigabytes per month. Slows. Full terms at mintmobile.com. Well, okay. So he's done this service in the East. He's increased his reputation and presumably the money he has available to making those connections.
Following his service in the Eastern Mediterranean, I mean, what is the next big step for Antony on his rise to prominence? When he leaves Gabinius' service, two things happen that are not inconsequential, I think. One is he marries. He marries his first cousin, the daughter of this sleazy guy, Antonius, I imagine, who's living in exile now, but is extraordinarily wealthy. And so she brings Antony the kinds of resources that will really help him
Now that he's looking ahead toward a senatorial career. More importantly, though, he joins Julius Caesar's team in Gaul. He becomes an officer and very quickly a favorite officer and a friend of Julius Caesar. And no aspect of Antony's early career is more important than his relationship with Caesar. With Caesar's support, he moves up more rapidly than Caesar.
He's normal. He is the center of attention in a way that probably wouldn't have happened otherwise. So going to Gaul and serving with Caesar is a crucial moment in Antony's rise. And Julius Caesar at this time, so this is the early 50s BC, this is a time when Julius Caesar himself is trying to make his mark. He's not the most powerful figure, but one of those powerful figures. And to try and further his own reputation,
You mentioned Gaul's modern-day France area. He's gone there for this massive campaign of conquest. As you say, when this is all happening, Mark Antony almost pins his colours to Caesar at that time. How quickly is his rise through the ranks of Caesar and him becoming so influential to this figure who will become one of the most, if not the most, well-known Roman in the whole of history? We don't see these details.
But Antony isn't with Caesar very long before he's back in Rome to campaign for the quaestorship, the first magistracy. He is Caesar's preferred candidate. After he's elected quaestor, he immediately becomes Caesar's quaestor, so rushes back to go. I mean, he's Caesar's choice to be quaestor.
And the two of them are working together until Antony will come back to become Tribune of the Plebs on the eve of the Civil War. So the relationship, it must be as close as we imagine it to be because when they emerge at the time of the Civil War, Antony is certainly one of, not Caesar's only right-hand man. Caesar's good at cultivating talented people and keeping them close, but he's part of the inner circle. Yeah.
And just before we go on to Mark Antony in Rome as Caesar's aide, before you get the eruption of the Great Civil War, do we get a similar sense with Mark Antony that he had this similar charisma and the soldiers similarly adored him, just like they adored Caesar? We do. We don't really see it at this moment, just because we don't see anything.
But it's a hallmark of Antony's career that his soldiers are devoted to him. Soldiers tend to be devoted to their generals, but they're especially devoted to him. And Plutarch tells us that this was because although Antony's so high-born,
He was perfectly comfortable spending time with ordinary rankers, chatting with them, talking to them about their private lives, their love lives, telling jokes, that he was able to connect and relate to them as fellow human beings. And this created a kind of devotion because the usual relationship between a general and soldiers in the Roman army, it's pretty distant. And later in his career, when he suffers reverses and he retreats more than once, he
He's at his best when he has to encourage the morale soldiers who are in despair. So like Caesar, he has a profound and close relationship
with his soldiers. That's one of his strengths because he loses once in a while. Yes, he does, and we will certainly get to that. As we near this great civil war between Julius Caesar and Pompey the Great, before we get to Caesar's crossing of the Rubicon, you mentioned how Mark Antony, when he's serving Caesar, goes to Rome and acts almost as Caesar's voice. Do we know much
about that role played by Mark Antony and how he fares, for instance, against the likes of...
Pompey and his allies in the Senate? We do. We're helped especially in our possession of Cicero's letters at the time. So we don't get quite a day-by-day account, but we're well informed about this, which is useful because much of what's going on is quite technical, constitutional, legal issues and that sort of thing. But Antony, when he goes to Rome, elected tribune, even when he's tribune elect,
gives speeches attacking Pompey, just as Cicero does the Second Philippic, which is a cradle-to-grave denunciation of Antony. Antony gives a cradle-to-grave denunciation of Pompey. And because everyone associates Antony with Caesar, Pompey essentially tells Cicero that it's clear an accord is out of the question because
Because if Antony is denouncing me, he assumes that's the point of view of Caesar. So with his rhetoric, he's forcefully pushing Caesar's interests. And then in the Senate, every time the Senate tries to pass a measure that would require Caesar to come back, Antony imposes his tribunician veto to make that an impossibility. He essentially closes the government down.
down on that issue. And he makes it absolutely clear that he does that as Caesar's friend. And so when we consider all of that and how those in the Senate at that time, including that great General Pompey and his allies, see is what Mark Antony, he is Caesar's representative and almost voicing what the thoughts of Caesar up in Gaul.
How influential is Mark Antony in sparking that civil war, in Julius Caesar doing ultimately that famous action of taking his army into Italy by crossing the Rubicon? How influential is Mark Antony in all of that?
Both a lot and a little. Cicero denounces Antony as Helen of Troy. It's clearly a gendered attack, but also that he becomes the cause because it's when the Senate forcefully informs Antony that one more veto will be the end of him, Antony is tribuned, flees to Caesar, and this provides Caesar with
a moral justification for invasion. Tribunes represents a people, the people are being crushed, Caesar's coming to the people's aid. So Antony is the figure in all of that.
But in a letter Cicero writes to his friend Atticus well before this happens, he says civil war is probably coming. And here are some scenarios. And one of them that he throws out is I can imagine Caesar putting up a tribune. This tribune has to flee. And then Caesar comes to Rome to rescue this tribune. So the idea of this plot line is there before anything.
Antony takes a starring role in it. But Antony is the person who does it, and he does it at some risk to himself, and he does have to flee Rome. And then Caesar can parade him in front of the troops dressed in rags because he dressed as a slave in order to avoid detection. And this stirs up a certain kind of patriotism in Caesar's army. Absolutely. And then we know what happens with crossing the Rubicon, and it's the spark of
of this civil war between Caesar, Mark Antony, their supporters, and Pompey and his supporters. The Roman Republic is in open civil war once again. What role does Mark Antony take on when war has basically been declared? Is it a diplomatic, is it a rhetorical one, or is he back as the military man? It's an anomalous role because
He's a tribune of the people, which means technically he's supposed to be in Rome and he's technically supposed to use his office to protect the rights of people in Rome.
But Caesar invests him with military authority. So he's not in Rome. He's away commanding troops alongside Caesar. So Caesar sends him on important missions to secure cities in Italy. And once Pompey flees to the east and Caesar, having dealt with some business in Rome, goes to Spain to fight Pompeian soldiers there, he leaves Antony as tribune.
with military authority responsible for the security of Italy, the security of Italy from Pompeians who may want to get in or Roman senators like Cicero who want to get out. And Antony parades through Italy going from city to city
making sure things are arranged and secure for Caesar. And of course, he does this very, very serious thing with an entourage that includes Cytherus, a glamorous call girl who is his liaison, and with entertainers. And this is one of those moments where he mixes something absolutely crucial in a civil war with his very jolly private life.
But he's engaging in diplomacy. He's dealing with exiles. He's sorting out administrative affairs. He's securing Italy for Caesar in this bizarre, unprecedented role as a tribune of the people who's commanding troops.
It's such a bizarre image to conjure up, as you say, that work and pleasure alongside each other with Mark Antony, which seems to always come up with this man's story. But it also, once again, it re-emphasizes that huge level of trust that Julius Caesar has in this figure, doesn't he? The fact that he's not looking after Gould, he's not looking after Illyrio or anything like that.
Caesar's the one away from Italy and Mark Antony, partly because of his position, is looking after the Roman heartlands. That is massive trust. You're absolutely right. And he's so young. I mean, Caesar has collaborators who are more mature and more senior than
And he has other youthful collaborators who have the same pedigree as Antony. So that Antony singled out for this was striking to them and is striking to us. Now, of course, the story of the Civil War, it goes on for several years. And I think we can probably dedicate an entire podcast tracking exactly Antony's whereabouts through it. But just kind of give an overview, Jeff, because I know you explored it more in your book anyway.
But with Mark Antony in the Civil War, okay, he's in Italy at the beginning, but where else does he go? How does he fare in the Civil War? Because so often we just look at figures like Julius Caesar or even Pompey. After Caesar deals with Spain, when he goes east to fight Pompey, the big problem is crossing the Adriatic because Pompey has a serious naval defense. Caesar gets over and it's Antony's job to bring the rest of the troops over. And this is
quite difficult. In fact, Caesar becomes irritated with Antony, even though it is quite difficult. But Antony enjoys some naval successes. He does bring the troops over, and he's commanding one of the wings with Caesar in the Battle of Pharsalus that ends Pompey's effective role in that war. So he's one of the heroes. Then he's sent back to Italy.
to manage Rome. He goes back as Caesar's master of the horse, the Caesar's dictator. He's sent back to Italy again to manage Rome and look after affairs while Caesar pursues Pompey to Egypt. Now, hang on, hang on. Master of the horse, why do you mean because he's dictator that he gets that role? What does that mean? Julius Caesar exercises power in more than one way, but one is after Pharsalus, he becomes the dictator, this special constitutional office
The dictator has as his second in command a figure called the Master of the Horse. The dictator is supposed to command the infantry, the Master of the Horse, the cavalry. It's not that tidy. So Caesar sends Antony as Master of the Horse. So in essence, the second in command in Rome, full stop, back to Italy to control things. So Mark Antony, he's gone back to Asia at this time. Julius Caesar famously, he goes in pursuit of Pompey to Egypt. Pompey gets his head cut off.
And then Caesar has a bit of a nice time in Egypt, although there's a bit of battles as well. But he, of course, begins his own affair with the famous Cleopatra. Of course, we're talking about Antony and Cleopatra will come more later. However...
When Caesar does return to Italy after this venture to Egypt, how do things fare with Mark Antony? And I guess also because Caesar comes back with Cleopatra. One of the things that happens is Caesar didn't expect to be in Egypt very long. And then he's trapped there because of bad weather and then by the Alexandrian War. And one of the problems for Antony is Antony, although he's managing things well,
can't innovate, can't do things in Caesar's absence. So magistrates can't be elected. There are other political figures who want debt reduction, all of these issues that Antony, he doesn't feel he can decide on because it's up to Caesar. So Antony has his handful and there are also Roman legions in Italy waiting for their pensions.
But they have to wait for Caesar, so they're mutinous. Antony has a very, very difficult time in Caesar's absence. So when Caesar comes back, and he doesn't spend very much time in Italy this first time because he's heading to North Africa to fight another round of civil war, he zips through and makes all of these decisions that have been waiting and then goes off. But, as you say,
Cleopatra will come to Rome when Caesar is there. She's certainly there when Caesar is assassinated. Actually, one other question just before we get to that big assassination event. Do we ever get any sense that Julius Caesar and Mark Antony David fall out? I'm sure they have disagreements once in a while. And as you mentioned there, Caesar taking too long in Egypt.
You also always kind of get a sense that they're very close allies. But was there a bit more friction between the two than we might expect? There are at least two views about what goes on when Caesar comes back and Antony is master of the horse. Because after that, Antony doesn't hold any official role
Until he becomes consul, as a matter of fact. He doesn't join Caesar in the final war in Spain. He's in Italy. And he kind of just drops out of our notice. And so a longstanding view is Caesar comes back and he feels that Antony's bungled his time managing affairs in Rome. And so puts him on the outside.
And that's not impossible. The problem with that is, why does he suddenly become consul-elect and they're all chummy again? What happens in between? Others have suggested that
Caesar has some sort of covert missions for Antony in the financial scene, and that could be true. I've argued that what happens at that point, I don't think there's evidence for a falling out. Caesar really hadn't planned to come back to Italy. If it hadn't been for the mutinous troops, he'd have done it all by letter. And he leaves Antony as master of the horse until, even after he leaves, until his term expires.
I've argued that what I think we're seeing is Antony dealing with a lot of personal issues. He's massively overextended in terms of credit and investments. He needs to restructure his finances. His marriage is falling apart. Adultery is alleged. He strikes up another marriage tie with the formidable Fulvia. So I think my own view is that sometimes even famous figures in history need some time to deal with complications in their lives and
And in any case, Antony will have gone to the Senate every day and been a figure in senatorial debates. We just don't hear about any of them. So far, we have covered his early years, the sources and his relationship with Caesar, the Civil War. Okay, we're getting now to 44 BC and we're getting to March 44 BC. So I might say the Ides of March. Julius Caesar is supreme. However...
This doesn't end well for Julius Caesar, of course. He does get assassinated, Brutus Cassius, so on. Now, Mark Antony being so close to Julius Caesar, I mean, do we know what happens to him on the Ides of March? I mean, how come he escapes the daggers of these conspirators when Caesar doesn't? We're told that some in the conspiracy wanted to eliminate Antony as well as Caesar, but that Marcus Brutus...
believed that would be sending the wrong message to the Roman people if they
Caesar was not the only one to be eliminated. Caesar is the tyrant. The tyrant must be slayed, but no one else should be harmed. And Brutus's opinion is the one that prevailed. So on the day, because everyone knows Antony is a formidable guy, he was consul, so he'd be next to Caesar. He's kept outside the Senate and in conversation. So he's not in the Senate House when the assassination happened.
takes place. Isn't there a rumor that Mark Antony, not that he was in on the plot, but that he had heard word of the plot before it happens to kill Caesar and just decides to keep his mouth shut? There is that story. It's retailed by Cicero. Some people consider it as a real possibility. It's not out of the question
that Antony was aware that certain things might be going on. Caesar was aware that certain things might be going on. But it's the kind of thing Cicero likes to use against Antony. When Antony is saying, I'm the champion of Caesar's legacy, and Cicero can say, oh, really? It's that kind of thing. But again, just because it's effective doesn't make it untrue. You've got to take it with a bucket full of salt sometimes, basically. On the day of that meeting in the Senate, Antony and Caesar were going to have a constitutional argument.
about Dolabella's consulship. They disagreed, but it was that kind of argument. You can argue with somebody and not want them to die. Antony had very little to gain from Caesar's
assassination because his career was built on Caesar's success. So it seems unlikely that that rumor is true. So Antony has escaped being assassinated along with his buddy Caesar. Of course, there's immediate chaos following Caesar's assassination as these conspirators seem to not have had a plan as to what was exactly to happen next. What does Mark Antony do in
in those immediate hours and days following Julius Caesar's assassination to kind of work it to his advantage in some way. This is, in some ways, one of the most remarkable phases in Antony's career. As you said, bedlam, chaos, fear. Antony, like everyone else, is having to deal with lots of information and misinformation by way of emissaries and letters because you can't ring someone.
But Antony arranges for Lepidus, who has a legion near Rome.
to bring the Legion into the city and restore order. That's not uncontroversial, but it's necessary. And during this time, it's clear Antony's communicating with the conspirators. He's communicating with others in the Senate, other Caesareans, because some people just want to march up the Capitoline Hill and kill all of the tyrannicides. Other people want to celebrate the tyrannicides. But this all happens really quickly because on March 17th at a meeting of the Senate, just two days later,
The Roman Senate declares an amnesty. And it appears that this is something that was worked out. I'm sure there were many voices, but principally by Mark Antony and Cicero, a very strange arrangement whereby Caesar is declared not to have been a tyrant, to have been a good man, and that all of his acts are valid.
And at the same time, his assassins are declared not to be murderers and parasites, but will continue to have their the same rights and privileges they've had before. It's a it's a at first blush, a brilliant attempt at.
to restore a certain kind of harmony to Rome so that they can move on without fighting another civil war. And it happened so rapidly. In a sense, everything should be settled. Of course, nothing's really settled. Everything should be settled. But that is, of course, a facade, because let's talk about this extraordinary event
That follows very quickly after. And this is all kind of to do with Caesar's body and the funeral. This seems to be really when Mark Antony, he takes the stage as the man right at the fore. It is. Cicero and others had been advised not to allow a public reading of Caesar's will, not to allow a public funeral. But these were just irresistible in the Senate. You couldn't stop it.
And Antony is able to put himself to the fore because ordinarily the funeral oration would be given by, it should have been given by Octavian, but Octavian's not there, the kind of member of the family or the principal heir. And so Antony seizes that moment as a distant relation, and he can manage both the emotional reading of the will and the
There are different versions of what he did at the actual funeral, but all of them agree that he emphasized the sheer ingratitude of the conspirators and the fact that Caesar's death was wrong. And this stirs up the populace in such a way that people like Brutus and Cassius and others prefer to lodge themselves outside Rome rather than in the city.
Well, Jeff, I mean, it's such an extraordinary story. I mean, just the early part of Mark Antony. So we haven't even got really to his affair with Cleopatra. And you mentioned there, or was the hint of what's to come, the figure of Octavian, the nephew of Caesar, or, you know, that relation of Caesar, who will also play this big role in Mark Antony's later career as well.
But let's, for part one, let's finish it here with the funeral relation with Caesar's assassination. Because, Geoff, it almost feels like this is kind of the stepping stone to that next part of Mark Antony's life. He is now not in the shadow of Caesar anymore. He is trying to be number one. It's interesting. Much of his authority, both legal and moral, derives from his being
Caesar's friend and Caesar's champion. But at the same time, as you say, he has to construct an independent identity. And during the year 44, he works very, very hard to do that legislation, which is his, not Caesar's, measures that are his, not Caesar's. And that shift from being Caesar's right-hand man to being his own man is complicated when Octavian appears and creates a new Caesarian dynamic and
Well, that's a cliffhanger and a half, Jeff. I mean, this has been absolutely brilliant. Last but certainly not least, you have written a book all about Antony's life, the new Plutarch, a new biography in detail. And it is called? It's called A Noble Ruin, Mark Antony and the Collapse of the Roman Republic. Well, Jeff, it just goes to me to say thank you so much for coming on the podcast and stay tuned for part two.
Well there you go, there was Professor Jeff Tatum talking through the early life of Mark Antony, his rise to prominence under Julius Caesar, finishing the episode with the assassination of Julius Caesar on the Ides of March 44 BC. What follows that date for Mark Antony is him being propelled right to the forefront of Roman politics this
was the time when Mark Antony's story really, really gets going. So stay tuned for part two of this special two-parter miniseries. It is coming very, very soon. So I hope you enjoyed today's first part. Last thing from me, wherever you listen to The Ancients, whether that be on Apple Podcasts or Spotify or elsewhere, make sure that you are subscribed, that you are following The Ancients so that you don't miss out when we release new episodes twice every week.
But that's enough from me and I will see you in the next episode.
Get back to school ready at Whole Foods Market. The best in class event is packed with sales on organic seedless grapes, organic honey crisp apples, Applegate deli meat, and more. Start your mornings with 365 by Whole Foods Market organic frozen waffles and better than cage-free eggs. Then put dinner on the table with breaded chicken nuggets, savory swordfish fillets, and fresh salad kits. Make Whole Foods Market your back-to-school destination.
Thank you for traveling with Amex Platinum. To your right, you'll see Oceanside Relaxation at a fine hotel or resort property. When booked through Amex Travel, you can enjoy complimentary breakfast for 2 and 4 p.m. late checkout. That's the powerful backing of American Express. Terms apply. Learn more at americanexpress.com slash with Amex.